How a $12M Oregon Custom Homebuilder Combines BuilderTrend + Adaptive to Drive Max Efficiency

A Legacy of Craftsmanship Meets Modern Efficiency

For over two decades, Riddle Construction has been building luxury custom homes and remodels across Oregon’s mid-Willamette Valley and Central Coast. Founded in 2002, the company has grown from a five-person crew into a regional leader known for blending design, craftsmanship, and a client-first approach.

But as the business grew, the back office lagged behind. Handwritten checks, manual QuickBooks entry, and compliance tracking in separate systems created bottlenecks that wasted staff time and frustrated trade partners.

The Challenge: Back Office Buried in Paperwork

Riddle Construction’s accounting workflows hadn’t scaled with the business. Each month, the team was spending weeks on tasks like:

• Writing checks, stamping envelopes, and mailing vendor payments by hand.
• Sending transaction details to an outside bookkeeper for manual QuickBooks entry.
• Tracking subcontractor insurance and licensure compliance in a separate system.
• Reconciling costs across QuickBooks Desktop, BuilderTrend, and Excel.

Bill processing was another major pain point. The old workflow looked like this:

• 85% of invoices arrived by email, 15% by mail.
• Every bill was printed and added to a folder for Mike to sign.
• At month-end, Becky scanned the stack and sent it to the bookkeeper for manual entry and coding.

This paper-heavy process caused bills to pile up, slowed down approvals, and left the bookkeeper stuck re-keying data long after work was done.

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“Checks were often lost in the mail or took weeks to reach our partners,” recalls Mike. “It created extra work for our bookkeeper and slowed down everything from payments to reporting.”

The Turning Point: Why Riddle Construction Chose Adaptive

Mike needed a single platform that could unify accounting, compliance, and payments while integrating directly with the systems they already used. BuilderTrend alone couldn’t solve the problem, and continuing with manual processes wasn’t sustainable.

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Adaptive stood out for three key reasons:

1. QuickBooks + BuilderTrend Sync: Two-way integration eliminated duplicate entry and kept budgets accurate in real time.
2. Streamlined Bill & Approval Workflow: Invoices now flow directly into Adaptive via email or upload, with AI-powered coding and job-based approval workflows to keep them moving. Becky receives a weekly unpaid bills report instead of a folder of paper, and payments can be made instantly via ACH.
3. Electronic Lien Waivers: Trade partners approve waivers electronically, cutting out mailing delays and reducing compliance risk.

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“The integration with QuickBooks and BuilderTrend without duplicative processes was a game-changer,” said Mike. “The ability to pay vendors via ACH, track expenses accurately, and process lien waivers electronically has transformed our efficiency.”

The Results: 20 Hours Saved + Reduction in Overhead

With Adaptive, Riddle Construction transformed its financial operations:

• 15–20 hours saved per month across two employees.
• Bookkeeping fees reduced enough to more than cover Adaptive.
• Bills and approvals processed digitally, eliminating folders, scans, and re-entry.
• Real-time budget visibility, giving leadership accurate numbers for every project.
• Vendor payments delivered faster, strengthening trade partner relationships.

The result? A leaner, more efficient back office that supports growth without adding overhead.

The Takeaway

For Riddle Construction, Adaptive replaced paper-heavy, manual workflows with streamlined, integrated processes. The team now spends less time on accounting tasks and more time on what matters most- building homes.

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“Keeping a close eye on expenses is often painful and takes us away from doing what we love… building,” said Mike. “Adaptive cuts valuable time off this process and gives you more accurate information to make good decisions.”

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