How to Prequalify a Subcontractor in Sage Intacct Construction
Subcontractor prequalification confirms that a trade partner has the safety record, insurance and bonding capacity your projects require before they are awarded work or paid. In Sage Intacct Construction the result lives on the vendor record as compliance records, and compliance definitions decide whether missing or expired items warn or stop AP payments.
This guide follows the workflow in the recording: preparing the vendor record, scoring the prequalification package against thresholds in an Excel tracker, routing exceptions, configuring compliance definitions, recording the evidence on the vendor, and scheduling a weekly prequal and COI exception report.
- Who does itProject controls / subcontract compliance administrator
- How oftenPer new subcontractor, re-checked annually and on document expiry
- Steps10 steps · 3 systems
Watch the full workflow
every click in this recording is an AI agent — no one is touching the keyboard.
In the recording, an AI agent signs in to Sage Intacct for Northstar Builders, finds new vendor SUB-1048 Summit Electrical Contractors LLC, sets its vendor type to Subcontractor - Trade and links the PREQUAL-SUB-1048-2026 attachment. It opens the three package PDFs, enters the metrics into the Subcontractor_Prequalification_Master.xlsx tracker and evaluates them against the thresholds, all of which pass. It then adds three prequalification compliance definitions that stop payment on non-compliance, records the COI, EMR and bonding compliance records on the vendor so AP payment control turns clear, and schedules the weekly Prequal & COI Exception List.
- 1:45Find the new subcontractor's vendor record
- 2:30Set vendor type and link the package
- 3:15Open the prequalification documents
- 4:00Enter the metrics in the prequalification tracker
- 4:50Evaluate against the thresholds
- 6:00Review the vendor compliance tab
- 7:00Create the prequalification compliance definitions
- 8:15Record compliance evidence on the vendor
- 10:00Confirm AP payment control is clear
- 11:00Run and schedule the exception report
Systems involved
You need access to each of these before you start. In the recording the agent works in all of them from one desktop, signed in as the user.
- Sage Intacct ConstructionVendor record, attachments, compliance definitions, vendor compliance records, AP payment control and the exception report
- ExcelSubcontractor_Prequalification_Master.xlsx tracker with thresholds and exceptions tabs
- Prequalification package PDFsFinancial prequalification, EMR/safety letter and certificate of insurance submitted by the subcontractor
What you start with
- Subcontractor prequalification package (financials, EMR/safety, COI)
- Vendor record in Sage Intacct
- Approved prequalification thresholds
- Existing compliance definitions
What you end with
- Vendor SUB-1048 typed as Subcontractor - Trade with package attachment PREQUAL-SUB-1048-2026
- Updated Subcontractor_Prequalification_Master.xlsx row with PASS status
- Compliance definitions PREQUAL-COI, PREQUAL-EMR and PREQUAL-BOND
- Vendor compliance records CR.01048-GL, CR.01048-EMR and CR.01048-BOND
- Weekly scheduled Prequal & COI Exception List
The workflow at a glance
Action Decision Human review Select a step to jump to how it's done.
- 01 Action · Sage Intacct Construction Find the new subcontractor's vendor record
- 02 Action · Sage Intacct Construction Set vendor type and link the package
- 03 Action · Sage Intacct Construction Open the prequalification documents
- 04 Action · Excel Enter the metrics in the prequalification tracker
- 05 Decision · Excel Evaluate against the thresholds Yes Any failure, expired document or insufficient limit: send an immediate exception notice and hold the subcontractor. No No failures: continue to compliance setup in Sage Intacct.
- 06 Action · Sage Intacct Construction Review the vendor compliance tab
- 07 Action · Sage Intacct Construction Create the prequalification compliance definitions
- 08 Action · Sage Intacct Construction Record compliance evidence on the vendor
- 09 · Human review · Sage Intacct Construction Confirm AP payment control is clear
- 10 Action · Sage Intacct Construction Run and schedule the exception report
Step-by-step: how to do it
-
Action · Sage Intacct Construction · 1:45 in the video
Find the new subcontractor's vendor record
Go to Accounts Payable > Vendors and search for the subcontractor by name. Open the record and check the vendor ID, legal name, print-as name, primary contact, email, mailing address and status before you start prequalification.
In the video- Vendor
- SUB-1048 · Summit Electrical Contractors LLC
- City
- Phoenix, AZ
- List status
- Needs setup
- Created on
- 10/04/2026
-
Action · Sage Intacct Construction · 2:30 in the video
Set vendor type and link the package
On the Additional information tab, set the Type ID to the subcontractor vendor type (this drives compliance generation), confirm the default expense account, department and location, and add the prequalification package as the attachment. Save the vendor.
