Project controls software sits between the scheduling tool and the monthly report. It reads the P6 or MS Project export you already produce each period and computes earned value, critical path, float movement, risk exposure and forecast completion — the numbers a principal contractor's client actually asks for, without the spreadsheet in between.
Project controls is the discipline of measuring and forecasting cost, time and risk on a construction project. It answers where does this end up, and what changes that? — a different question from project management, which answers what needs doing, by whom, and has it been done?
Most contractors past a few million dollars of work answer both questions. The tools that answer them are different categories, not competitors: Procore, Aconex and Fieldwire coordinate the doing; Aegis forecasts where it ends up. If you are unsure which one you are missing, the comparison spells it out.
Project controls software takes data from the scheduling tool and cost system the project already uses — it does not replace either of them — and produces the reporting those tools were not built to produce on their own. The scheduling tool holds the logic and the dates. The controls layer holds the question: given those dates, what do they mean?
Not the scheduling tool. Not the cost system. What it replaces is the spreadsheet between them and the monthly report.
On most Australian construction projects today, the reporting cycle works like this: the planner exports the programme, someone builds a set of earned-value calculations in Excel, someone else pulls the cost report from the accounting system, a third person reconciles them and writes a narrative, and the pack lands on the superintendent's desk a week after the data date. The analysis is only as current as the day that person had time to build it, and it stops the month they go on leave.
Project controls software collapses that chain into an import. The spreadsheet goes away, the interpretation is produced from the data rather than described beside it, and the pack lands the same day the programme is statused.
On a $60M civil job I worked on, the scheduler spent roughly five days a month producing the controls pack — four on the earned value and forecast report, one on the review pack for the client. That is a quarter of a full-time role doing work that is entirely mechanical once the programme is statused. The analysis was good. The process was not survivable.
The controls layer is only as useful as the data it can actually ingest. Aegis reads:
That matters because real projects are rarely single-tool. The head contractor runs P6, a subcontractor sends an MS Project file, the QS keeps costs in Excel, and the monthly report has to reconcile all of it. A controls tool that only reads one format pushes the reconciliation back onto the person it was supposed to help.
Search for "project controls software Australia" and the results are construction project management listicles. Buildern, Connecteam, WeBuild, Styck — good tools, different category. They coordinate work on site. None of them computes earned value from a P6 export.
The established controls tools are Emerald's P6-Reporter and Adrega, both built around Primavera output. Aegis is the Australian-built entry, and the differences are structural rather than features: it reads P6 and MS Project and Excel, it prices on combined contract value rather than per seat, and every plan includes unlimited users — because the people who need to see the reporting are the principal, the superintendent and the subcontractors, and a per-seat licence discourages you from inviting any of them.
The comparison worth making is not against another piece of software. One project controls engineer runs $120,000–$160,000 a year plus on-costs. Aegis starts at $395 a month.
| Tier | Combined contract value | Price / month (inc GST) |
|---|---|---|
| Project | Up to $2M | $395 |
| Project | $2M – $10M | $795 |
| Project | $10M – $30M | $1,495 |
| Program | Up to $75M, 4+ projects | $1,995 |
| Portfolio | Unlimited | $4,750 |
Priced on what you are building, not how many people log in. Every plan includes unlimited projects and unlimited users. 14-day free trial with no limit on the contract value you load. Full pricing and plan details.
Before you put a project in, you can use the same engine on its own — free, no sign-up, nothing uploaded:
Software that measures and forecasts cost, time and risk on a construction project. It reads the scheduling tool and cost system the project already uses, then produces earned value, critical path, float, risk exposure and forecast completion — the reporting a client asks for each month. It is a different category from project management software.
No. The scheduling tool builds and statuses the programme. Project controls software sits over the top: it reads the export and computes the reporting the scheduling tool does not produce on its own. Nothing is rebuilt and nothing is written back.
No. Project management software coordinates the doing — drawings, RFIs, submittals, defects. Project controls software forecasts where that work ends up — earned value, float, forecast completion, risk. Most contractors past a few million dollars need both. Full comparison.
From $395/month including GST, priced on combined contract value rather than per seat, with unlimited users on every plan. 14-day free trial. One project controls engineer costs $120k–$160k a year — this replaces the spreadsheet they spend most of their time in, not the person. Full pricing.
Primavera P6 .xer, Microsoft Project XML, Excel workbooks and CSV. The import wizard maps your columns rather than demanding a fixed template.
Yes, at no extra cost on every plan. The price tracks contract value, not headcount — so the principal, the superintendent and your subcontractors can all see the same reporting.
Export the programme you already have, upload it, and read the assessment on your own project. Fourteen days, full product, no limit on contract value.
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