Contractors
Accounting and Bookkeeping for Contractors
Contractors do not need generic small business bookkeeping. They need books that follow the work: crews, jobs, materials, subs, and equipment.
We handle the ongoing accounting for contracting businesses so job cost, payroll, and cash timing are recorded correctly the first time.
The problem
The books do not follow the crews
When a supply house invoice is coded to materials and a crew's week is coded to wages, the accounting is technically complete but operationally useless. You cannot tell which job carried the cost.
Meanwhile the parts of contracting that hurt most — unbilled change orders, deposits treated as income, subcontractor documentation, equipment costs — are the parts generic bookkeeping handles worst.
Signs you may need this
- Materials and subcontractor costs are not tied to jobs
- Payroll hours are not allocated to the work performed
- Customer deposits are recorded as revenue when received
- Subcontractor payments and 1099 information are hard to assemble
- Equipment costs are lumped together with no job allocation
- You are bidding new work using guesswork on prior job costs
What we do
How the work actually runs
01
Set up job-based coding
Every material, sub, equipment, and labor cost coded to a job and cost code as part of routine processing.
02
Allocate payroll to jobs
Time data mapped into job cost at fully burdened rates, including employer taxes and workers' compensation loading.
03
Manage subcontractor records
Vendor setup, W-9 tracking, insurance certificate records, and year-end 1099 preparation support.
04
Track billing and change orders
Deposits, progress billing, retainage, and a running list of performed-but-unbilled change orders.
05
Report on what jobs earned
Monthly job margin reporting alongside standard financial statements.
Deliverables
What you receive
- Monthly reconciled books with job-level coding
- Job cost and job margin reports
- Burdened labor cost allocated to jobs
- Subcontractor and 1099 records maintained through the year
- Unbilled change order and retainage tracking
- Financial statements and year-end package
Outcome
What changes
Bidding gets grounded in what your last similar job actually cost. Unbilled work gets caught and invoiced. Year-end 1099 season stops being a two-week emergency.
Best suited to
- Trade contractors and specialty subcontractors
- Owner-operators running multiple crews
- Contractors billing progress or milestone invoices
- Businesses growing past what a general bookkeeper can support
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Related services
Where clients usually go next
Construction
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Job costing
Job Costing and Project Profitability
Job costing and project profitability reporting for contractors: burdened labor, cost codes, estimate versus actual, and gross margin by job.
Bookkeeping
Bookkeeping Services for Small Businesses
Online bookkeeping services for U.S. small businesses. Accurate coding, monthly reconciliations, and books that stay current instead of falling behind.
Next step
Get Your Books Reviewed
Send over a recent job and we will show you how the costing should look.