Vendor Projects: From Council Decision to Paid Vendor
How one repair or project moves through Pastrata: council decides, quotes come in, the award is approved, the work is done, invoices are paid and the spending lands on the budget.
Every repair or improvement that needs a vendor follows the same path in Pastrata: council decides, the job gets a budget, vendors quote, the award is approved, the work is done, invoices are approved and paid, and the spending shows on the budget line. All of it stays on one project, so anyone on council can open it later and see who decided what, what it cost and where the money came from.
This page explains that path for council members and property managers. Each stage links to the step-by-step guide for it. Vendor projects are on the Prime plan, with the vendor directory turned on.
The Journey at a Glance
The flow has four phases and nine stages. You don't have to use every stage: a small repair can skip quotes, and an emergency can be approved after the work.
| Phase | Stages | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Decide | 1–2 | Council decides; the job becomes a project with a budget. |
| Buy | 3–5 | Vendors quote, the quotes are compared, and the award is approved. |
| Build | 6 | The vendor does the work on one thread, with change orders approved first. |
| Pay & report | 7–9 | Invoices are approved, payments recorded, and the spending shows on the budget. |
Decide (Stages 1–2)
1. Council decides
Who: council, property manager.
Council records the decision as an action item with one owner and a due date, during a meeting, from a passed motion, or from a passed written resolution. Convert the action item to a project, and the project keeps a link to the meeting or resolution that authorized it. A project can also start from a maintenance request, an asset, a written resolution, or from scratch.
While the project runs, its action item follows it, and the next council meeting's Old business lists it with the project's status.
Step by step:
2. Scope and fund the work
Who: property manager, treasurer.
The project holds the scope of work, an estimate including tax, a lead, and its internal attachments (drawings, photos, engineer's reports; vendors never see these). Under Funding and budget impact, say how it will be paid for: a line of the year's budget, the contingency reserve fund, a special levy, or a split across them. People who can manage the building's finances see what each budget line has left and what this project would leave.
If the work would take a budget line over, draw on the reserve fund, or rely on a levy owners haven't voted on, the panel shows your jurisdiction's guidance on whether owners need to vote. It is guidance only and never blocks you.
Step by step:
Buy (Stages 3–5)
3. Request quotes
Who: property manager, vendors.
From the project, send a request for quote to vendors from the directory (for a building in a management company, the company's vendor pool) or to a new vendor by name and email. Vendors receive the scope, the due date and the files you choose, never the estimate or the funding. When you pick vendors, you see each one's compliance status: liability insurance and, in BC, WorkSafeBC clearance.
Questions, answers, addenda and due-date changes reach every bidder, and vendors never see each other. See How Vendors Take Part below for vendors who don't use the portal.
Step by step:
- Request Quotes for a Project
- Invite Vendors to a Quote Request
- Message Vendors on a Quote Request
- Require a Minimum Number of Quotes
4. Compare quotes
Who: council, property manager.
Every quote lands in one comparison table, however it arrived: total, tax, duration, earliest start, inclusions and exclusions, compliance and the vendor's past work for the building. Pastrata marks the lowest price and flags quotes that have expired, came in late, predate an addendum, or come from a vendor whose coverage has lapsed. For a quote emailed as a PDF, Fill from document fills in the figures for the manager to check.
Council members can comment (comments are kept as part of the record) and mark a preferred quote with a reason. The comparison exports to PDF for a meeting agenda.
Step by step:
5. Approve and award
Who: property manager, council officers, council, the vendor.
Your building's approval tiers decide who approves an award at its amount (see Who Approves What below). Pastrata routes the award to them: it goes ahead at once in a manager tier, sends an approval request to the officers in an officer tier, or, in the council tier, drafts a written resolution, puts a motion on an upcoming council meeting, or cites a decision council already passed.
When the award is approved, the vendor is told and gets the work order, the other bidders are told the work went elsewhere (never to whom or for how much), and the amount is recorded as a commitment against the project's funding. You can then send a contract or award letter for e-signature.
Step by step:
Build (Stage 6)
6. Do the work
Who: property manager, the vendor, affected residents.
The quote conversation carries on as the project's vendor thread, so the whole history with the vendor stays in one place, whether they reply in the portal or by email. The vendor or the manager updates the schedule and progress. To tell affected residents, send a maintenance notice from the project with Notify residents.
- Change orders (CO-1, CO-2, …) are proposed by the vendor or the manager and approved by the tier that applies to the award's new total. Only approved change orders raise the award, so extra work is agreed before it's done.
- When the vendor marks the work complete, a manager confirms it. Where your province's lien law requires a holdback (in BC, under the Builders Lien Act), that date starts the holdback period.
