How S&techs is successfully scaling cost governance across APAC with Autodesk
S&techs is a full-service Main Contractor and Construction Management firm headquartered in Hong Kong, with a growing footprint across Asia-Pacific. With offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Sydney, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, the business delivers complex interior fit-out, refurbishment and construction projects for commercial, retail, hospitality, and technology clients. As the company expands across markets, standardisation becomes essential. Constraints such as disconnected systems, localised spreadsheets become a hindrance.
S&techs management recognised this and implemented Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC) in 2025 for its robust cost management features, and as the foundation for a broader platform strategy. The goal was not simply to replace spreadsheets, but to establish a construction-native system that could standardise commercial workflows, enforce approvals around the APAC region, and provide real-time cost visibility across the firm’s Hong Kong and Singapore operations.
From fragmented spreadsheets to real-time cost control
Before adopting ACC, S&techs relied on Excel spreadsheets and basic accounting software to manage budgets, purchase orders, and subcontractor commitments. Cost data was fragmented, reporting was often delayed, and approvals were handled informally through email and manual sign-off.
As project volumes and their complexity increased, the lack of structured approval workflows became a growing concern. For example, quantity surveyors could coordinate with cost details for subcontractor costs or variations without consistent senior review, making audit trails difficult to reconstruct.
“Excel works until it doesn’t,” says Mike Kavanagh, Chief Operating Officer at S&techs. “Once you’re running multiple projects across markets, with multiple teams, contractors and stakeholders involved, you need governance and visibility you can rely on, otherwise you’re making commercial decisions without the full picture.”
S&techs knew that while the information may not be wrong, it also may not always reliable or consistent, and the potential margin for error was increasing. Different versions of the same spreadsheet would circulate around teams. Without the source of truth, project managers and leadership would need much more time to validate where budgets really stood, lending room for human error.
“That’s a single point of failure for any business, let alone one as complex and diverse as ours. We wanted a system where governance was built in at every turn, making compliance easier for our teams and confidence in cost management across all projects,” adds Mr Kavanagh.
‘Construction-first’ cost management
When evaluating a range of potential solutions, S&techs looked beyond generic procurement tools. The business recognised their team needed a system designed specifically for construction, capable of handling purchase orders, subcontracts, change orders, and payments seamlessly within a single, connected workflow.
The intelligent and customisable cost management features in ACC stood out for how effectively they could be configured to match how S&techs operates in the real world. Approval pathways could be tailored by value and risk, workflows standardised across projects, and every action recorded within a central, accessible audit trail.
“ACC stood out because of its construction-first build,” Matt Fung, Procurement Manager at S&techs explains. “We weren’t trying to force our processes into generic software that couldn’t account for the operational realities of our industry. Cost management in ACC responds particularly well to the complex needs of construction procurement, especially factoring in the multi-market nature of our business.”
A disciplined rollout with rapid adoption
The project kicked off in January 2025, with S&techs working alongside Forida, Autodesk’s local partner, to configure workflows and permissions to suit the firm’s ways of working. After a development phase and short soft launch, the new cost management approach with ACC went live across projects in Hong Kong and Singapore in April.
While the rollout was driven by S&techs leadership, adoption was driven by teams across the business who quickly saw operational benefits. Training sessions were run for administrators, project teams, and executives with internal follow-ups led by Mr Fung.
“The rollout was made easier by the fact ACC has an intuitive interface and it’s cloud-based, so our people can access it through a browser from anywhere,” Mr Fung says. “New users can be trained in under an hour, which makes a big difference when you’re onboarding across multiple projects and want to encourage compliance quickly.”
Cost management as a single source of truth
With ACC in place, S&techs immediately established a single source of truth for budgets, commitments, and payments. Purchase orders and subcontracts now follow standardised workflows, with system-enforced approvals for quantity surveyor (QS) managers and senior leadership. Change orders are routed for review based on their value. Meanwhile, risk and payment applications are tracked directly against each budget, meaning teams can see actualised numbers in real time with every approval and update logged in the system.
“The audit trail changes the conversation for us,” Mr Kavanagh says. “It’s not just about the numbers, it’s about understanding who approved what, when it happened, and how it impacts cash flow. That clarity improves decision-making across the business and gives our senior leadership quick visibility we didn’t previously have.”
For project teams and QS managers, the visibility is equally important because “everyone is looking at the same data,” Mr Fung says. “That transparency builds confidence and reduces the back-and-forth that used to slow projects down with questions and requests for more information.”
From cost control to a connected ecosystem
While cost management was the entry point, S&techs views ACC as a broader platform opportunity. By capturing structured cost data within the platform, the business has laid the groundwork for deeper integration across project delivery.
“Our aim is to connect procurement, project teams and, eventually, clients into a single environment,” Mr Kavanagh says. “When cost information and delivery information live in separate systems, you lose efficiency and risks increase. A common platform changes that.”
S&techs is also exploring how its growing cost dataset can support more advanced analysis. With consistent data captured across projects and markets, the business can begin to identify trends, understand price movements, and improve forecasting accuracy.
“The data is already there,” Mr Fung says. “The next step is using it to be more proactive, rather than reactive, in how we manage costs.”
For S&techs, ACC has delivered immediate commercial control while supporting a longer-term platform vision, providing the discipline required to support a thriving and expanding business across Asia-Pacific with confidence.