Construction Bookkeeping Services: Job Costing, WIP & Retainage

If you’re running a construction business, your books are probably more complicated than most.

You’ve got job deposits, material costs, subcontractors, change orders, draw schedules, payroll, and equipment expenses. And somehow, you’re expected to keep track of it all while you’re out on the job site.

That’s why we offer Construction Bookkeeping—built specifically for trades, contractors, and construction crews who want real clarity on where the money’s going.

Why Is Construction Bookkeeping Different?

You’re not just selling one product or service—you’re managing dozens of moving parts across multiple jobs. That means:

• Revenue is tied to job progress

• Expenses vary from project to project

• Timing matters (especially for cash flow)

• Subcontractors need to be paid right

• Equipment purchases and fuel costs pile up

• You need to know what each job is costing you

If your books aren’t tracking that clearly, you’re flying blind—and losing money without realizing it.

What We Handle

We make sense of all that complexity. Here’s what we do:

• Track income and expenses by job or project

• Record deposits and progress payments

• Reconcile your books to actual bank activity

• Match vendor bills and receipts to each job

• Track subcontractor payments and file 1099s

• Handle payroll or get your payroll data organized

• Prepare monthly reports so you know what’s working

• Help with sales tax and city-specific requirements if needed

You’ll know exactly where your business stands—on each job and overall.

Job Costing That Actually Works

One of the biggest problems we see in construction bookkeeping is poor job costing. If you’re not tracking what each job brings in—and what it costs—you can’t tell what’s profitable.

We help you:

• Break down labor, materials, equipment, and overhead

• See which jobs are profitable (and which aren’t)

• Bid smarter on future work

• Avoid surprises at the end of a project

A contractor we work with in Seattle thought all his jobs were solid—until we showed him he was losing money on small repair work. He shifted his pricing, and now he’s in the black.

Works With Your Tools

We work with:

• QuickBooks Online and Desktop

• Jobber, Buildertrend, Knowify, and other industry tools

• Gusto, ADP, and your payroll service

• Google Drive or Dropbox for receipts and job docs

If your data is spread across apps, emails, and handwritten notes—we’ll pull it all together.

Local Roots. National Support

We’re based in Seattle, but we’ve helped contractors and builders around the country. Whether you’re residential, commercial, or a specialty trade—we speak your language.

Don’t Let the Numbers Slow You Down

You’re busy building stuff. Let us build you a solid set of books.

We’ll keep your jobs tracked, your numbers clean, and your financials easy to read—so you can run your crew without second-guessing your cash flow.

Flat monthly pricing. Clear communication. No drama.

Construction Bookkeeping Topics in Detail

• Job costing for contractors in QuickBooks – structure, labor burden, and why your job report does not match your P&L
• WIP schedules explained – percentage of completion, over and under billings, and what your bonding company wants
• Retainage accounting – tracking what you are owed and what you owe your subs
• 1099 filing for subcontractors – W-9s, thresholds, and worker classification
• Construction payroll – certified payroll, prevailing wage, and job-costed labor

Frequently Asked Questions About Construction Bookkeeping

What is construction bookkeeping?

Construction bookkeeping tracks income and costs by job rather than only company-wide. It covers job costing, work-in-progress reporting, retainage, progress billing, subcontractor payments, and payroll allocated to jobs, so a contractor can see margin per job rather than only annual profit.

Why is bookkeeping for contractors different from regular bookkeeping?

Because the unit of measurement is the job, not the month. Contractors bill progressively, have money withheld as retainage, recognize revenue over time rather than at delivery, and run labor across multiple jobs and wage rates. Standard small business bookkeeping does not produce the reports that answer whether a job made money.

What reports should a contractor get every month?

At minimum: a job cost report comparing actual to estimate on open jobs, a WIP schedule showing over and under billings, a retainage aging separate from standard receivables, and the usual profit and loss, balance sheet, and cash flow statements.

Can you fix books that were never set up for job costing?

Yes. That is the most common engagement. It usually means rebuilding the customer and job structure, adding items and cost codes, connecting time tracking to payroll, applying a labor burden rate, and recoding historical costs to jobs so prior periods become comparable.

Do you work with construction software?

Yes. We work with QuickBooks Online and Desktop alongside the tools contractors already use for time tracking, estimating, and project management, and reconcile them so the job data and the accounting data agree.

What trades do you work with?

General contractors, remodelers, landscaping and site work, specialty trades, and other field-based contractors. Our client work includes landscaping, remodeling, and trade contracting businesses.