Step by step:
- Talk to the Vendor on a Project
- Change a Project’s Award with a Change Order
- Confirm a Vendor Finished the Work
Pay and Report (Stages 7–9)
7. Review and approve invoices
Who: property manager, treasurer, the vendor.
Invoices arrive in the vendor invoices inbox from the portal, from an emailed attachment on the vendor thread (Record as invoice), or by manual entry. Each keeps its original PDF or photo.
- The invoice shows the award, what has been approved against it so far, this invoice and what would remain.
- Each line is coded to a budget line, the reserve fund or a special levy.
- Possible duplicates are listed before you approve.
- Within the award, a manager with invoice permission approves it. Above the award, the approval tiers apply again, and approving asks for a reason.
- Progress billing and any statutory holdback are tracked per invoice.
Step by step:
- Review, Approve and Pay Vendor Invoices
- Enter a Paper or Emailed Vendor Invoice
- Process Invoices with Statutory Holdbacks (BC)
8. Record the payment
Who: property manager, treasurer, the vendor.
The building pays the way it always has: cheque, EFT, e-transfer or bill payment. Then record the payment in Pastrata, for one invoice or for several at once as a payment run, with the cheque number or transfer reference. Part payments are fine, and holdback stays retained until it is released. With dual approval on, a payment or run above the building's payment approval threshold waits for a second manager.
The vendor is sent a remittance advice by email, and in the portal if they use it. With QuickBooks Online or Xero connected, each payment is sent there too.
Step by step:
9. Report and close out
Who: treasurer, council, owners.
Paying an invoice records its spending on the budget lines it was coded to, once, so nobody enters it again as an expense. Budget vs. actual shows each line's budgeted, spent, committed and remaining amounts. Owners see spending that has happened, by category, in their financial overview, as your transparency settings allow; they never see commitments or quotes.
When the work is complete and its invoices are settled, Close out the project: rate the vendor, and Pastrata writes a close-out summary, files it in Documents (unless the project is confidential), releases any unspent commitment and marks the action item done for the next meeting's Old business. The project Register exports every project to CSV or PDF.
Step by step:
How Vendors Take Part
Your vendors don't need a Pastrata account. Each vendor on a quote request takes part in one of three ways:
| Portal vendor | Email vendor | Record-only vendor | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Account | Signs in to the web vendor portal (there is no vendor app) | None | None |
| Request for quote | In the portal | By email from the building, with a link to a private page to read the scope, download the files or decline | The manager phones them or speaks in person; Pastrata never emails them |
| Quote | Submits it in the portal | Replies with a PDF; the manager records it | The manager records it |
| Messages | Portal or email reply, on one thread | Replies to the emails, on the same thread | Relayed by the manager |
| Change orders | Proposes them in the portal | Through the manager | Through the manager |
| Invoices | Submits them in the portal and follows their status | Emails them; the manager records them | The manager enters them |
| Payment | Remittance advice by email and in the portal | Remittance advice by email | Remittance advice by email, if there is an address on file |
A vendor with no email on file, or one who asked not to receive quote requests, can only be record-only. Vendors never see that their work is part of a project, and never see other bidders.
Who Approves What
Each building sets its own approval authority: who approves an award, a change order or a vendor invoice, by its total including tax. Until you set tiers, council approves every award and change order, and any manager with invoice permission approves invoices.
You can start from this example and adjust it:
| Total including tax | Who approves | How |
|---|---|---|
| Up to $2,500 | Any manager with award permission | Goes ahead at once, or waits for a second manager if your building requires dual approval |
| Up to $25,000 | The President or Treasurer | An approval request with the comparison and any flags, which they can answer in the mobile app |
| Above $25,000 | Council | A written resolution that every council member consents to in writing, a motion at a council meeting, or a decision council already passed |
The example is a starting point, not something any law requires. Check it against the spending limits in your bylaws.
Safeguards that apply whatever tiers you set:
- When officers or council must approve, the person who proposed the award, change order or invoice is never the one who approves it, even when they hold the office the tier names.
- A change that gives anyone authority they didn't have (raising a limit, moving approval from council to officers, going back to the defaults) takes effect only once a council member other than the one making the change approves it.
- Change orders, and invoices that go over the award, go through the same tiers as the award.
- Awarding a vendor whose insurance or clearance has lapsed needs the manager's acknowledgment, and the approver sees it.
