Yurra brings project delivery and finance together

The Challenge

When remote project delivery demanded greater visibility and control

Based in Karratha, Western Australia majority Yindjibarindi-owned Yurra provides a one-stop shop for building, civil construction, facilities management, landscaping and specialist services across the state. It directly engages about 400 people, works with around 200 subcontractors and delivers projects valued from about $1 million to $50 million.

As Yurra grew, divisions and managers developed their own spreadsheets, email trails, folders and approval processes. Work continued, but the history behind a purchase order, variation or claim could remain with the person who created the file or remembered the conversation.

“We were dependent on people rather than process because the knowledge was sitting in someone’s head,” said Daksh Kakar, Chief Financial Officer at Yurra. “If that person went on R&R, changed projects or left, someone else had to rebuild the story.”

The scale of their projects increased that pressure. Hope Downs 1 covers more than 1,000 village rooms. Wickham Phase 2B generated 600 variations over two and a half years. The Newman Recreation Centre refurbishment required frequent RFIs and coordination between subcontractors, architects and the client. Finance combined payroll, accounting and project reports to understand the numbers, while delivery teams needed the operational history behind them.

The Solution

Connecting the project story to the financial record

Procore entered parent-company Yurra via the acquisition and integration of GBSC Yurra, allowing the business to assess Procore on live projects and planning where to roll it out next. Yurra now uses Procore Project Management, Financial Management and Resource Management for project-based construction work, while MYOB Acumatica remains its enterprise accounting system.

This architecture is deliberate. Procore holds the construction context: budgets, commitments, invoices, progress claims, variations, RFIs, drawings, correspondence, timesheets and quality records. MYOB Acumatica manages accounting entries, journals, accruals, payments, compliance and consolidated reporting. The MYOB Acumatica Connector by 0link, built and supported by Smoothx, synchronises financial data and attachments between them.

For Yurra’s people, this creates a connected workflow without pushing either team into the wrong system. Project teams create, review and approve purchase orders and invoices in Procore, with the scope and project history beside the transaction. The information moves into MYOB Acumatica for accounting and payment, with updates flowing back to Procore.

A drawing markup can become an RFI, change event and variation. The workflow moves through the project manager, general manager and client, retaining comments and approvals before the value is added to the monthly head contract claim.

“Trying to track whether a variation had been emailed, approved or changed was a nightmare,” said Brayden Fleay, Senior Contracts Administrator at Yurra. “In Procore, it stays in the workflow, and once it is approved, it is simple to add it to the claim.”

Yurra briefly tested managing construction financials through MYOB Acumatica without the full Procore Cost Management workflow. Within two months, Procore Cost Management was restored because project teams still needed the connected correspondence, variation and approval trail.

“One of the best things about having Procore at the front end and MYOB Acumatica at the back end is that our project managers and site teams do not have to work in the accounting system,” said Brayden Fleay, Senior Contracts Administrator at Yurra.

The rollout of Procore is shaped around how people learn. As the Procore super user at Yurra, Brayden uses worked examples and test projects with support from Procore training videos to train staff. Supervisors learn by completing the tasks they will perform on site, such as entering timesheets, attaching photographs or closing punch items, so the benefit becomes practical and immediate.

The Results

• Gave project and finance teams a shared explanation of costs, claims and approvals
• Reduced audit document retrieval to about 45 minutes for one Procore project
• Helped manage 600 variations on Wickham Phase 2B
• Reduced punch list close-out on a recent project to a few days, from around 2 weeks previously
• Supports a targeted rollout to divisions that need construction project controls

Less searching and more confidence

Finance and project teams can now discuss the same job from the same record. Project teams can show how a claim was built, while finance can see the approvals and evidence supporting it.

“Procore tells the story of the numbers and operations in one place,” Daksh said. “Operations and finance can talk the same language now.”

On the Wickham Phase 2B project, Yurra managed roughly 600 variations with a clear approval and claiming trail. While at Hope Downs 1, consistent locations, cost codes and labour reporting support room-by-room delivery and commercial review. On the Newman Recreation Centre refurbishment, RFIs, change events and correspondence remain connected. Stronger setup also supported budget management on the heavily subcontracted Pannawonica childcare centre.

Additionally, during an audit, Yurra retrieved a Procore project’s contract, claims, variations and correspondence in about 45 minutes, compared with four to five hours in a division not yet using Procore. Mobile photographs and assigned punch items also reduced a recent close-out from about two weeks to a few days.

Most importantly, project knowledge stays with Yurra. When someone goes on R&R or moves projects, the next person can understand the current position without relying on a personal inbox or incomplete handover.

Yurra is now applying these lessons to its Civil division and other suitable project-focused divisions. The aim is to give people managing similar project risks a consistent foundation, reduce time spent rebuilding information and support earlier decisions.