Bookkeeping for contractors and subcontractors
SF Business Solutions does construction bookkeeping for general contractors and subcontractors: job costing set up in QuickBooks Online, work-in-progress schedules, retainage, payroll and subcontractor 1099s.
Plans start at $250 a month.
Job costing
A contractor's P&L can show a profit while half the jobs lose money. Job costing fixes that by assigning every cost, including labor, materials, equipment and subcontractors, to the job it belongs to. We set up job costing in QuickBooks Online using projects, customers and cost codes, and keep it up to date every month.
You then see estimated versus actual cost on every job while it is still running, not after it closes.
- Projects and cost codes set up in QuickBooks Online
- Labor, materials, equipment and subs coded to each job
- Estimated versus actual cost by job
WIP schedules and retainage
Sureties, banks and larger general contractors often ask for a work-in-progress schedule: each job's contract value, costs to date, estimated cost to complete, percent complete, and whether you have billed ahead of or behind the work. We prepare the WIP schedule from your job costing each month or quarter. We also track retainage you are owed and retainage you hold back from subs, so neither gets lost.
Payroll and certified payroll
Construction payroll often means crews in more than one location, different pay rates by task, and union or prevailing wage jobs. We run payroll and code labor to jobs. On federally funded prevailing wage projects, contractors file certified payroll reports, usually on Form WH-347. Clean labor coding by job is what those reports are built from; talk to us on a consult about your prevailing wage work.
Subcontractors
If you hire subs, you need a W-9 from each before you pay them, certificates of insurance on file, and 1099-NEC forms every January. If you are a subcontractor yourself, you mostly need clean job costs, retainage tracking and on-time invoicing. Our monthly service covers both sides.
How to start
Three steps. The first one is free.
- 1
Book a free consult
A 1-hour call about your books, your software and what you need.
- 2
Give us access
Invite us to QuickBooks Online or Xero and share your bank and card statements.
- 3
We take it from there
Cleanup first if you are behind. Then we close each month between the 5th and 15th of the following month, depending on your documents.
Great to work with! Always available & gets things done quickly. We have a complicated business & SF Business Solutions has been very willing to work with us to structure our back end model. 10/10 recommend!
Who can set up job costing in QuickBooks for a contractor?
We can. We set up projects and cost codes in QuickBooks Online and code every labor, material and subcontractor cost to its job.
Can you prepare WIP schedules for a construction company?
Yes. We build the WIP schedule from your job costing, showing percent complete and over- or under-billing on each job.
Do you handle certified payroll for construction?
We run construction payroll and code labor to jobs, which is the record certified payroll reports are built from. Ask about prevailing wage projects on a consult.
What bookkeeping does a small subcontractor need?
Job costs, retainage tracking, on-time invoicing and payroll or 1099s for your crew. Our monthly service covers it from $250 a month.
Do you do bookkeeping for general contractors?
Yes. General contractors are a core fit: job costing, WIP, retainage, subcontractor 1099s and payroll in one monthly service.
Related
Hand us this month’s books.
Pick a day for a free 1-hour consult.