Construction & Contractors
Every job has its own P&L. We track costs by project and phase so you know which work makes money before you bid the next one.
The Industry
Construction accounting is not like other businesses. You don’t just have a monthly profit and loss statement. You have a P&L for every single project, each with its own timeline, its own materials, its own subs, and its own margin. You front cash for lumber and labor, then wait 30 or 60 days for the draw. Sometimes longer.
In MetroWest and Greater Boston, you also deal with seasonality. Winter slows everything down. Permitting has its own rhythm. Supplier relationships matter because the guy at the counter knows your account history. When you say “end-of-month draw” or “retainage release,” you need a bookkeeper who doesn’t ask what that means.
Who This Covers
Who This Covers
General contractors, home builders, remodelers, and commercial construction. If you bid on work, buy materials, manage subs, and invoice against a scope or schedule, this applies to you.
The Friction
The Friction
Receipts get lost in truck consoles. Supplier house accounts get tangled. Figuring out whether you actually made money on the Johnson remodel after paying the crew, the electrician, and covering the material overrun takes math that usually gets skipped.
What We Handle
Job costing is the foundation. Every receipt, every labor hour, and every subcontractor invoice gets tagged to a specific project. We move you away from generic expense lines like “Materials” and “Subcontractors” to a detailed breakdown of what it actually cost to complete each job. Phase-level tracking is available when the project is large enough to need it.
We also manage the paperwork that keeps projects clean. Progress billing and retainage tracking so you know what is billed, what is held back, and when to expect release. Change orders documented and added to the invoice before you forget. W-9s collected from subs before the first check goes out so January 1099 filing is handled without the usual scramble.
Job Profitability by Phase
Job Profitability by Phase
We track revenue and expenses by project and by phase when needed. You will know which jobs generated healthy margins and which ones barely broke even. This data becomes the basis for pricing future work.
Progress Billing and Retainage
Progress Billing and Retainage
We track your draw schedule against completed work. Retainage held by general contractors or owners is recorded as a receivable, not forgotten. You know what is owed and when it should be released.
Common Problems
The biggest issue is cash flow management. Deposits from new jobs get used to finish old jobs. It works until it doesn’t. Without clear WIP reporting, you don’t know you are in trouble until the bank account is empty and payroll is due Friday. This cycle can spin for years before it catches up with you.
The second killer is underpriced bids. It is easy to count the lumber and the labor. It is harder to factor in truck insurance, the office, tool replacement, warranty callbacks, and the hours you spent driving to the supply house. If your bid doesn’t cover real overhead, you are working for free and calling it profit.
Unbilled Change Orders
Unbilled Change Orders
You agree to move a wall or upgrade a fixture. A handshake on the job site. But it never makes it onto the invoice. You eat the cost of materials and labor because the paperwork didn’t happen. Over a year, this adds up to real money.
Workers Comp Audit Problems
Workers Comp Audit Problems
Insurance audits are inevitable. If payroll records aren’t separated properly by class code, or if you can’t prove your subs carry their own coverage, you get hit with a premium adjustment that wipes out a month of profit.
What Changes
You start bidding based on history instead of hope. You look at actual data from your last three kitchen remodels or commercial tenant buildouts and know what your real margin was. The guesswork goes away. You quote based on what it actually costs to do the work.
The cash flow roller coaster smooths out. You can see upcoming draws and plan material purchases accordingly. You know what retainage is outstanding and when it should release. The constant stress of timing payroll against receivables becomes manageable instead of chaotic.
Bank Confidence
Bank Confidence
Lenders want clean financials. When you need to finance a new truck, a piece of equipment, or a line of credit to handle a bigger project, you have organized books and job-level profitability to show them. The conversation goes faster.
Audit Readiness
Audit Readiness
When the insurance auditor calls, you forward the file. Payroll is split by class code. Subcontractor certificates are organized. The audit turns from a stressful event into a routine check that takes an afternoon instead of a week.
Greater Boston's Trusted Bookkeeping Partner
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