What's New in Rave Build? Smarter Tools, Less Admin and More Control for Builders

From AI-powered invoice processing to smarter CRM tools, improved project scheduling and financial management, discover the latest Rave Build updates designed to make managing your building business easier.

We've been busy behind the scenes at Rave Build, and our latest round of updates is packed with improvements to help builders and construction teams work smarter, reduce administration and stay in control of their projects.

Many of these enhancements have come directly from feedback from our customers. Whether you're managing new enquiries, coordinating subcontractors, tracking project costs or keeping your team on schedule, we've focused on making everyday tasks simpler and more efficient.

Here's a look at what's new in Rave Build.

AI Document Scanning: Less Paperwork, More Building

One of our biggest recent developments is our AI-powered Document Scanning, designed to take the hassle out of processing supplier bills and credit notes.

Instead of manually entering details, Rave's AI technology can read incoming documents, extract key information and help match them to the correct supplier, project, quote or purchase order.

With direct Xero integration, the process from receiving a bill through to approval and accounting becomes significantly easier.

Even More Powerful Scanning Features

We've continued expanding our scanning capabilities with several improvements:

• AI Supplier Instructions: Create custom rules to help the scanner correctly interpret invoices from specific suppliers, including unusual invoice layouts, quantities and supplier names.
• Multi-PO Matching: Match supplier bills against multiple purchase orders.
• Approval Workflows: Introduce additional checks and approvals before bills are sent to Xero.
• Improved Document Processing: Greater flexibility in managing scanned bills and credit notes.

Affordable Scanning for Businesses of All Sizes

Our AI Document Scanning plans start at just $25 + GST per month up to $300 + GST a month for our Gold Plus clients, with options to suit different bill/credit note volumes.

That's as little as 20 cents per document on our Gold and Gold Plus plans!

For busy construction businesses processing hundreds of supplier bills each month, that's a huge opportunity to reduce repetitive administration and free up valuable time.

Check out our Help Articles here.

A Smarter CRM to Help You Win More Work

Managing leads and staying on top of sales opportunities is a critical part of running a successful building business.

Our latest CRM improvements focus on making enquiry management more efficient, keeping customer information organised and giving your sales team better visibility of upcoming opportunities.

Better Lead Management and Sales Tracking

Collections and House Plans in CRM

Manage Collections and House Plans directly within Rave. House plans can be selected during the enquiry process and carried through when an enquiry becomes a project, helping maintain consistency from the initial sales conversation through to construction.

Google and Meta Lead Integration

Connect incoming leads from Google Ads and Meta, configure field mapping and set up automatic replies. This makes it easier to capture new opportunities and respond to potential customers.

Check out our help Articles here.

Improved Sales Forecast Reporting

Get clearer visibility of your sales performance with improved reporting, additional totals and clickable figures.

Review enquiry numbers, forecast sales, actual sales and lost sales to better understand how your business is performing.

Smarter Sales Activities

Automatically populate CRM activity titles with relevant information, including activity type, client name and preferred contact number.

New Sales Pipeline Stage filters also make it easier to identify enquiries requiring follow-up.

Better Team Communication

Send relevant Client, Enquiry and Project Notes to other users, helping keep your team informed without needing to switch between different systems.

Together, these improvements give building businesses more control over their sales pipeline and help ensure valuable opportunities don't slip through the cracks.

Project Management and Scheduling Improvements

Keeping construction projects running smoothly takes coordination, accurate scheduling and clear communication. We've introduced a range of improvements to make managing projects, people and schedules more straightforward.

More Flexible Project Management

New Contractor Licence Class Field

Record contractor licence information in a dedicated field, improving how important contractor details are stored and managed.

Improved Project and People Tab Options

Additional improvements make it easier to manage project contacts, assign responsibilities and keep team information up to date.

More Control Over Your Schedule

We've also introduced several scheduling enhancements designed to improve visibility and reduce unnecessary administration.

These include:

• Colour-coded Project Managers: Quickly identify project managers within the Schedule Calendar.
• Quickly Identify Delayed Progress: See where schedule activities are behind or ahead of their planned dates.
• Improved Calendar Navigation: Move between schedule dates and activities more easily.
• Schedule Task Details: View additional task information without unnecessary navigation.
• Progress Payment Indicators: Better visibility of progress payment information associated with scheduled work.
• Improved Scheduling Visibility: Clearer task information, calendar settings and project scheduling options.

These enhancements make it easier for project managers, site managers and office teams to stay aligned and identify potential scheduling issues before they become bigger problems.

Better Checklists for Construction Teams

Checklists are an essential tool for maintaining quality, consistency and accountability on building projects.

Our latest updates make them even more flexible and easier to manage. Save and Next To-Do, Improved Checklist Notifications, Expanded Checklist Permissions

Checkout our help articles here.

More Powerful Financial Management

Accurate financial information is essential for any building business.

From purchase orders and progress payments to managing invoices, variations and project profitability, Rave's Financial Management tools continue to evolve.

Our latest updates provide greater control, improved reporting and more flexibility in managing financial information.

Greater Flexibility and Visibility

Financial Document Improvements

We've made it easier to find, manage and review financial documents, with improvements to document searching, descriptions and associated records.

Improved Progress Payments

New options provide greater flexibility when managing progress payments, payment variations and related financial documents.

Better Purchase Order and Bill Management

Enhancements to matching, invoicing and financial document workflows help streamline administration and reduce manual processing.

‍Financial Reporting Enhancements

Additional improvements to financial reports and project information make it easier to understand costs, review transactions and monitor project performance.

Calendar Improvements to Keep Everyone Connected

Coordinating people, tasks and appointments across multiple projects can be challenging.

Our latest Calendar improvements give teams more ways to organise their schedules and keep important information synchronised.

Greater Control Over Calendar Syncing

Choose which calendars and project information should be synchronised, providing greater flexibility over how schedules are shared.

Improved Recurring Calendar Synchronisation

Enhancements to recurring appointments and calendar syncing help keep information consistent between connected systems.

External Calendar Attendee Support

Invite and manage external attendees more effectively when working with calendar events and appointments.

These improvements help keep your team connected, whether they're working in the office, meeting with clients or managing projects on site.

Are You Getting the Most Out of Rave Build?

With so many features and improvements being released, it's easy to overlook tools that could save your business significant time.

That's why we're continuing to expand our training and support services.

Personalised In-House Team Training

Our team can come directly to your workplace and provide hands-on training tailored to the way your business uses Rave.

Whether you're onboarding new staff, improving financial workflows, strengthening your CRM processes or wanting to get more out of scheduling and project management, we can help.

We offer:

• Free 30–45 minute targeted support sessions for assistance with specific features or workflows.
• Paid in-house team training tailored to your business, staff and processes.

Our goal is to help every Rave customer get the greatest possible value from the platform.

Contact our Support Team to discuss training options for your business.

Built for Builders, Improved by Your Feedback

At Rave Build, we're committed to continually improving our software based on the real needs of New Zealand's building and construction industry.

Every improvement, whether it's a small workflow enhancement or a major new feature, is designed to help our customers save time, improve visibility and run more efficient businesses.

And we're not slowing down.

There's plenty more happening behind the scenes, with exciting developments and improvements still to come.

Haven't explored these updates yet?

Log in to Rave Build, take a look at what's new and discover how these improvements can help your business work smarter.

Rave Build – Built for Builders.

The Rave Build Team

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