Funding management and compliance

Know where every dollar came from, and what it has to report.

For agency finance, program and compliance staff: funding sources, federal-aid participation, DBE commitments, budget and forecast, and fund closeout, tracked against the field record that justifies every payment. The package is Contract Management, the program-level layer above Contract Administration.

Book a 20-minute walkthrough What’s included

Program funding

Project 24-118 · Funding

Bridge replacement · 3 funding sources

DBE shortfall flagged

Federal participation 80%Balance Current

Mon

Federal-aid allocationFunding source · participation 80/20

$4.20M

Tue

Change order CO-07 approvedEncumbered from the field record

+$186K

Today

DBE payments to dateGoal 12% · commitment tracked

9.8%

FHWA report readyGenerate report

Illustrative product view

Who uses it

One funding record, six people who depend on it.

Program directors

Manage multi-project programs, budget allocations and federal-aid drawdown.

Contract administrators

See encumbrances move as contracts, pay estimates and change orders flow.

DBE & compliance officers

Track DBE goals, record payments and produce the Uniform DBE Report.

Finance & budget staff

Refresh multi-year forecasts without a week of reconciliation.

Resident engineers

Approve the field quantities every payment traces back to.

Office & admin staff

Set up funding sources and access, and pull state and FHWA reports.

What changes

From spreadsheets reconciled at year-end to balances you can trust today.

Legacy process

With HeadLight

Legacy processFunding tracked in spreadsheets, with encumbrances calculated by hand

With HeadLightFunding sources defined once and encumbered as contracts and change orders flow

Legacy processFederal participation applied by hand, and FHWA reports built one cell at a time

With HeadLightParticipation set per project, drawdown tracked, FHWA reports produced on demand

Legacy processDBE goals in one system and payments in another, with shortfalls found at audit

With HeadLightDBE goals set per project, payments recorded as they happen, shortfalls flagged early

Legacy processCloseout that drags into the next fiscal year

With HeadLightCloseout as a routine: de-obligate unspent dollars, reconcile final payments, archive the record

31,600+ projects in 25+ states run on HeadLight today, from single contracts to agency-wide programs.

60+public agencies

130+engineering and construction firms

30M+field observations captured

Book a 20-minute walkthrough

What’s included

One package, Contract Management. It sits above Contract Administration.

Untagged: in every editionPro from Pro upCustom Custom onlyCompare editions

Contract Management

Funding sources, federal-aid participation, DBE tracking, budget and forecast — every dollar traceable from program budget to project payment to closeout.

Funding sources & encumbrances

Set up funding sources, allocate to projects, and track encumbrances
Monitor funding balance in real time
Transfer funding between projects when needed
Custom funding source categories and hierarchyPro

Federal-aid management

Configure federal participation ratios and verify project eligibility
Track federal fund drawdown and flag compliance issues early
Generate FHWA fund reports in standard formats
Custom federal-aid rules (toll credits, swap programs)Pro

Show all 20 capabilities

DBE tracking

Set DBE goal at the project level and track commitments from award
Record DBE payments and flag shortfalls early in the project lifecycle
Generate Uniform DBE Report in federal format
Custom DBE reports in state-specific formatsPro

Budget & forecast

Plan a program-level budget across projects and build multi-year forecasts
Generate monthly rolling cash flow projections
Re-forecast mid-year and track variance against the plan
Custom forecast templates with agency programsPro

Fund closeout

Close out project funding and de-obligate unspent dollars
Reconcile final payment and archive closed fund records
Multi-level funding approval chainsPro
Integrations with your finance and civil-rights systemsCustom

Platform and support come with every package. See what each edition adds

In production

Used on public work every day.

$30B+

of construction value managed on HeadLight

31,600+

projects run on HeadLight

100%

DBE goal traceability: every commitment, every payment

We had a GRAMA request on the project, HeadLight made it easy to analyze the issue and pull all the data together quickly.

Resident EngineerUtah DOT

No workarounds

Set up for your program, not a generic one.

Every agency funds its program differently: its own categories, its own federal-aid rules, its own state DBE reports. HeadLight is configured to match, so finance staff work in their own structure, not a generic one.

Funding categories

Your funding sources and hierarchy, allocated to projects.

Federal-aid rules

Participation ratios per project, including your special cases.

DBE reports

In your state’s required format, alongside the federal Uniform DBE Report.

Forecast templates

Aligned to your agency’s programs and fiscal calendar.

Approval chains

Multi-level funding approvals, routed the way your agency signs off.

Roles and permissions

Who can allocate, approve and report, by role.

Essentials

Standard

Start on HeadLight’s standard forms and workflows.

Pro

Configured, without code

Your administrators set up forms, rules, reports and approvals to your standards.

Custom

Engineered with you

We build what is genuinely unique to your program: forms, data and integrations.

Pricing is quoted: per user, on an annual term, based on the solutions and edition you choose. How pricing works →

Questions

What teams ask first.

Contract Administration or Contract Management: which do we need?

Contract Administration runs individual contracts: bid items, pay estimates and change orders. Contract Management is the program layer above: where the dollars came from and what reporting they require. Many agencies run both.

Does it connect to our financial systems?

Yes, in the Custom edition. HeadLight integrates with your finance and civil-rights systems, so funding, payments and DBE records move both ways. Every edition produces FHWA fund reports in standard formats. See how HeadLight connects

How long does it take to get running?

Standard setups typically take 2–4 weeks. Configured rollouts take 6–10 weeks, depending on forecast templates and approval chains. Financial-system integrations are scoped.

Can we start on the standard setup and configure later?

Yes. Start with standard funding categories and reports, and configure your own as the program needs them.

How is it priced?

Quoted. Per user, annual term, based on the solutions and edition you choose.

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