For many operators in the concrete pumping industry, accounts receivable quietly consumes hours each week from chasing checks, reconciling payments, communicating with customers, resending invoices and managing disconnected systems.

Concrete Pump Partners (CPP), one of the largest concrete pumping companies in the U.S., with 16 branches across seven states and more than 180 pieces of equipment, recognized an opportunity to take a more innovative approach to collections.

For Michael Perry, Controller at Concrete Pump Partners, the high volume of work CPP does means his small team generates billing daily, with hundreds of individual invoices flowing through their back office. “We do a lot of volume,” Perry said. “It’s not just one big invoice; it’s hundreds of smaller ones. That adds up fast for a small back-office team.”

When RapidWorks, the platform CPP already used for day-to-day operations, introduced Rapid Payments, a fully integrated way to collect, track and manage payments directly within the system, the team saw an opportunity to take an innovative approach to streamlining their payment processes.

RapidWorks: One System, Multiple Solutions

CPP became the first customer to onboard Rapid Payments, which includes a self-servicing customer portal. They provided real-world feedback on how the platform supports the billing, dispatch and cashflow needs of concrete pumping operations. The goal was simple: bring payments into the same system that dispatch and finance teams already used daily. The wins with Rapid Payments came in layers, each solving a specific pain point.

“As our business continues to scale, we are always forward looking for advancements that provide efficiencies for our internal operations, as well as better ways to service our customers,” said Jon Kemp, owner of Concrete Pump Partners.

“Rapid Payments saves our team time and reduces manual work through automation and more integrated workflows, all while providing opportunities to enhance our customer relationships.”

Safely Securing Payment of Every Cash-On-Delivery Job

For concrete pumping companies, COD work represents a difficult tradeoff: turn away one-off jobs and lose revenue or accept them and manage the payment risk and operational friction.

At CPP, COD jobs make up a meaningful portion of annual revenue, so managing them efficiently is key. “A couple of years ago, we had an issue with collecting COD jobs,” Perry explained. “That’s when we implemented credit card pre-authorizations.”

Pre-auths were handled through a separate credit card portal. Dispatchers had to switch systems, manually enter card details, and coordinate with the finance team. “Our billing coordinator did all the pre-auths, and everybody had to call her,” Perry said. “It was a nightmare. You’re playing phone tag, trying to get credit card authorization for a 5:00 a.m. job.”

Now, with Rapid Payments, COD pre-authorizations have moved into the dispatch workflow. “Our dispatch team lives in RapidWorks all day long,” Perry said. “Now they can stay in the same system and take the pre-auth there instead of logging into a third-party portal.”

Dispatchers now handle pre-auths in the same system they use to schedule jobs. They use predefined ranges based on pump size and estimated yardage to place appropriate holds, while the finance team gains visibility into all outstanding pre-authorizations from a single dashboard. Additionally, Rapid Payments ensures PCI compliance, eliminating the risk of sensitive card data being stored or handled improperly.

“Protecting that data is a major priority,” Perry noted. “This allows us to be PCI-compliant while securing payment, which is critical.”

Once the job is complete, Rapid Payments automatically matches the invoice to the pre-authorization, allowing payment to be collected quickly without manual entry or duplicate work.

Faster Cashflow with Payment Links on Every Invoice

Before Rapid Payments, CPP accepted checks, ACH and credit cards, but every payment type required manual processing and separate reconciliation. Now, payment links are included on every invoice through a modern, secure-looking email. Customers can pay by ACH or with a credit card without calling the office. Once a payment is made, it’s automatically applied to the correct invoice; no manual entry is required, automating the collection process.

“We’re seeing payments come in faster now that we’re not waiting on checks in the mail,” said Ruth Hood, AR/billing coordinator at CPP. “Even when customers don’t answer the phone, they’ll often pay as soon as we send the link. It’s been a big time-saver for me, too. Customers can handle their own payments instead of calling in.”

Reducing Admin Load and Making Customers Happy

For CPP, the goal was to remove friction for customers who already pay reliably. “We’ve got some great customers. Most want to pay and get it done quickly,” Perry said. “If they’re ready and willing to pay us, we don’t want anything to get in the way.”

Using Rapid Payments, CPP now offers customers a self-service portal where they can independently view balances; payment history; pull invoices, statements and job ticket PDFs; and submit consolidated payments without waiting for a callback. “The self-servicing portal alone eliminates a lot of inbound calls,” Perry noted. “We send out monthly statements and the next day the phones light up with people asking for copies of invoices. This gives them the ability to answer those questions themselves.”

For many long-standing customers, the experience is now seamless. “They pay, and we don’t even realize it happened,” Perry said. “It just never shows up as past due.”

The result is a smoother experience for dependable customers and fewer interruptions for the back-office team.

“Overall, using Rapid Payments is faster for them, and it’s faster for us,” Perry added. “They can solve many common problems themselves and move on with their day.”

Built For The Next Generation of Concrete Pumping

Perry’s team isn’t just solving today’s problems; he’s preparing for tomorrow’s expectations. “You still have guys who want to pay by check, and that’s fine,” he said. “But the next generation of project managers expects to click a link, pay and move on. If you don’t o er that, you start to stand out, in a bad way.”

For CPP, modernizing payments was about offering options, reducing friction and protecting margins without disrupting operations.

Industry benchmarks show concrete pumping companies typically wait 45 to 70-plus days to collect payment, with construction-related businesses often extending to 60 to 90-plus days. Early data indicates customers using Rapid Payments are reducing invoice outstanding time by an average of 25 days.

“Cash is still king,” Perry said. “Anything that helps us get paid faster, with less risk and less work, is worth doing.”

ABOUT RAPID PAYMENTS

Rapid Payments is part of RapidWorks’ continued investment and innovation in building a comprehensive, industry-specific platform for concrete pumping operations, helping teams manage work, billing and payments in one system. Rapid Payments is available now to RapidWorks’ customers. Schedule a demo to learn more about Rapid Payments.