P6 vs Procore vs Excel: Where Submittal and Procurement Tracking Should Live

Key takeaways

• Use P6 for schedule logic and date impact, not as the full submittal log.
• Use Procore for the active submittal record, workflow history, and current responsibility.
• Use Excel for controlled support lists, not as the master project record.
• Conflicting dates usually come from unclear field ownership, not from the software itself.
• Procurement control works best when the project record carries status and P6 carries schedule impact.

Submittal and procurement tracking should not live in only Primavera P6, only Procore, or only Excel. Use P6 for schedule logic and date impact, Procore for the active submittal record and workflow history, and Excel only for controlled support lists.

That split works because the tools solve different problems. Oracle positions Primavera Cloud around planning and scheduling, while Procore Submittals focuses on the log, workflow, and recordkeeping teams use every day.

Use P6 for logic, Procore for records, and Excel for support

The practical split is simple: one tool owns time logic, one tool owns the active record, and one tool supports analysis.

• P6 owns schedule logic: release milestones, fabrication durations, delivery dates, installation starts, testing, and other activities that can affect the CPM forecast.
• Procore owns submittal records: item status, review routing, attachments, returned comments, revision history, and current responsibility.
• Excel owns temporary support: expediting notes, vendor comparison sheets, short-term look-aheads, and management rollups that are not the official record.

Trying to make one system do all three usually creates duplicate dates and unclear ownership.

P6 should hold dates and relationships that affect the CPM forecast

Anything that changes sequence, float, or forecast completion belongs in the schedule. That includes submittal-required-before-work activities, long-lead release milestones, fabrication windows, shipping dates, owner-furnished or vendor-furnished equipment dates, and startup or commissioning activities tied to procurement.

Oracle's Primavera Cloud is positioned around planning and scheduling. That is why P6 is the right place to show whether a delayed equipment approval pushes downstream work.

P6 is not the best primary record for document routing and revision history. When teams use the schedule as the full submittal log, the activity list becomes harder to maintain and the schedule stops functioning as a clear forecast tool.

Procore should hold the active submittal record and workflow history

If the question is where a submittal sits, who has the next action, and what came back in review, the answer should come from the project record. For teams using Procore as the main project-management platform, that usually means Procore.

Procore Submittals centers the log, workflows, and recordkeeping process. That aligns with day-to-day submittal control better than a CPM schedule.

The project record usually needs to carry:

• submittal IDs and packages
• spec-section references
• current responsible party
• review due dates
• revision history
• returned status
• attached product data, shop drawings, samples, and responses

For procurement, use the same rule. Keep current status, confirmations, and related documents in the project record, then reflect schedule impact in P6.

Excel should stay limited to working lists, analysis, and rollups

Excel still has a place, but it should stay out of the role of master log. It works well for short-term expediting notes, internal follow-up lists, vendor comparison sheets, and portfolio rollups.

Excel becomes a problem when committed dates live there first and the project record gets updated later. Once that happens, the team starts managing three versions of the same issue.

A workable rule is simple:

• use Excel for temporary working notes
• move committed status into the official project record the same day
• update P6 when the change affects sequence or forecast dates

Clear field ownership prevents three conflicting logs

Most tracking failures come from unclear ownership, not from the software itself. Decide which system owns each field before the first long-lead item moves.

Assign one system of record for each field

Do not treat three tools as equally authoritative.

• P6 owns activity dates and logic relationships.
• Procore owns submittal status, review history, attachments, and current responsibility.
• Excel owns temporary notes and summaries.

Limit the shared fields

Only share the fields that need to appear across systems.

• item ID or activity reference
• spec section or buyout category
• responsible party
• required on-site date
• current forecast approval date
• current forecast delivery date

Set an update rhythm

Daily document movement belongs in the project record. Schedule impact belongs in the schedule update process.

• update Procore when status changes
• use Excel during follow-up, then clear those notes into the official record
• update P6 on the defined schedule cycle, with interim revisions for material changes

Write trigger rules

The handoff between tools should be explicit.

• When a long-lead submittal is returned for release, advance the related fabrication activity in P6.
• When a vendor confirms a slipped delivery date, update the project record and review schedule impact in P6.
• When a spreadsheet note becomes a committed date, enter it into the system of record that day.

Give one role final accountability

One person needs to reconcile the logs. Depending on the project, that may be the project engineer, submittal coordinator, project manager, procurement lead, or scheduler.

The right setup depends on project complexity and contract requirements

General contractors usually need both a CPM schedule and a project record. Many trade contractors can use a lighter version of the same model, as long as ownership stays clear.

For a GC on a CPM-driven project:

• keep schedule logic and procurement-driven milestones in P6
• keep the official submittal record in Procore
• keep Excel limited to controlled support lists

For a trade contractor working inside a GC's platform requirements:

• match the GC's submittal IDs, package structure, and due dates
• keep internal buyout or expediting notes in a simple working sheet if needed
• add schedule detail only where fabrication or procurement drives the work

For a smaller contractor with lower document volume:

• Excel can carry more of the internal working process
• one owner, one version, and one review cadence still matter
• move the official record into the project platform once revisions and participants increase

Tribuild Consultancy is a multi-trade estimating, preconstruction, and project-administration company.

If you want to review one submittal or procurement workflow, Tribuild can help map field ownership into your existing process.

Sources

• https://www.oracle.com/construction-engineering/primavera-cloud/
• https://www.procore.com/products/submittals
• https://www.procore.com/