Contractors & Construction
You can build anything. But knowing which jobs actually made money? That's where most contractors lose track.
The Timing Never Works
You buy materials on Monday. You pay your crew on Friday. The client pays you in 45 days if things go well. Longer if there’s a dispute or a slow GC in the chain. A profitable quarter on paper can still leave you scrambling to cover next week’s payroll.
This is the reality of construction. Cash out today, cash in later. And somewhere in between, you’re supposed to know whether the job actually made money.
Most contractors don’t have a clear answer. They know what they bid. They think they know what they spent. But the real number after callbacks, material price increases, and the extra day the crew needed? That gets fuzzy.
What We Handle
Contractor bookkeeping is job costing. Every expense needs to tie to a specific project or it’s useless information. Materials, labor, permits, equipment rental, dumpster fees. When they all get lumped together, you can’t tell which work makes money and which doesn’t.
We set up QuickBooks so it actually works for construction. Proper job costing enabled, classes or projects configured, and reports that show profitability by job. Then we handle the monthly bookkeeping so you get reliable numbers without spending your evenings on data entry.
Job Costing and Financial Tracking
Job Costing and Financial Tracking
Every purchase order, every labor hour, every subcontractor invoice coded to the right job. You see actual costs versus your bid. Historical data that makes future estimates accurate instead of hopeful guesses.
Payroll for Your Crew
Payroll for Your Crew
Different rates for different workers. Overtime calculated correctly under California rules. Multiple jobs in a single week. We handle the payroll processing so Friday stays simple for you and your crew gets paid on time.
What Usually Goes Wrong
A plumber finishes a commercial job for $28,000. Materials ran about $8,000. Labor was around $11,000. Feels like a good profit. Except he didn’t account for two trips back to fix warranty issues, the helper he paid cash for a few days, or the permit fees that came out of his personal account. Real profit was half what he thought. He bid the next job at the same rate.
This pattern repeats across every trade. Painters, HVAC techs, roofers, electricians. Without job-level tracking, you’re flying blind. You think kitchen remodels are your bread and butter. Maybe they’re actually losing money and the commercial work you don’t chase is where the margin lives.
No Job-Level Visibility
No Job-Level Visibility
You have total revenue and total expenses for the month. You cannot see which projects made money and which ones bled. So you keep taking the same types of jobs at the same rates, repeating the same mistakes.
Tax Bills Nobody Planned For
Tax Bills Nobody Planned For
Good year, no quarterly estimates set up. April arrives and you owe $18,000 you didn’t save. Vehicle mileage wasn’t tracked. Equipment got expensed in the wrong period. Deductions missed. Money left on the table while you still can’t pay the bill.
What Changes
Job costing shows what things actually cost. Not what you hoped. Not what you bid. What happened. That kitchen remodel? 8% margin. The commercial buildout you almost turned down? 24%. Now you know where to focus.
Payroll stops eating your Friday afternoon. Tax estimates get calculated quarterly so April is not a crisis. Your books are clean and current, which matters if you ever want to get a line of credit, finance equipment, or sell the business when you’re ready to step back.
Better Bids and Better Projects
Better Bids and Better Projects
Historical cost data tells you what similar jobs actually ran. You stop underbidding and giving away profit. You stop chasing work that feels busy but doesn’t pay. You take on projects that consistently make money.
Books That Support What Comes Next
Books That Support What Comes Next
Whether you’re applying for a contractor’s line of credit, financing a new truck, or thinking about selling the business in a few years, clean financials make all of that possible. We help contractors across LA County prepare for whatever comes next.
LA's Small Business Bookkeeper
The Next Step:
A Short Conversation
Tell us about your business and what you're dealing with. We'll listen, ask a few questions, and give you a clear price for the work.