How Viora Build Freed 20 Hours a Week by Replacing Spreadsheets with Finmap
Viora Build is a construction company based in Portugal, building premium and luxury villas as well as multi-storey residential developments for private investors and developers who expect both construction quality and transparency in the numbers behind it. Like most project-based builders, Viora Build runs several jobs at once, each with its own budget, contractors, payment schedule, and materials costs — a structure where it is easy to lose track of what is actually happening to the money.
“Working with the financial director freed up at least 20 hours a week for me in finance.”
— Simon, Operations Manager at Viora Build
Challenge
For years, Viora Build ran its finances the way many growing construction companies do: in Google Sheets. Every expense was entered by hand and categorised manually, project by project.
"We tracked all expenses manually, and this constantly led to mistakes. We needed a system that gives a clear picture and helps plan growth," says Simon, Operations Manager at Viora Build.
The gaps went beyond typos. The company had no P&L or Cash Flow reports, so real project margins were invisible until well after the fact. There was no payment calendar, which left the business exposed to cash gaps. And because multiple large projects ran in parallel, a single miscalculation carried real financial risk.
"We needed a person who could prepare proper P&L and Cash Flow reports, make breakdowns by months and quarters, handle financial planning, and prepare commercial proposals for investors," Simon explains. The company knew automation was necessary from early on, but resourcing constraints delayed the move until the business could afford to make it.
Solution
Once Viora Build had the capital to act, it moved on two fronts at once. First, it hired a financial manager to take over categorising operations, building reports, and financial planning — a role that has since grown into a financial director position handling more strategic work.
"At first, we worked in the format of a financial manager: he categorized all operations, built reports. And now we are working on a deeper level in the format of a financial director, when he executes strategic decisions and provides us with reporting," Simon says.
Second, the company moved every financial operation out of Google Sheets and into Finmap, giving it category-level tracking, live account balances, and P&L and Cash Flow reports on demand. With the basics in place, the team is now going a step further: integrating finance, procurement, and cost estimation into a single ERP system, so purchase planning, cost control, and completion certificates all stay in sync.
Results
Financial management stopped being reactive, and the leadership team got a clear view across every project.
The most immediate win was time. "Working with the financial director freed up at least 20 hours a week for me in finance," Simon says — hours he now puts toward developing the business instead of chasing numbers.
The second win was accuracy. "Now we can accurately calculate our project margins and, thanks to this, net profit," Simon notes. With a payment calendar in place, the team also has a clear read on what is coming due and which completion certificates still need to be issued, removing the guesswork that used to surround cash gaps.
Procurement, finance, and estimation now work in sync rather than in separate silos, saving time across the wider management team, not just for Simon. With the ERP rollout underway, Viora Build is positioning itself for its next stage: taking on larger projects with the confidence that comes from knowing exactly where the money stands.
"Now we can plan our finances without driving ourselves into a corner. This gives confidence and freedom for growth," Simon says.
