Construction
Construction Accounting Services
Construction accounting is different because the work is different. Revenue arrives on a schedule you do not fully control, costs land before billing, and profit lives at the job level long before it shows up on the income statement.
We build accounting around jobs and phases so you can see project margin while the project is still running.
The problem
Company-level profit hides job-level problems
A construction company can post a reasonable year while losing money on a third of its jobs. Without job-level cost tracking, the winners subsidize the losers and nobody knows which is which until it is too late to correct pricing.
Add retainage, change orders, deposits, and billing timing, and the income statement stops matching the reality on site.
Signs you may need this
- Costs are recorded by vendor or category, not by job
- You do not know a job's margin until it is closed and invoiced
- Labor burden is not loaded into job cost
- Retainage is not tracked separately from receivables
- Change orders are performed before they are documented and billed
- Overbilling and underbilling are not measured
What we do
How the work actually runs
01
Structure the file for jobs
A chart of accounts and job or project structure with cost codes and phases that match how you estimate and how you build.
02
Cost jobs accurately
Materials, subcontractors, equipment, and labor — with burden — allocated to the right job and cost code, not just to a general expense account.
03
Handle contract mechanics
Progress billing, retainage receivable and payable, deposits, change order tracking, and lien waiver-related record keeping.
04
Produce WIP reporting
Work in progress schedules showing costs to date, percent complete, billings, and over- or under-billing by contract.
05
Report margin by job
Estimated versus actual cost and gross margin by job and phase, so estimating gets feedback from what actually happened.
Deliverables
What you receive
- Job cost reports by job, phase, and cost code
- Work in progress (WIP) schedule
- Estimate versus actual variance reporting
- Retainage receivable and payable schedules
- Gross margin by job and by job type
- Monthly financial statements with job-level detail
- Reporting formatted for lenders, sureties, and bonding agents
Outcome
What changes
You find out a job is running over while there is still time to respond. Estimating improves because it is measured against actual cost. And when a bonding agent or lender asks for WIP and job schedules, you have them.
Best suited to
- General contractors and construction companies
- Companies running multiple concurrent projects
- Businesses with progress billing, retainage, or bonding requirements
- Contractors whose company profit does not match job-level expectations
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Related services
Where clients usually go next
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.
Contractors
Accounting and Bookkeeping for Contractors
Accounting and bookkeeping for contractors and trades: job-based coding, subcontractor tracking, payroll job costs, and reporting on real project margin.
Cash
Cash Flow Forecasting for Small Businesses
Cash flow forecasting for U.S. small businesses. See payroll, tax, debt, and project timing weeks ahead so cash decisions are planned, not reactive.
Next step
Discuss Your Accounting
Tell us how your jobs are tracked today and where the margin questions start.