Bookkeeping for Contractors
Expert monthly bookkeeping, job costing, QuickBooks setup, and subcontractor tracking built specifically for contractors and construction companies in Colorado.
Your Business Runs on Jobs. Your Books Should Too.
Contractors run some of the most financially complex small businesses in Colorado. You're managing multiple jobs at once, tracking materials and labor across different projects, paying subcontractors, handling unpredictable cash flow, and trying to figure out which jobs are actually making you money. Generic bookkeeping wasn't built for how you work — and a bookkeeper who doesn't understand the trades will get your books wrong every single month.
At Perfect 10 Bookkeeping, we specialize in bookkeeping for contractors and construction companies throughout Colorado. We understand job costing, subcontractor payments, materials tracking, progress billing, and the unique cash flow challenges that come with project-based work. We manage your books every month so you always know where your money is — and which jobs are delivering the margins your business needs to grow.
The Unique Bookkeeping Challenges Every Contractor Faces
Contractor finances are fundamentally different from a typical small business. Here's what we manage for our contractor clients every month.
Job Costing & Per-Job Profitability
Do you know which jobs made money last month and which ones didn't? Without accurate job costing built into QuickBooks, you're running a construction business without knowing your real margins — and pricing your next job blind.
Subcontractor Payments & 1099 Tracking
Subcontractor costs need to be tracked separately from employee payroll, allocated to the correct jobs, and flagged for 1099 reporting at year-end. This is one of the most commonly mismanaged areas of contractor bookkeeping.
Materials & Labor Cost Tracking
Lumber, concrete, electrical supplies, fixtures, tools, and labor hours all need to be tracked and categorized by job — not just by expense type — so your job costs are accurate and your P&L tells the true story of your business.
Irregular & Project-Based Cash Flow
Contractor cash flow doesn't move in a straight line. Large deposits come in at project start, draws follow milestones, and final payments often lag. Managing cash flow across multiple jobs at different stages is one of the biggest financial challenges in the trades.
Progress Billing & Retainage
Progress invoicing on larger projects, retainage withheld by general contractors, and milestone-based payments all need to be recorded correctly in QuickBooks — or your accounts receivable and revenue will never match reality.
Equipment, Vehicle & Tool Expenses
Work trucks, trailers, heavy equipment, fuel, tools, and vehicle maintenance are all legitimate business expenses that need to be tracked correctly to maximize tax deductions and understand your true overhead costs per job.
Multiple Jobs Running Simultaneously
Running three jobs at the same time means expenses, labor, and materials need to be tracked across all three simultaneously — and correctly attributed to each project so your job costing reports actually mean something.
Year-End Tax & CPA Preparation
Clean contractor books throughout the year mean your CPA files accurately and efficiently — without spending hours reconstructing job costs, subcontractor payments, and equipment expenses from incomplete or disorganized records.
Everything Your Construction Business Needs — Handled Every Month
From monthly bookkeeping to job costing setup and subcontractor tracking, we provide a complete financial management solution built around how contractors actually work.
Monthly Bookkeeping & Reconciliation
Every transaction categorized correctly by job and expense type, every account reconciled to your actual bank statements, and clean financial reports delivered every single month — no matter how many jobs you have running.
Job Costing for Contractors
Know exactly how much every job cost and what it made. Job costing in QuickBooks tracks labor, materials, subcontractors, and overhead per project — giving you the margin data you need to price your next bid confidently.
Subcontractor Tracking & 1099 Prep
Every subcontractor payment recorded separately from payroll, allocated to the correct job, and flagged for 1099-NEC reporting at year-end — so your subcontractor records are always clean and tax-ready.
QuickBooks Setup & Optimization
QuickBooks Online configured specifically for your contracting business — with the right chart of accounts, job costing, class tracking, and expense categories built for how the trades actually operate financially.
Payroll Journal Entries
If you run payroll through Gusto, ADP, or Paychex, we record accurate payroll journal entries in QuickBooks every pay period — so your labor costs show up correctly in your books and your job cost reports reflect your true cost of labor.
Bookkeeping Cleanup & Catch-Up
Behind on your contractor books? We go back and fix everything — reconciling every account, correcting every miscategorization, and getting your QuickBooks fully clean and current no matter how far behind you are.
Do You Know Which Jobs Are Actually Making You Money?
This is the most important financial question a contractor can answer — and most can't, because their bookkeeping wasn't set up to track it. When every expense just gets categorized as "materials" or "labor" without being linked to a specific job, your Profit & Loss shows you total numbers but tells you nothing about which projects delivered real margins and which ones quietly bled money.
We set up and maintain job costing in QuickBooks Online so every job has its own cost tracking — labor, materials, subcontractors, equipment, and overhead — giving you a true profit margin on every project you complete. Over time, this data fundamentally changes how you bid, which jobs you take, and how profitably your contracting business grows.
- Track labor costs per job — employee and subcontractor time by project
- Track materials and supplies per job — lumber, concrete, fixtures, parts
- Allocate overhead to jobs — equipment, vehicle costs, and indirect expenses
- Compare estimated costs vs. actual costs on each project
- Identify which job types, project sizes, and customer types are most profitable
- Use real cost history to bid more accurately and win more profitable work
What Job Costing Reveals for Contractors
Bookkeeping for Every Type of Contractor in Colorado
Whether you're a general contractor running large builds or a specialty trade running service calls, we have contractor bookkeeping expertise that fits your specific business.
