Skilled Trades & Construction
Job costing, retainage, slow-paying GCs, and equipment loans. We track it all so you know which jobs make money and which ones just keep you busy.
The Job That Felt Profitable
You bid $85,000 on a commercial buildout. Got the job. Finished on time. Check cleared. Good project. But labor ran three weeks longer than estimated. Your sub raised his price mid-job. Materials came in 12% over because you had to source from a second supplier. Did you make $12,000 or $4,000? Most contractors don’t know until tax time, if then.
We track costs by job. Labor, materials, subs, equipment, everything that touched the project. When it closes, you see the real number. Over time, you learn which job types are worth bidding and which ones look good on paper but eat your margin.
Job Costing
Job Costing
Every expense assigned to the job it belongs to. Compare bid to actual. Find out where estimates are solid and where they’re consistently off.
Who This Is For
Who This Is For
General contractors, electricians, plumbers, HVAC, roofers, framers, concrete, excavation, painters. Anyone billing by the job and managing materials and labor.
Paid Last, Pay First
You pay your crew Friday. You pay for materials before the job starts. You pay your subs within 30 days or they stop showing up. The GC pays you in 60, sometimes 90. If there’s retainage, you’re waiting six months for the last 10%.
That gap is where cash flow dies. You’re financing everyone else’s project with your own money. One slow-paying job and suddenly payroll is tight. Two slow-paying jobs and you’re putting materials on a credit card.
Receivables Tracking
Receivables Tracking
Who owes what, how long it’s been, what’s coming due. We stay on top of invoices so you’re not chasing payments while trying to run jobs.
Retainage
Retainage
Tracked separately so you know what’s being held back and when it’s due for release. That 10% adds up across multiple jobs.
Subs and 1099s
You’ve got three subs you use on every job and a dozen more you call when things get busy. Some of them send invoices. Some of them just tell you a number. Some of them you pay in cash and figure you’ll sort it out later.
End of year, everyone who got paid over $600 needs a 1099. The IRS matches those forms against what the sub reports. If the numbers don’t match, someone gets a letter. We track sub payments all year so January isn’t a scramble through bank statements and text messages.
Subcontractor Tracking
Subcontractor Tracking
Every payment logged with the job it belongs to. W-9s collected. 1099s filed on time. Clean paper trail if anyone asks questions.
Payroll
Payroll
Your own crew, with overtime, prevailing wage if applicable, and the recordkeeping that certified jobs require. We handle it.
Books That Open Doors
You want to bid bigger jobs. The bonding company wants two years of financials. You want to buy a new truck. The bank wants a P&L and balance sheet. You want to take on a partner or sell the business someday. Buyers want clean books or they walk.
Messy books don’t just cost you time. They cost you opportunities. We keep your records in shape so when a door opens, you can walk through it instead of scrambling to get your paperwork together.
Bonding Support
Bonding Support
Financial statements formatted the way sureties expect. When you need to increase your bonding capacity, the books are ready.
Lending Ready
Lending Ready
Banks want to see profitability and cash flow. We keep your records in a format that makes loan applications straightforward.
Greater Richmond's Small Business Bookkeeper
The Next Step:
A Short Conversation
Fifteen minutes to tell us what you're dealing with. We'll let you know how we can help and give you a clear price quote.