In the video- Type ID
- Subcontractor - Trade
- Attachment
- PREQUAL-SUB-1048-2026
- Default expense account
- 5200 - Subcontract costs
- Department / location
- CONSTR - Construction / 100 - Corporate
- Result
- Vendor SUB-1048 saved successfully.
-
Action · Sage Intacct Construction · 3:15 in the video
Open the prequalification documents
Open the attachment and review each supporting document: financial capacity and bonding limits, the EMR and safety letter, and the certificate of insurance. Confirm every document is marked received before scoring.
In the videoAttachment PREQUAL-SUB-1048-2026 – 3 files.
- Summit_Electrical_Prequalification_2026.pdf Received
- Contents
- Financial capacity, workload, bonding limits
- Summit_Electrical_EMR_Safety_2026.pdf Received
- Contents
- EMR letter, OSHA metrics, safety program
- Summit_Electrical_COI_2026.pdf Received
- Contents
- General liability, workers' compensation, auto
-
-
Action · Excel · 4:00 in the video
Enter the metrics in the prequalification tracker
Open the master tracker and add a row for the subcontractor: package received date, COI expiration, GL limit, EMR, single and aggregate bond limits, workload percentage, financial capacity and the source package ID.
In the video- Package received
- 10/04/2026
- COI expiration
- 06/30/2027
- GL limit
- $2,000,000
- EMR
- 0.82
- Single / aggregate bond
- $5,000,000 / $15,000,000
- Workload
- 64%
- Financial capacity
- Strong
-
Decision · Excel · 4:50 in the video
Evaluate against the thresholds
Score each requirement against the approved thresholds: EMR at or below 1.00, general liability at least $1,000,000, COI expiring after today, single bond limit at least $3,000,000, and a complete package. Check the Exceptions tab for any vendor whose overall status is REVIEW or FAIL.
- If yes Any failure, expired document or insufficient limit: send an immediate exception notice and hold the subcontractor.
- If no No failures: continue to compliance setup in Sage Intacct.
In the videoCompliance validation · SUB-1048
- EMR ≤ 1.00 Pass
- Value
- 0.82
- GL limit ≥ $1,000,000 Pass
- Value
- $2,000,000
- COI current Pass
- Value
- 06/30/2027
- Single bond ≥ $3,000,000 Pass
- Value
- $5,000,000
- Package complete PASS
- Exceptions tab: 0 open – no compliance failures, expired documents, or insufficient limits found.
-
Action · Sage Intacct Construction · 6:00 in the video
Review the vendor compliance tab
Back on the vendor, open the Vendor compliance tab and confirm the prequalification decision, open exceptions, evaluation date and source package. Note that insurance and miscellaneous compliance records are generated from active definitions, so check whether definitions exist for every prequal requirement.
In the video- Decision
- Passed preliminary validation
- Exceptions
- 0 open
- Evaluated
- 10/04/2026
- Source
- PREQUAL-SUB-1048-2026
-
Action · Sage Intacct Construction · 7:00 in the video
Create the prequalification compliance definitions
Go to Purchasing > Setup > Vendor compliance > Compliance definitions and create a definition for each requirement. Set the category, track by Vendor, generation rule Automatic by type for the subcontractor vendor type, the validation basis, and choose Error — Stop payment for AP payments when not compliant.
In the videoCompliance definitions after setup – "Three prequalification definitions are active."
- PREQUAL-COI · General Liability Certificate AP payments: Error
- Category
- Insurance
- Validation
- Expiration date
- PREQUAL-EMR · EMR and Safety AP payments: Error
- Category
- Miscellaneous
- Validation
- Document received
- PREQUAL-BOND · Bonding Capacity AP payments: Error
- Category
- Miscellaneous
- Validation
- Document received
- BUS-LIC · Business license / W9-DOC · W-9 document Existing · AP payments: Warning
-
-
Action · Sage Intacct Construction · 8:15 in the video
Record compliance evidence on the vendor
With the definitions active, the vendor shows an AP payment hold until the required records exist. Add a vendor compliance record for each definition: policy or reference number, effective and expiration dates, amount, received date, the attached PDF, and the document received, additional insured and waiver of subrogation checkboxes.
In the videoBefore: AP payment control HOLD – 3 blocking compliance errors (Payment blocked).
- CR.01048-GL · PREQUAL-COI Received
- Policy
- GL-4829106
- Effective
- 07/01/2026
- Expires
- 06/30/2027
- Amount
- $2,000,000.00
- File
- Summit_Electrical_COI_2026.pdf
- CR.01048-EMR · PREQUAL-EMR Received
- Effective
- 01/01/2026
- Expires
- 12/31/2026
- CR.01048-BOND · PREQUAL-BOND Received
- Effective
- 10/04/2026
- Expires
- 10/04/2027
-
-
Human review · Sage Intacct Construction · 10:00 in the video
Confirm AP payment control is clear
Save the vendor and check the AP payment control banner on the Vendor compliance tab. It should show no blocking errors and payments enabled; if not, review which record is missing or expired.