General Contractors
New construction, remodels, and multi-trade projects
HVAC Contractors
Heating, cooling, and ventilation installation & service
Plumbing Contractors
Residential and commercial plumbing service & installs
Electrical Contractors
Electrical service, panel upgrades, and new construction
Roofing Contractors
Residential and commercial roofing installation & repair
Painting & Drywall
Interior and exterior painting, drywall, and finishing
Remodeling Contractors
Kitchen, bath, and whole-home remodel companies
Landscaping Contractors
Landscape design, installation, hardscaping, and irrigation
Concrete & Masonry
Concrete work, foundations, flatwork, and masonry
Restoration Contractors
Water, fire, and mold restoration and remediation
Security & Low Voltage
Security systems, AV, and low-voltage installation
Other Trade Contractors
Any project-based contracting or construction business
Ready to Finally Know Which Jobs Are Making You Money?
Start with a free 30-minute consultation — no pressure, no commitment. We'll talk through your current books, your job costing situation, and exactly how we'd set up contractor bookkeeping for your specific business.
What a Dedicated Contractor Bookkeeper Does for Your Business
Know Your Most Profitable Jobs
Job costing reveals exactly which project types, job sizes, and customer categories produce the best margins — so you can price and prioritize the right work.
Cash Flow Across Multiple Jobs
Monthly financial reports and cash flow tracking give you visibility across all active projects — so you're never caught short between draws or at project closeout.
Hours Back Every Month
Stop spending nights in QuickBooks trying to sort out job costs. Get those hours back to manage your crew, serve your clients, and grow your contracting business.
Lower CPA and Tax Prep Fees
Clean, organized contractor books with proper job costing and subcontractor records handed to your CPA typically means dramatically lower preparation fees every year.
Equipment & Line of Credit Ready
Banks require clean financial statements for equipment loans and lines of credit. Monthly contractor bookkeeping means you're always ready when you need financing.
1099 Compliance — Year-Round
Subcontractor payments tracked all year means no year-end scramble to figure out who you paid and how much — 1099 filing is clean and stress-free.
Frequently Asked Questions — Contractor Bookkeeping
Yes. We work with contractors and construction companies as a specialty — not as a side offering. We understand the specific financial needs of project-based businesses: job costing, subcontractor tracking, progress billing, materials expense management, and cash flow management across multiple jobs. We set up your QuickBooks and manage your books with that contractor-specific knowledge built in, so your financials actually reflect how your business operates rather than looking like a generic small business P&L.
Absolutely — and it's one of the first things we do for every contractor client. We configure job costing in QuickBooks Online so every project has its own cost tracking for labor, materials, subcontractors, equipment, and overhead. This gives you a true profit margin on every job you complete and — over time — gives you the historical cost data to bid more accurately and win more profitable work. If you've never had proper job costing set up, getting it configured is typically the single most valuable financial improvement a contracting business can make.
Every subcontractor payment is recorded as a separate contractor expense in QuickBooks — completely distinct from employee payroll — and allocated to the correct job. We track cumulative subcontractor payments throughout the year so you always know which subs have crossed the 1099-NEC threshold ($600) before year-end arrives. When it's time to file 1099s, your subcontractor payment records are complete, accurate, and ready — no scrambling to reconstruct who you paid and how much.
Progress invoicing and retainage are common in construction and need to be recorded carefully so your accounts receivable, revenue, and job costs all line up correctly. We record progress billings as they're issued, track retainage withheld by general contractors as a separate receivable until it's released, and make sure your AR and revenue accounts in QuickBooks reflect the actual state of each job — not just cash received. This is one of the most commonly mishandled areas of contractor bookkeeping, and getting it right makes a significant difference in your financial reports.
Not a problem. Many of our contractor clients use construction management software like Buildertrend, CoConstruct, or Procore alongside QuickBooks Online for bookkeeping. We work from your QuickBooks file — making sure all revenue and costs from your project management software are recorded accurately in QBO and your books reconcile to your bank every month. If your construction management software has a QuickBooks integration, we can advise on the best sync settings to minimize duplicate work.
Yes — we serve contractors and construction companies throughout all of Colorado through our fully remote QuickBooks Online bookkeeping service. Whether you're in Denver, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, Grand Junction, Pueblo, or anywhere else in Colorado, we manage your books entirely online. Your location in Colorado is never a barrier to getting professional, reliable contractor bookkeeping every month.
Our bookkeeping services for contractors are flat-rate and priced based on your monthly transaction volume — not an hourly rate. Most small to mid-size contracting businesses start between $300–$500 per month. View our full pricing packages here, or reach out for a free consultation and a custom quote based on your specific contracting business needs, transaction volume, and whether job costing setup is included.
Contractor Bookkeeping Services Throughout Colorado
We serve contractors and construction companies throughout Colorado through our fully remote QuickBooks Online bookkeeping service — including:
Ready to Work With a Bookkeeper Who Understands the Trades?
Free 30-minute consultation — no commitment, no contracts, no obligation. Let's talk about getting your contractor books clean, your job costing set up correctly, and your subcontractor records organized — starting this month.