Trades and home services
Bookkeeping for general contractors and remodelers
Long projects, customer deposits, draws and change orders make a GC's books the hardest on our list. We like them anyway.
Updated October 4, 2026
In short
General contractors and remodelers run multi-month projects funded by deposits and draws, with subcontractors, materials and change orders all moving at once. We track every cost by project, record deposits and retainage properly, and keep the books ready for accrual or work-in-progress reporting if your accountant needs it. GCs are firmly in our Complex tier.
How the money moves
How money comes in and goes out
A remodel might start with a customer deposit, then bill on milestones. Larger jobs run on draw schedules, sometimes through a lender, with 5 to 10% retainage held until completion.
Costs come from many subcontractors, materials ordered weeks ahead, permits, dumpsters and your own crew. Change orders shift the contract price mid-job, and they need to be captured when they're signed, not when you remember.
Common problems
Where the books usually go wrong
Deposits counted as income
A customer deposit on a job you haven't started is money you owe in work, not profit. Booking it as income makes the year look better than it is.
Retainage
Money held back until completion is still owed to you. It needs tracking, or it gets forgotten.
Change orders
Unrecorded change orders mean unbilled work and margins that are wrong.
Over and under billing
On long jobs, billing ahead of or behind the work done distorts profit. Lenders and bonding companies often ask for work-in-progress reports.
Every month
What we do every month
- Track every cost by project, from subs to dumpsters
- Record customer deposits as owed work until earned
- Track draws and retainage receivable by project
- Record change orders against the right contract
- Keep the books ready for accrual and work-in-progress reporting with your accountant
A month of books, for example
A kitchen and bath remodeler runs eight projects at once, each with a 30% deposit and two milestone payments. Each month we'd record new deposits as owed work, move them to revenue as milestones are hit, tag every sub and material invoice to its project, and show one job running over budget after an unpriced change order.
Illustrative example, not a client story.
Getting started
What we need from you
- Contracts, draw schedules and signed change orders
- Access to your bookkeeping software and project management tool
- Subcontractor invoices, W-9s and insurance certificates
Software and statements we work from
- Buildertrend
- CoConstruct
- JobTread
- Procore
- Lender draw statements
- QuickBooks Online
Price
What it costs
General contractors and remodelers sit in Complex, $600 to $800 a month and up. Scope matters most here, so the review is where we set the price.
One flat monthly price, set after the free review. See the pricing guide or estimate your tier.
Questions
Common questions
Do I need accrual accounting?
Many GCs do, especially with long jobs, lenders or bonding. We'll follow your accountant's lead and keep the books consistent with it.
Can you produce a work-in-progress schedule?
We keep project costs and billings clean enough for one. Your accountant or CFO typically builds the WIP schedule itself.
How do you handle customer deposits?
As a liability until the work is done, then moved to revenue. It keeps your profit honest.
Do you work with builders on lender draws?
Yes. Draw deposits are matched to the draw requests and the project's budget.
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