Subcontractor management that keeps you in control
Invite the subs you rely on into their own secure portal. Assign work, set the scope and pay rate, track insurance and license compliance, and approve the hours they report. It all lives in the same system you already run your jobs from.
New assignment
Rooftop unit replacement — 14 Oak St
- Scheduled
- Thu, 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM
- Pay rate
- $85.00 / hr
- Compliance
- Insurance current
The subcontractor responds from their own portal
Their Own Portal
A scoped login per sub
Compliance Engine
Insurance & license expiry
Confirmed Work
Accept, decline, reschedule
Zero Extra Seats
Subs aren't billable users
Subs help you grow. A group chat won't keep up.
Subcontractors are how trade businesses take on more work without adding payroll. But the moment you rely on a group chat and a folder of insurance PDFs, the cracks show: nobody confirmed the Thursday job, a sub's coverage expired three weeks ago, and the hours on the invoice don't match what anyone remembers.
Unconfirmed work
You text a sub about a job and hear nothing back. Did they see it? Are they coming Thursday? You find out when they show up. Or when they don't.
Expired insurance
A certificate of insurance lapsed months ago and nobody noticed. Now an uninsured sub is on your job site and the liability is yours.
Hours nobody can verify
The hours on the invoice don't match what anyone remembers, and there's no shared record to settle it. So you pay it and move on.
One place to run every subcontractor relationship
From the first invite to the approved hours on a finished job, everything lives on the subcontractor's record, connected to the same jobs and schedule your own crew works from.
Invite and onboard subs
Add a subcontractor to your roster and send an invite. They set up their own login and finish onboarding themselves. Nothing for you to set up.
Assign work with all the details
Send an assignment with the scope, schedule, access details and special instructions, and the agreed pay rate. The sub sees exactly what the job is.
Accept, decline, and reschedule
Subs accept or decline each assignment, and can counter-propose times. You confirm the final slot, so nothing is ever assumed.
Track field status and hours
Subs mark when they've arrived and finished, and report their hours from the field. You review and approve those hours before they hit your records.
Stay on top of compliance
Track insurance and license expiry dates, collect W-9s and contracts, and get alerts before coverage lapses. If it does expire, assigning that sub is blocked.
Message and share documents
Keep a per-assignment message thread and shared files (plans, specs, completion photos) attached to the job, instead of scattered across texts.
Know the instant a sub's coverage has lapsed
Expired insurance is the quiet liability bomb of working with subs. Pillar tracks the expiry date on every certificate and license, warns you as renewals approach, and steps in when coverage actually lapses.
Expiry tracking on every document
Record the expiry date on each certificate of insurance and license. Pillar watches every date so you don't have to.
Alerts before it lapses
Automatic notifications flag documents that are expiring soon or already expired, so a renewal never slips past you.
Hard block on expired coverage
When a sub's insurance or license has expired, Pillar blocks you from assigning them work and flags anything missing or expiring soon.
Subcontractor roster
Summit Roofing Co.
Insurance valid through Mar 2027
Delgado Electric
License renews in 21 days
A&B Mechanical
Insurance lapsed Apr 2026
Assigning work to an expired sub is blocked automatically
A portal your subs will actually use
Each subcontractor gets their own secure login that shows only their work. No shared password, no access to your customers, pricing, or other subs. They handle the whole job from their phone.
See and respond to work
A clean view of every assignment with the scope, schedule, and pay rate, and one tap to accept, decline, or propose a different time.
- Assignment scope and instructions
- Accept or decline in one tap
- Counter-propose reschedule times
- Set weekly availability and time off
Run the job from the field
Subs run the job from their phone, marking arrival and completion, reporting hours, and adding photos and notes.
- Mark arrived and completed
- Report hours for approval
- Upload completion photos
- Message the contractor in context
Stay compliant themselves
Subs can upload their own insurance certificate, license, and W-9 directly to their record, keeping their documents current without email back-and-forth.
- Self-upload insurance and license
- Submit W-9 and signed contracts
- See what's current and what's due
- Renewals keep their record active
Hours and pay records, not payouts
Subs report their hours from the field, and you review and approve them so your records line up before money changes hands. Pillar keeps the agreed rate, the reported hours, and a clean pay summary on each assignment. You pay your subcontractors however you already do. Pillar doesn't process subcontractor payments or run their payroll.
Built for how subs really work
A good sub works for more than one contractor, and plenty run their own business too. Pillar is built around that, and never mixes one company's data with another's.
One login, many contractors
A sub who works for several general contractors can switch between companies from a single login. Each view is scoped to one company, so a sub never sees one contractor's data while working in another's.
No extra user seats
Subcontractors don't count as billable users on your plan. Invite as many as you work with. Your seat count is for your own team, not the independents you bring on job to job.
A growth path for your subs
A sub you invite can find Pillar through your portal and start their own account to run their own business. Same tools, their own brand, whenever they're ready.
From invite to approved hours
Every step of working with a sub in one place, instead of scattered across texts, email, and spreadsheets.
- 1
Add the sub to your roster
Create a subcontractor record with their business and contact details, then send an invite to set up a secure login.
- 2
Collect compliance documents
Upload their certificate of insurance, license, and W-9, or have the sub upload them, with expiry dates recorded so the compliance engine can track them.
- 3
Assign the work
Send an assignment with the scope, schedule, instructions, and pay rate. If their coverage has expired, the assignment is blocked before it goes out.
- 4
Get it confirmed
The sub accepts, declines, or proposes a new time from their portal. You lock in the final schedule with no guessing.
- 5
Track the job to done
The sub marks arrival and completion, reports hours, and uploads photos. Messages and files stay attached to the assignment.
- 6
Approve hours and keep the record
You review and approve the reported hours, leaving a clean pay summary on the assignment. You pay the sub through your usual process.
Part of the same platform, not a bolt-on
Subcontractor assignments connect to the same jobs, schedule, and notifications your in-house team already runs on.
Jobs & Work Orders
Assign subs to the same jobs your team runs
Scheduling
Subs and in-house techs on one calendar
Notifications
Assignment, reschedule, and expiry alerts
Customer Portal
The same self-service model, for customers
Security
Multi-tenant isolation and scoped access
Documents on Jobs
Plans, specs, and photos on every job
Subcontractor management is available on the Pillar Enterprise plan. See the pricing page for current plans and what each one includes.
Explore more of Pillar
Scheduling & Dispatch
Put subs and in-house techs on one calendar.
Learn moreJobs & Work Orders
Assign subs to the same jobs your team runs.
Learn moreCustomer Portal
The same self-service model, built for your customers.
Learn moreHow to Manage Subcontractors
A practical playbook for vetting, scheduling, and compliance.
Learn moreSee subcontractor management in action
Book a demo and we'll walk through inviting a sub, assigning work, tracking compliance, and approving hours.