Construction accounting with job margins you can see mid-job

A job is halfway through.

The only margin number you have is the one from the bid. Cost is running, nobody is comparing it to budget, and the answer arrives at closeout.

Committed cost is tracked against budget by cost code every month, so a fade shows up while there is still a change order to write.

Your surety asks for statements.

Two weeks of rebuilding before you can send anything, and the underwriter forms a view about your operation from the delay alone.

You send the current package. It was prepared with a WIP-ready balance sheet, the way an underwriter reads one.

A GC pays late and payroll is Friday.

You find out Friday morning. The options left are a line of credit draw at a bad moment or a conversation with your bank you did not plan.

The forecast is built on pay-when-paid reality rather than invoice dates, so the tight week showed up in time to chase retainage or move a billing.

Retainage builds up.

It sits inside accounts receivable with everything else, so you cannot say how much is held, by whom, or when it releases.

Retainage receivable and payable are tracked separately, with amounts by job and expected release timing.

• Percentage-of-completion revenueRevenue recognized against cost incurred under ASC 606, calculated each month so reported margin reflects where the job stands rather than what was billed.
• WIP schedules that reconcileA work-in-progress schedule that ties to the balance sheet, with overbilling and underbilling positions calculated monthly instead of discovered at year end.
• Job costing by cost codeLabor, material, equipment, and subcontractor cost tracked against budget at the cost-code level, with committed cost included rather than just what has been invoiced.
• Retainage, tracked separatelyRetainage receivable and payable held outside AR and AP, so your aging reflects what is collectible now and your balance sheet reflects what is held.
• AIA pay applicationsG702 and G703 prepared and reconciled to the job cost records, so the schedule of values and the books tell the same story.
• Certified payrollPrevailing wage and certified payroll reporting where the job requires it, prepared alongside the regular close rather than as a separate scramble.
• Bonding and lender packagesStatements prepared to the standard a surety underwrites on, so a bonding request or a covenant certificate does not start a two-week project.

General contractors, subcontractors, and specialty trades doing $1M to $50M. Large enough to need financial statements a surety and a bank will underwrite on, not large enough to staff a finance department.

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We work inside the QuickBooks Online file and the job costing structure you already use. If you are on QuickBooks Desktop, migration happens during onboarding.