More than half of large construction firms have seen retention releases or final accounts delayed due to missing documentation or data silos between site, commercial and finance teams, according to new research from Xpedeon.
Based on a survey of 500 senior construction, finance and commercial leaders at UK construction companies, The Construction Systems Census 2026 found that 53% of organisations had experienced these delays frequently or occasionally in the past 12 months.
The findings point to a wider problem with financial visibility and control in many large construction organisations. Only 16% of organisations said they were completely confident that WIP and margin reports reflect true project status before month-end close is finalised, without late adjustments. Meanwhile, just 13% said completed work is reflected as coded cost data in finance systems on the same day.
Together, the findings show that delays to final accounts and retention releases sit alongside weak confidence in live reporting and a slow flow of information from site activity into finance.
Vivek Sharma, executive director at Xpedeon, said: “The issue for many firms is that, as work moves through the project lifecycle, approved records, evidence and decisions are not always staying connected between site, commercial and finance. That makes it harder to trust cost positions, release cash on time and act early when margin starts to move.
“For large construction businesses, this is no longer just an administrative frustration. When records do not move cleanly from site to commercial and through to finance, cash gets held up, reporting confidence weakens and commercial teams lose time reconstructing positions that should already be clear.
“For businesses with systems already in place, the issue is whether those systems keep approved records, evidence and decisions connected as work moves from project award to close out. Where they do not, final accounts take longer to agree, retention is delayed and live financial reporting becomes harder to trust.”
Xpedeon is a construction-specific ERP platform built for large and growing businesses. It helps contractors, housebuilders and developers manage complexity at scale across the full project lifecycle, from project award to close out.
You can read the full findings here: https://xpedeon.com/uk-construction-systems-census/?utm_source=media&utm_medium=prao&utm_campaign=uk-construction-systems-census