Step by step:
A Worked Example: Parkade Membrane Repair
The dates and amounts below are illustrative. Amounts include tax. The building uses the example tiers above.
| When | What happens | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 12 | At the council meeting, an action item is created for the property manager, due May 1, and converted to a project funded from the contingency reserve fund. | Estimate $35,000 |
| Mar 14 | A request for quote goes to three vendors: two from the directory (one uses the portal) and a new waterproofing firm by email. | |
| Mar 28 | Three quotes are in. The lowest is marked; council marks the middle one preferred for its 10-year warranty. | $36,750 · $38,400 · $41,200 |
| Mar 29 | Above $25,000, so the award goes to council. Pastrata drafts a written resolution with the comparison attached. | |
| Apr 3 | The resolution passes. The vendor gets the work order, the other bidders are told, and the commitment is recorded. | $38,400 |
| Apr 22 | The vendor finds a failed drain and proposes CO-1. The new total is still in the council tier, and council approves it by resolution. | +$2,100 |
| Apr 30 | Progress invoice #1 arrives in the portal. It is within the award, so the manager approves it, and the holdback is retained. | $20,000 |
| May 15 | The vendor marks the work complete and the manager confirms it. The holdback period starts. | |
| May 16 | Final invoice #2 arrives by email and is recorded from the thread. A payment run is recorded with the cheque numbers; the vendor gets a remittance advice, and the payments go to QuickBooks Online. | $20,500 |
| Jul 2 | The holdback is released and paid. The project is closed out, the vendor rated, the summary filed, and the action item shows as done at the next meeting. | $40,500 in total |
What Pastrata Does and Doesn’t Do
- It records payments; it doesn't make them. The building pays vendors through its bank or accounting system, and Pastrata records the payment and tells the vendor. Pastrata never holds or moves the building's money to vendors.
- It works alongside your accounting system. Payments sync to QuickBooks Online or Xero when connected. Pastrata doesn't replace the general ledger, bank reconciliation or year-end statements.
- It doesn't decide what's legally required. Approval tiers are set by your building to match its bylaws. The example tiers are a starting point, and budget guidance is guidance, not legal advice.
- Owners see spending, not negotiations. Owners see money that has been spent, as your transparency settings allow. Projects, quotes, comparisons and commitments stay with council and managers.
- Quotes can be read from a PDF; invoices are entered. Fill from document pre-fills a quote from its PDF. Invoice figures are typed in by the vendor in the portal or by a manager.
Required Roles & Capabilities
Access to these features depends on your building role and assigned capabilities:
| Capability | Description | Default Roles |
|---|---|---|
PROJECT_VIEW | View vendor projects | PROPERTY_MANAGEMENT, STRATA_COUNCIL |
PROJECT_MANAGE | Create and manage vendor projects | PROPERTY_MANAGEMENT, STRATA_COUNCIL |
VENDOR_QUOTE_MANAGE | Manage vendor quote requests | PROPERTY_MANAGEMENT, STRATA_COUNCIL, CONCIERGE |
INVOICE_VIEW | View vendor invoices | PROPERTY_MANAGEMENT, STRATA_COUNCIL |
INVOICE_MANAGE | Manage vendor invoices | PROPERTY_MANAGEMENT, STRATA_COUNCIL |
Frequently Asked Questions & Troubleshooting
What about emergency work? We can’t wait for a resolution.
Dispatch the vendor as you do today. Afterwards, promote the work order to a project and click Record the award, with "emergency" as the reason. The approval still goes to whoever your tiers name, and until it is recorded the project shows Award approval not recorded.
We’re self-managed. Who plays the property manager?
A council member. Council members hold the same project, quote and invoice permissions by default, so the flow is the same with fewer hand-offs. The safeguards still apply: when officers or council must approve, whoever proposed the award can’t also approve it.
What happens when an invoice is higher than the award?
The invoice shows that it goes over the award, and approving it asks for a reason and goes through your approval tiers like any new spending. The cleaner path is a change order approved before the extra work; from the invoice, Request change order proposes the difference.
Does Pastrata check the vendor’s insurance?
It shows each vendor’s liability insurance status and, in BC, WorkSafeBC clearance, when you pick vendors and in the quote comparison. Awarding a vendor whose coverage has lapsed or is missing needs the manager’s acknowledgment, and the approver sees it. Pastrata shows what the vendor has on file; confirming the coverage is right for the job stays with you.
Our management company keeps a shared vendor list. Can we use it?
Yes. A building in a management company picks vendors from the company’s shared vendor pool when it requests quotes.
Do we have to get quotes for every job?
No. A manager can award a project directly to a vendor, giving the reason (emergency, sole source, or other), and it still goes through your approval tiers. If your building requires a minimum number of quotes above an amount, awarding with fewer asks for a reason, which is kept with the award.
Can council approve things from their phone?
Yes. In the mobile app, council members and officers can approve or reject awards, change orders, vendor invoices and payment runs, and follow each project with its quote comparison and funding. Starting projects, requesting quotes, proposing awards and change orders, and recording payment runs are done on the web.