Why data foundations come first
Executive summary
Construction and real estate firms are investing in technology to improve efficiency and profitability, but disconnected systems and inconsistent reporting can erode those gains. Learn how CFOs and CROs of REITs and construction firms can establish clean data foundations first, then implement technology upgrades that deliver measurable improvements in reporting speed and project profitability.
Construction and real estate leaders know better than anyone: no structure can rise from shaky foundations. As firms and funds increasingly invest in technology to improve efficiency and profitability, the same principle applies — those investments succeed or fail based on the quality of the data beneath them. And in today’s environment of elevated costs, tighter financing and rising investor demands for reliable reporting, data quality directly affects access to capital.
That’s why more firms are upgrading their financial systems — new enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, planning platforms and integration tools — to eliminate manual processes. Construction and real estate leaders indicated in Grant Thornton’s 2025 Digital Transformation Survey that ERP/enterprise management and generative AI are the top technologies they’re investing in this year.
But without reliable data, even the most advanced tools can’t improve forecasting accuracy or reduce reporting delays. In our survey, very few construction and real estate leaders rated their data quality as excellent. To build more efficient and profitable firms and funds, leaders must clean up the data problems that prevent their system upgrades from delivering results.
The current state: Inefficiency erodes profitability
For both real estate investment trusts (REITs) and construction firms, their biggest data issue isn’t a lack of data — it’s that the information they rely on often arrives late, inconsistent or incomplete.
Many REITs rely on third-party property managers, which means property-level reports arrive at different times, in different formats, or with inconsistent account coding. Finance teams spend hours each month normalizing data instead of analyzing it.
In construction, extended project lifecycles make profitability especially difficult to track. From land acquisition through final property sales, costs accumulate across multiple years and are often shared/allocated across build projects, while revenue recognition may be delayed until project completion. Grant Thornton Technology Modernization Partner John Miksich noted that homebuilder profitability depends on tracking costs and revenue across the entire lifecycle, but this is often a struggle as data is scattered across multiple systems.
“Work-in-progress (WIP) and construction-in-progress (CIP) reporting should show which projects are profitable and which aren't. But when labor costs get charged to the wrong project or overhead allocations are inconsistent, these reports become unreliable,” Miksich said.
Across both sectors, lean finance teams are often stuck in reactive mode, manually fixing data just to close the books, when their focus should be on delivering timely, accurate insights that protect profitability and maintain investor confidence.
Data that drives profitability
Profitability in construction and real estate comes down to getting a few core data sets right. When these aren’t accurate or consistent, it causes reporting delays and missed forecasts.
REITs and funds
- Standardized chart of accounts
- Property manager reporting
- Lease data (rents, escalations, expirations)
- Operating expenses (OpEx) vs. capital expenditures (CapEx)
- Tenant and occupancy data
Construction
- Land acquisition and development costs
- WIP and CIP
- Direct costs: materials, subcontractors, labor
- Indirect allocations: overhead, corporate costs
Building better data foundations
For construction and real estate firms, efficiency and profitability require consistent reporting, accurate cost structures and clean input that decision-makers can trust — and that starts with finance leadership. Too often, data quality and integration are seen as IT problems. But when reporting slows or profitability is unclear, it becomes a finance issue — and CFOs and CROs need to take the lead.
“When finance leaders actively lead system implementation projects, the results are very different,” said Grant Thornton Technology Modernization Senior Manager Eleanor Lloyd. “By insisting on consistent cost codes, property manager reporting and project allocations, they set the standards that make ERP and planning tools effective. Without that discipline, the systems may go live, but the reporting problems don’t go away.”
So how should finance leaders approach this systematically?
Start with the visible pain points — then focus on what moves the numbers
Start with the visible pain points that finance teams face every day. For REITs, that often means normalizing property manager reports that arrive late or in inconsistent formats. For construction firms, it can mean cleaning up misclassified expense entries that make WIP reporting unreliable.
From there, leaders should turn to inconsistencies with the greatest financial impact. For REITs and funds, misclassified operating expenses versus capital expenditures can skew net operating income (NOI), a critical measure for investors and lenders. For construction firms, indirect labor or overhead tagged to the wrong project can distort WIP reporting.
