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In construction, profit hides inside individual jobs. We set up job costing, track work in progress and retainage, manage subcontractor payments, and keep your books clean, so you know which projects make money and which quietly lose it.
Clean books are the difference between running your construction business on real numbers and running it on guesswork. We give you accurate, up to date bookkeeping and clear reporting, so every decision, from pricing to hiring to your next investment, rests on what is really happening in your business, not a rough estimate at year end.
Why it is different
A contractor can be busy and still unprofitable if costs are not tracked against the right jobs. Materials, labor, equipment, and subcontractors all need to land on the correct project, or your job profit is a guess.
We build job costing into your books, track work in progress and retainage, and keep progress billing straight, so every project shows its real cost and margin, and your overall numbers hold up for lenders and bonding.
What we handle
Materials, labor, and equipment tracked against each project.
WIP tracked so revenue and costs match as jobs progress.
Retainage receivable and payable tracked correctly.
Progress invoices and change orders kept straight.
Subcontractor payments and 1099 records organized.
Clear profit by job, so you bid the next one better.
Proven on Upwork
Since 2021, HOLO Bookkeeper has completed work for more than 1500 clients on Upwork and Fiverr, earning Top Rated status. Here is the kind of feedback construction clients leave, and you can read the full portfolio and reviews yourself.
Set up job costing that finally showed which projects were profitable. A game changer for our bidding.
Construction Owner · Texas · Upwork ClientHandled our subcontractor payments and WIP cleanly. Books are lender ready now.
General Contractor · USA · Upwork ClientSee the full Upwork portfolio and reviews → · Connect on LinkedIn →
How it works
Tell us about your business, your platforms, and where your books stand today.
We connect your accounts and tools with read only access wherever possible.
We build the right chart of accounts and catch up or clean up if needed.
Reconciled books and clear reports every month, plus automation where it helps.
Why choose HOLO Bookkeeper
You get the accuracy and dedicated attention of an in house bookkeeper, on demand, for only the work your construction business needs, plus automation most in house hires never build.
QuickBooks ProAdvisor and Xero Certified Advisor with over 6 years and 1500+ clients.
You work with the person doing the work, with replies within 24 hours.
The same secure, certified process wherever your business is based.
We remove repetitive work with Excel, Sheets, and Python, so you pay for judgment.
Services and related industries
Related industries:
Free tools
Construction accounting guide
Construction bookkeeping is different from ordinary small business bookkeeping because money is tracked by job, not just by month. A contractor can look profitable on the company P&L while two jobs are quietly losing money, cash is tied up in retainage, and a subcontractor 1099 is missing. These are the areas that matter most.
Every cost (labor, materials, equipment, subcontractors and permits) is coded to the job it belongs to, so you can compare actual cost with the estimate while the job is still running. In QuickBooks Online this is done with Projects or customer:job tracking. In Xero it uses tracking categories or Xero Projects. For a step-by-step setup, read our construction job costing guide.
On larger commercial jobs you bill as work is completed, not at the end. Many general contractors and owners require the AIA G702 (application for payment) with a G703 continuation sheet that lists each line of the schedule of values, the percentage complete and the amount billed to date. Your books have to tie back to those numbers every month.
Retainage is a percentage of each progress payment (often 5 to 10 percent, set by the contract or state law) that the customer holds back until the job is finished. It is still money you have earned. It should sit in a separate retainage receivable account, and retainage you hold back from subcontractors in a retainage payable account, so neither disappears from view.
A work-in-progress (WIP) schedule compares what you have billed on each job with what you have actually earned based on percentage complete. Over-billing (billed more than earned) is a liability and often means cash will be tight later. Under-billing (earned more than billed) means you are financing the customer. Bonding companies and lenders commonly ask for a WIP schedule.
| Topic | What your bookkeeper tracks |
|---|---|
| Job costing | Labor, materials, equipment and subs coded to each job and compared with the estimate |
| Progress billing | Schedule of values, percent complete, amounts billed to date (AIA G702/G703) |
| Retainage | Retainage receivable and payable, released when the job closes out |
| WIP | Over-billings and under-billings on every open job |
| Subcontractors | W-9s, certificates of insurance, lien waivers and 1099-NEC filing |
| Payroll | Crew time by job; certified payroll on federally funded work |
Collect a W-9 and a current certificate of insurance before a subcontractor starts, and a lien waiver with each payment. Non-employee payments are reported on Form 1099-NEC. The reporting threshold is $600 for payments made through 2025 and rises to $2,000 for payments made in 2026 and later.
Contractors on federally funded construction contracts covered by the Davis-Bacon Act must pay prevailing wages and submit weekly certified payroll, commonly on Form WH-347. Many states have their own prevailing wage rules for public projects too. See our payroll services for how we handle crew payroll.
If your books are months behind before a bid, bond renewal or tax deadline, start with catch-up bookkeeping. Then check your margins by job with the free profit margin calculator.
Thresholds and rules as of 2026. Confirm contract, lien and tax requirements with your attorney or tax preparer.
Free contractor tool
Check whether a job is overbilled or underbilled in seconds. Open the WIP calculator or read our WIP schedule guide.
Questions and answers
Yes. Job costing is the core of construction bookkeeping, and we build it so every project shows its true cost and margin.
Yes. We track WIP and retainage so your revenue and receivables are accurate as jobs progress.
Yes. Subcontractor payments and 1099 records are tracked and kept organized.
We keep clean, accurate records suitable for lenders and bonding requirements.
QuickBooks or Xero, set up for job costing, plus automation where it helps.
Usually within a few days. After a short consultation we scope the work, agree a clear price, and begin, starting with catch-up or cleanup first if your books need it.
Yes. We work with construction businesses in all 50 states, fully remotely, with the same secure and certified process everywhere.
Job costing assigns every cost, including labor, materials, equipment and subcontractors, to the specific job it belongs to. That way you can see the profit on each job, not just for the company as a whole.
Retainage you are owed goes to a retainage receivable account, and retainage you hold from subcontractors goes to a retainage payable account. Both are released when the job is complete and the retention is paid.
Over-billing means you have invoiced more than you have earned based on percent complete, which is a liability. Under-billing means you have earned more than you have invoiced, which is an asset and often a cash-flow warning sign.
Book a free 15 minute consultation and we will set up construction books that show real project profit.
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