About North Development
Real estate development firm North Development specializes in high-end condominiums that deliver strong returns for investors and a positive living experience for residents. Founded in 2021, the South Florida firm manages a pipeline of developments totaling $1.5 billion in projected sales.
The Challenge
Scalability has always been important to the team at North Development. The firm’s first project had a budget of around $110 million, and their most recent project has a budget of $400 million. They’re grown quickly, but their traditional, manual approach to financial and contract management couldn’t keep pace.
Their old system relied heavily on Excel, locally stored folders, and email threads. It lacked visibility, created confusion between departments, and slowed processes. Partner and VP of Finance, Arturo Vidal, said approving invoices, managing contracts, and syncing budgets across teams became increasingly painful.
“People were losing emails, and invoices weren’t getting to the right location,” he said. “The risks included vendors being paid late, duplication of payments, and missing when a contract had exceeded its value.”
Their accounting system wasn’t well-suited to the workflows of their industry or specific roles. They needed a development project management platform that could not only centralize documents and manage the invoice approval workflow, but also manage individual project budgets and offer clarity and visibility to all stakeholders.
After hearing about Northspyre from a peer, Vidal spent several months vetting the platform alongside competitors. He liked what they saw, but onboarding new software across the organization was daunting. The Northspyre customer success team led a seamless implementation, helping the firm see ROI quickly.
“They are willing to constantly do training, have Zoom calls with our team, and hold them by the hand to learn how to use the platform,” Vidal said. “A lot of other software platforms are one size fits all, and the customer success team isn’t as involved and intertwined with the team. One of the things we like is the good service our customer success people have been able to provide.”
Since implementation, Northspyre quickly became vital to North Development’s infrastructure. Today, they’re earning $200–300 million in revenue and becoming more ambitious with each project.
“We are taking hundreds of millions in projects under management, and this is done hand in hand with Northspyre,” said Financial Analyst Sebastian Baltodano.
How Northspyre Helps North Development
Automated workflows prevent errors and accelerate approvals
Today, the team uses Northspyre from start to finish on every project to track invoices, contracts, and budgets.
“It provides financial accuracy, knowing we’re paying what we’re supposed to pay and that our contracts and our invoices match. We can sleep well at night, knowing everything is under control,” Baltodano said.
One of the most impactful features has been Northspyre’s automated invoice workflows. The platform routes every invoice to the right stakeholders across finance, development, accounting, and beyond for timely approval. Invoices are automatically matched to contracts, eliminating the risk of errors.
“We receive invoices through a dedicated inbox, and Northsypre AI fills most of the fields for us, which is a lifesaver,” Vidal said.
Better budget control and more accurate forecasting
Northspyre also delivers significant value in financial control and forecasting. The team uses it to track actual spend versus budget and predict future expenditures using real-time data.
For Baltodano, one of its most powerful features is the Anticipated Cost Report, which offers a specific breakdown of each budget line: what has been spent, what’s committed, and the level of exposure.
“It’s incredibly granular. Knowing exactly what you can and can’t spend — that’s where the magic happens,” he said.
Vidal agrees, adding that it saves time and energy for the team.
“It’s not a headache at the end of the month, where we have to validate and triple validate our expenditure. The information is all there for us. We can just import the information and send it out. That creates great value.”
Construction oversight and lender coordination
In addition to being used for financial planning, Northspyre’s value extends into the field. The construction team uses it to track materials delivered, lien waivers, retainage, and more.
“It breaks down every single piece of information that we need, so we can do truthful analysis of what’s happening on our sites,” Baltodano said.
It also streamlines lender coordination. Monthly draw requests, for example, happen in minutes.
“Northspyre allows us to stay in sync with lenders,” Vidal said. “It compiles all necessary reports and documents so we can submit them and get funded quickly.”
When lenders or auditors ask for contracts, payment history, or invoice documentation, it’s easy to give them what they need. Everything is stored safely and is easily accessible from a single location, so there’s no scrambling required.
AI-powered accuracy with CoPilot
Another favorite feature among the team is CoPilot, Northspyre’s AI assistant. It flags inconsistencies or overspending before they become problems.
“CoPilot is fantastic,” Baltodano said. “It’s a safety net, allowing you to go over potential mistakes and make sure everything’s accurate with your contracts and overall project financials.”
With all contracts and invoices tracked in one place and backed by AI, they avoid overpayments and reduce risk. “The more manual you are, the more prone you are to mistakes. Northspyre has definitely allowed us to have less exposure,” Baltodano said.
Cross-departmental collaboration that accelerates progress
These days, team members across the organization use Northspyre. The platform has become a shared source of truth, facilitating greater collaboration.
“One of the most beautiful things Northspyre provides is the ability for all of us — development, marketing, and sales — to look at a project together. We all have data points that we’re constantly looking at each day, but Northspyre is the glue that allows us to view everything together and see our progress,” Baltodano said.
Anyone can log into Northspyre, examine respective budget line items, and see exactly where a project stands. The increased visibility reduces back-and-forth communication and unnecessary queries between departments.
This streamlined coordination is especially valuable when departments propose a budget change. Changes can have ripple effects on a project, but Northspyre prevents them from becoming operational headaches.
“Any budget change goes through Northspyre’s automated workflow, which ensures it quickly gets approved by the finance and management team. That helps us all keep organized,” Vidal said.
The Northspyre Difference
With more fluid workflows and a centralized repository of information, North Development’s team can make decisions quickly and move faster.
Approving a vendor invoice used to take 25 days. Now, it takes no more than five — an 80% improvement.
“Northspyre saves you lots of hours in your day, and in this industry, you need all the time you can get,” Baltodano said. “Northspyre has allowed me to do my job how it’s supposed to be done.”
Using Northspyre, North Development is scaling projects and revenue with greater clarity and confidence. They can now manage individual projects worth half a billion dollars while maintaining a lean team.
“We’re taking projects that are bigger by the day. We are taking risks and growing and scaling what we do. That is in part because of the tools that are available to us, and one of our most important tools is Northspyre,” Baltodano said.
“I’d recommend it to any developer that wants control over their finances and the ability to scale confidently,” Vidal said.
Ready to take control of your projects?
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