What "AI-native" means at Forge
Most construction accounting systems were built before AI and have added a chat window. Forge was built the other way around: the ledger is strict and deterministic, and the AI is a worker inside it. You tell Forge what you want in plain words, it does the preparation, and it stops at the control point your business set.
- You ask: "Convert the awarded estimate on the Harbor Point job into a schedule of values." Forge drafts the SOV from the estimate lines and shows you what it mapped.
- You ask: "Which subcontractor pay apps are blocked this week, and why?" Forge lists them with the specific hold on each: missing lien waiver, expired COI, over-committed line.
- You ask: "Prepare the September accruals from the bills I've reviewed." Forge drafts the journal entries; it does not post them. Approving and posting stay with the people who hold that permission.
Every action the AI takes is recorded in the same audit trail as a human's. Nothing is hidden from accounting users, and nothing posts without the approval your company configured.
Not an AI layer on top of someone else's ledger
The AI tools now sold to contractors fall into two groups. Most sit on top of an existing system, reading invoices and coding costs into Sage, Foundation, Acumatica or QuickBooks, so the ledger, the close and the WIP still live in software built before AI. Forge is the other kind: the ledger is Forge's own, the close and the WIP are produced from it, and the AI works inside the same permissions, audit trail and approval rules as every user. If you keep your current accounting system and add an AI layer, you keep its close. If you move to Forge, the close is the product.
Built-in AI, and open to the assistant you already use
The AI inside Forge is not the only AI you can use with it. If your team already works in Claude, ChatGPT or Codex, those assistants can work in Forge too, with the same permissions, approval points and audit trail as a person at the keyboard. Connections for Claude, ChatGPT and Codex will be available on request at launch. Use Forge's own AI, bring your own, or mix them by task. Either way the ledger stays Forge's, nothing posts without the approval your company configured, and every action is recorded with who, or what, took it.
Integrations
Forge is built to sit beside the software contractors already run in the field, in sales and in the back office. Integrations are set up on request as part of onboarding; bring what you use and we connect it.
- Field and project management: Procore, Autodesk Construction Cloud, Buildertrend, BuildOps and ServiceTitan. Project financials, commitments and change orders flow to the ledger.
- CRM: Salesforce and HubSpot. Won opportunities become customers and projects without re-keying.
- AP and spend: BILL (Bill.com), Ramp, Brex, Expensify and Stampli. Bills, card and expense transactions coded to jobs and cost codes.
- Payroll: ADP, Paychex and Gusto. Labor cost and burden posted to jobs.
- Payments, compliance and signatures: Stripe for customer payments; Levelset and GCPay for lien waivers and pay apps; DocuSign for contracts and change orders.
- Bank feeds: Plaid.
- Other construction and back-office software: ask us.
Native, self-serve connectors for Procore and Plaid are planned. Until each ships, the integration is set up on request as part of onboarding.
What the ledger guarantees
- Your history is permanent and auditable: every post is traceable, and nothing can be edited out of existence.
- Cutover doesn't lose anything: import customers, vendors, employees and open balances with duplicate matching, and revert a single import if it was wrong.
- The close balances or it doesn't close: bank reconciliation cannot complete out of balance; period close and admin reopen are explicit events.
- Approvals fit your business: prepare, submit and approve, with an optional approver per company.
- Fewer mistakes at post time: issues are highlighted on the field, not in a pop-up, and GL defaults carry across purchasing, AP and billing.
The six workflows a CFO asks to see
- Cutover: import your master data, check duplicates, keep your history.
- Purchasing: a PO with the GL account filled from the item; approve; receive.
- AP: a vendor bill with the problem highlighted inline; fix; post; record the payment you made in your bank or payments provider.
- Billing and AR: progress bill against the project; the customer pays through the portal; the receipt is recorded.
- Costs and WIP: job cost rollup and a WIP schedule built from posted transactions, not from a spreadsheet.
- Close: reconcile, close the period, reopen only by an admin.
Who it is for
General contractors and specialty subcontractors doing $10M to $150M a year, with a controller or CFO who wants a WIP schedule they can hand to the bank and the bonding agent without re-checking it. Forge is the accounting system that works alongside the field and service platforms you already run, such as Procore and BuildOps, and the CRM, spend and payroll tools beside them, such as Salesforce, HubSpot, BILL, Ramp and ADP; it does not replace any of them. Integrations are set up on request as part of onboarding.
Where Forge is today
Forge ERP is in private beta, by application; approved companies get a 14-day free trial. Features are still maturing, demonstrations on this site run on synthetic data, and beta customers should keep their own backups and reconciliation controls. We publish this so you can judge the product on what it does, not on a claim.
How Forge compares
The short version: Sage Intacct Construction, Foundation, Acumatica Construction Edition, Sage 100 Contractor and QuickBooks Enterprise Contractor have more modules today; Forge has a governed ledger with AI that does the preparation work. The comparison pages at theerpforge.com/compare cover each of them, plus Sage 300 CRE, Viewpoint, CMiC, Premier and ComputerEase, including where the incumbent is the better choice today.
Frequently asked
- Is Forge ERP an AI-native construction ERP?
- Yes. Forge was built with a strict, deterministic ledger and AI that works inside it: you ask in plain words, the AI prepares the work, and the people with permission approve and post.
- Who is Forge ERP for?
- General contractors and specialty subcontractors doing roughly $10M to $150M a year, with a controller or CFO, that run Procore, BuildOps or another major field platform and have outgrown QuickBooks.
- Does Forge ERP replace Procore, BuildOps, Salesforce, HubSpot, BILL, Ramp or Expensify?
- No. Forge is the accounting system that works alongside the field, CRM, spend and payroll tools you already run. Integrations are set up on request as part of onboarding.
- Can I use Claude, ChatGPT or Codex with Forge ERP?
- Yes. Forge has its own AI built in, and outside assistants can work in Forge under the same permissions, approvals and audit trail as any user. Connections for all three will be available on request at launch.
- Is Forge ERP generally available?
- Forge ERP is in private beta, by application; approved companies get a 14-day free trial. Demonstrations use synthetic data; beta customers keep their own backups and reconciliation controls.