Job costing that shows which jobs made money, 1099s that go out on time, and deposits booked so your profit isn't overstated. For painters, roofers, remodelers, landscapers, HVAC, and general contractors.
Short answer: Contractor bookkeeping adds job costing, subcontractor 1099 tracking, customer deposits held as liabilities, and progress billing on top of normal monthly books. We set QuickBooks Online up for that, then keep it current every month for a fixed fee.
Trades businesses are job-heavy and often cash-heavy, and they're usually the ones furthest behind in QuickBooks. The problem isn't effort; it's that a generic bookkeeping setup doesn't fit how contractors actually work. Here's what we set up differently.
Materials, labor, and subcontractors tagged to each job, so you can see job-level profit and price the next bid with real numbers.
W-9s collected as you hire subs, payments tracked all year, and 1099-NEC forms filed by the January 31 deadline.
Customer deposits held as a liability until the work is done, so your P&L doesn't show profit you haven't earned yet.
Vehicle and equipment loans split into principal and interest, and personal charges booked as draws instead of buried in an expense account.
General contractors · Remodelers · Painters · Roofers · Landscapers · HVAC · Plumbing · Electrical · Cleaning
Most contractors fit our Professional plan ($350–450/mo). Businesses that need full job costing and custom reports usually land in Premium ($450–750/mo). Payroll and sales tax are add-ons, and we can prepare your business and personal returns from the same books.
Behind by a few months, or a few years? Start with QuickBooks cleanup and catch-up.
Job costing assigns each expense, such as materials, labor, and subcontractors, to the specific job it belongs to. That lets you see the profit on each job instead of only the business as a whole, so you can spot underpriced work and bid more accurately.
Form 1099-NEC for subcontractors you paid above the reporting threshold during the year ($2,000 for payments made in 2026 and later; $600 before that) is due to the IRS and to the contractor by January 31. Collecting a W-9 when you first hire a sub makes January far easier.
A deposit for work you haven't done yet is a liability, not income. It's recognized as revenue as the work is completed. Booking deposits as income overstates profit and can make your tax picture look worse than it is.
Yes. We know the Kansas City metro best, but everything runs through QuickBooks Online, so we work with contractors anywhere in the U.S.
A 15-minute call, then a fixed-fee proposal. If we're not the right fit, we'll point you to someone who is.
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