“Leadership often focuses on whether the fund-level reporting is accurate and the cash position is strong,” said Grant Thornton Technology Modernization Senior Manager Sunny Gohel. “But dig deeper, and property-level data is often inconsistent. Leaders need to push for discipline across all levels, or those inconsistencies will keep slowing down reporting and eroding profitability.”
Resource and govern deliberately
Lean accounting teams can’t absorb the full burden of data validation on top of daily reporting. Successful organizations plan ahead, dedicating resources to support data validation efforts and ensuring the C-suite is actively involved. The key is having finance leaders set clear expectations by tying data accuracy requirements to specific financial metrics such as net operating income (NOI) and project margins. This governance approach ensures reporting processes remain consistent after implementation.
“Cleaning up years of inconsistent expense coding and account mapping requires significant resources during an ERP project,” Lloyd said. “The most successful teams plan ahead and dedicate resources so the accounting staff can focus on improving data quality rather than just trying to keep up.”
With consistent data flowing into new systems, CFOs get the faster reporting and more accurate project margins that justify the technology investment.
Tech that works: Building on clean data
When organizations establish clean data standards before implementing technology, modern ERP systems such as Oracle Cloud and planning platforms such as Anaplan, OneStream and Oracle Planning can automate manual reconciliations and deliver real-time visibility for decision-making.
In Grant Thornton’s transformation work with one of the nation’s leading homebuilders, Excel-based financial planning took weeks and created frequent reconciliation errors. The company was managing projections for more than 30,000 homes across multiple regions without real-time collaboration capabilities. By standardizing financial data as part of its Oracle Cloud enterprise performance management (EPM), the company was able to automate planning and enable 24-month forecasting with daily updates. The transformation eliminated manual reconciliation errors and allowed the finance team to focus on strategic analysis rather than spreadsheet management.
Case study: Clayton Homes
Clayton Homes operated with disparate on-premises systems across finance, home building and retail divisions, making strategic supply chain planning difficult and financial reporting time-consuming. Clayton consolidated sub-ledger data from all business units into one chart of accounts through Oracle Cloud ERP, while Oracle Cloud EPM automated their financial close process. The unified platform reduced reporting preparation time and eliminated the inconsistencies that previously required manual reconciliation across more than 40 home building facilities and more than 390 retail locations.
Setting up ERP and planning systems for success
Implementing an ERP or planning system can seem daunting. As one construction and real estate industry leader responded in our survey, “We are currently completing implementation of a new ERP system that aligns with many third-party tools across functional areas. We are concerned that our implementation is taking too long, but we are too invested for that process to be interrupted.” A phased rollout and multiple go-lives can help leaders see the reporting improvements and provide visibility to management long before the final wave of implementation.
“ERP projects used to take two or three years to show results. Now, with cloud-based platforms, we can deliver functionality in phases, giving leadership visibility into reporting and performance along the way,” Miksich said. “That makes a long, complex project feel more achievable — and more valuable.”
For long projects, sustaining momentum is critical. Finance and accounting teams already balance implementations with their day-to-day responsibilities, and projects that feel like nonstop sprints risk burning out the people who are critical to success. Setting realistic time frames for each phase — and building in opportunities for teams to regroup — helps make the process sustainable.
Throughout implementation, a strong communication strategy matters as much as technical execution. Finance teams need clear timelines for when their daily processes will change, training that fits around month-end close schedules, and advance notice of new reporting requirements. “Change management isn’t a box to check at the end,” Lloyd said. “Finance staff need to understand how their specific roles will evolve, not just receive generic system training.”
Tackle data discipline first
For construction and real estate firms, inconsistent reporting and manual reconciliations can mask true performance. The finance leaders who succeed in turning technology investments into measurable gains are those who tackle data discipline first, then implement systems on that foundation.
“If the foundation is wrong, you’ll never get the insights you need — no matter how advanced the system,” Miksich said. “But when finance leaders invest in data discipline, every system built on top of it delivers faster reporting and clearer profitability insights.”
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This Grant Thornton Advisors LLC content provides information and comments on current issues and developments. It is not a comprehensive analysis of the subject matter covered. It is not, and should not be construed as, accounting, legal, tax, or professional advice provided by Grant Thornton Advisors LLC. All relevant facts and circumstances, including the pertinent authoritative literature, need to be considered to arrive at conclusions that comply with matters addressed in this content.
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