In the videoAP payment control: CLEAR – 0 blocking compliance errors, required records are current (Payments enabled).
-
Action · Sage Intacct Construction · 11:00 in the video
Run and schedule the exception report
Open Reports > Interactive Custom Reports and run Vendor Compliance Expiration - CRE with an expiration cut-off date, compliance category All, vendor type Subcontractor - Trade and non-compliant items included. Memorize it, then schedule it weekly in Excel format with email delivery to project controls and AP.
In the video- Report
- Prequal & COI Exception List
- Expiration cut-off
- 10/31/2026
- Schedule
- Prequal & COI Exception List - Weekly, starts 10/05/2026, every Monday, Excel
- Result
- 3 records, 2 vendors with payment blocks
- SUB-1019 · Desert Steel Erectors Expired · Error — Hold
- Type
- GL-COI
- Record
- CR.01019-GL
- Expires
- 09/30/2026
- Days
- -4
- SUB-1037 · Canyon Concrete Services Expiring · Error — Hold
- Type
- WC-COI
- Record
- CR.01037-WC
- Expires
- 10/18/2026
- Days
- 14
- SUB-1062 · Apex Roofing Systems Expiring · Warning
- Type
- CON-LIC
- Record
- CR.01062-LIC
- Expires
- 10/29/2026
- Days
- 25
- Summit Electrical SUB-1048 remains current and is excluded.
Rules, exceptions and controls
Rules to follow
- EMR must be 1.00 or lower.
- General liability limit must be at least $1,000,000 and the COI must not be expired.
- Single-job bond limit must be at least $3,000,000.
- The prequalification package must be complete before an overall PASS.
- Prequalification definitions (COI, EMR, bonding) use Error — Stop payment when the vendor is not compliant; business license and W-9 only warn.
When something doesn't match
- A metric fails or a document is missing or expired: the overall status becomes REVIEW and an immediate exception notice is sent.
- Vendor shows AP payment control HOLD after definitions are added: add the missing compliance records with evidence attached.
- Insurance expiring within the cut-off window: the vendor appears on the weekly exception list with its AP action.
- Expired COI on an active subcontractor: payments are held (Error — Hold) until a renewed certificate is recorded.
Controls and audit trail
- Every compliance record carries the received date, received-by user and the original PDF attachment.
- AP payment eligibility is enforced by compliance definitions, not by manual checks.
- Prequalification decision, evaluation date and source package are visible on the vendor compliance tab.
- A weekly scheduled exception report goes to project controls and AP.
Practitioner tips
- Set the vendor type before adding definitions; Automatic by type only generates records for vendors of that type.
- Keep thresholds on a separate tab of the tracker so they can be changed without editing formulas.
- Tick additional insured and waiver of subrogation only when the certificate wording actually shows them.
- Use one package ID (for example PREQUAL-SUB-1048-2026) as the primary document ID on every record so the audit trail ties together.
About this recording
In the recording, the agent prepared vendor SUB-1048, scored its prequalification package in Excel, created three stop-payment compliance definitions, recorded the COI, EMR and bonding evidence until AP payment control showed clear, and scheduled the weekly Prequal & COI Exception List.
Documented the way you'd train a new hire — and the same way an agent learns it.
Frequently asked questions
How do you prequalify a subcontractor in Sage Intacct Construction?
Set the vendor to a subcontractor type, review the prequalification package, and score EMR, insurance limits, COI expiry and bonding capacity against your thresholds. Then record compliance records on the vendor so compliance definitions control AP payments.
How do I stop payments to a subcontractor with an expired COI in Sage Intacct?
Create a vendor compliance definition for the certificate with validation on expiration date and set AP payments to Error — Stop payment when not compliant. When the record expires, the vendor shows a payment hold until a renewed record is added.
What EMR is acceptable for subcontractor prequalification?
Many contractors require an EMR of 1.00 or lower, which is the threshold used in this workflow. Your own policy may set a different limit by trade or project.
How do I report expiring subcontractor insurance in Sage Intacct?
Run a vendor compliance expiration report with an expiration cut-off date and non-compliant items included, memorize it and schedule it weekly with email delivery.
Can an AI agent do subcontractor prequalification in Sage Intacct Construction?
Yes. As shown in the video, the agent works the same Sage Intacct and Excel screens a person does, scoring the package, setting up compliance and scheduling the exception report, with exceptions routed to people for action.