Construction Software Companies & Consultants in Stillwater, MN

Contractors Software Group, known as CSG, is a Minnesota software developer serving residential builders and light commercial contractors. It is a division of J. Knutson & Associates, Inc. The company offers a single platform that ties together customer relationship management, estimating, scheduling and job cost accounting, which lets office teams avoid re-entering the same information in separate programs. A secure, branded web portal gives the back office a live line to field staff, vendors and clients.

Industries Served

CSG designs its tools for companies that construct, renovate or finish buildings. The website has dedicated pages for these groups:

• Home builders and residential construction companies
• Remodeling contractors
• General contractors
• Roofing contractors
• Landscape contractors
• Commercial and design-build firms

Testimonials come from builders and from a business that handles roofing, siding and remodeling. One former user describes using the platform to take a homebuilder from roughly 50 homes per year to more than 300, crediting the way it brought job costing, estimating, reporting and financial management into one connected system.

Software Series

The product line is organized into three series, each made up of CRM, estimating, scheduling and job accounting programs. The Plus Series was the company's first major release and became a widely preferred integrated option. The Professional Series followed as firms needed more speed and scale; it uses an SQL-based back end to handle larger numbers of projects and employees.

The Simple Series targets smaller builders still relying on spreadsheets, manual routines or QuickBooks, and is positioned as an easy-to-adopt step toward professional management software.

Every series is also available in a cloud-hosted form. Customers reach their software from anywhere for a recurring monthly fee and do not have to maintain a server of their own.

Portal, Mobile and Add-On Tools

In 2019 CSG introduced CSG Central, a web-based portal that shares real-time project details among builders, employees, subcontractors, vendors and clients. It was followed by a remote time card web app, which lets crews submit hours straight from the jobsite and sync them with the accounting software. The catalog also covers digital takeoff software, estimating databases, a QuickBooks upgrade path, and checks and tax forms.

Support and Evaluation

Beyond licensing, CSG offers training, technical support, annual maintenance agreements, upgrades and enhancements, and custom programming. Prospects can request a free online demonstration of the updated interface and review a product comparison and hardware requirements before deciding. Customers often highlight fast onboarding and dependable help from the support team, and one small contractor said it compared eight programs before choosing CSG, singling out the training and support.

History

J. Knutson & Associates began operating in 1984, reselling construction software to commercial, industrial and residential companies. After more than ten years of close work with contractors, its team identified a gap in the market and formed CSG to build products specifically for residential and light commercial firms. Since then the company has broadened its offering step by step, from the Plus Series to the Professional, Simple and cloud-hosted lines, and later to the portal and mobile time entry.