Bookkeeping for contractors & trades · Golden, Colorado
Know which jobs made money.
Not just whether you did.
Job costing, WIP, retainage, progress billing, certified payroll, and sub 1099s — bookkeeping built for how contractors actually work. We already speak your language, so you get real profit-by-job numbers from a local bookkeeper who answers the phone. Not an app that disappears with your records.
Job costing & WIP · Flat pricing, never hourly · Serving builders across the west Denver metro
№ 01 — We speak your language
A bookkeeper you won't have to train
Most bookkeepers treat a construction company like any other business — and it isn't. Contractors run on job-level numbers, long billing cycles, and money held on both ends. Here's the vocabulary we start with, not the vocabulary we'd need you to explain.
Job costing
Every dollar traced to the job and cost code it belongs to — labor, materials, subs, equipment. You see which jobs actually made money, not just whether the company did.
WIP & retainage
Work-in-progress schedules and retention tracked on both sides — what's held on your receivables and what you're holding from subs. No more guessing what's really billed.
Progress & AIA billing
Schedule-of-values and progress invoices that match how you actually get paid on a project, draw by draw — so billing keeps pace with the work.
Certified payroll & 1099s
Prevailing-wage and certified payroll handled where required, subcontractor 1099s tracked all year, and W-9s chased before January — not during it.
№ 02 — The number that matters
Catch the overrun while you can still fix it
Company-level books tell you a job went bad after the money's gone. Job-level books tell you which job, why, and while it's still open. Every month you get profit by job, an eye on the ones drifting over budget, and a plain-English note on what's worth a decision.
It's the difference between books that record the past and books that protect the next bid.
“Two strong jobs. Clear Creek is running thin — labor is 40% over the estimate and there's an unbilled change order. Worth a look before the next draw.”
— a sample snapshot. Yours will be about your jobs.
№ 03 — What we handle
The whole ledger, built for the field
Profit by job, in real time
Job-level P&L so you catch an overrun while you can still fix it — not at year-end when the money's already gone.
Direct costs split from overhead
A chart of accounts that separates job costs from the shop, so your gross margin means what it should and bids are built on real numbers.
Change orders that don't get lost
Extras and change orders tracked against the original contract, so the work you did is the work you bill.
Subcontractor & vendor control
Bills, lien waivers, insurance certs, and retention tracked by sub — you always know who's owed what and who's cleared to get paid.
Equipment & mileage
Equipment costs, depreciation, and mileage booked correctly so the deductions are there when your CPA needs them.
Books a lender will respect
Clean, reconciled financials and WIP schedules ready for a bonding agent or loan officer — the difference between winning the bigger job and stalling on the paperwork.
№ 04 — Sound familiar?
Signs your books have outgrown the truck
Most contractors call us at a breaking point — a lender request, a tax-time mess, or a job that lost money they can't explain. If a few of these land, a $50 books check-up will tell you exactly where you stand — and we credit it to your first month if we move forward.
- You can't say which of your last five jobs actually made money.
- Retainage and change orders live in your head or a spreadsheet, not the books.
- A lender or bonding company asked for a WIP schedule and you froze.
- Your CPA charged a fortune last spring to untangle a year of construction books.
- 1099s and W-9s turned into a January scramble.
- You're doing the books at 9pm after a full day on site.
№ 05 — What it costs
Flat pricing. The price is the price.
Most contractors fit our Industry plan — job costing, sales & use tax, and payroll coordination included. Behind on the books? Catch-up is a fixed-price project, quoted before we start. Never an hourly surprise.
Industry plan
$1,000/mo flat
- Job / cost-code tracking & class reporting
- WIP, retainage & progress billing
- Sales & use tax filing
- Payroll & 1099 coordination
- Monthly profit-by-job review call
Industry covers up to 2 entities and ~600 transactions a month; beyond that we quote custom — still flat, still in writing.
Books that win the bigger job
When the bank or bonding agent asks, you're ready
Growth in construction runs through financing — a line of credit, a bigger bond, a lender who wants a WIP schedule and two years of clean statements. The contractors who stall aren't the ones without the work; they're the ones whose books can't answer the question fast enough. We keep yours reconciled, current, and lender-ready all year, so the paperwork is never what holds you back.
Fair questions
What contractors ask first
Do you actually understand construction accounting, or just general bookkeeping?
Can you give me profit on each job, not just the whole company?
My books are a year behind and a lender wants financials. Can you fix it fast?
Do you handle certified payroll and prevailing wage?
What does construction bookkeeping cost?
Next step
Find out which jobs are really making money.
A $50 books check-up: we look at how your jobs are tracked today, tell you honestly what shape the books are in, and quote a flat monthly price. We credit the $50 to your first month if we move forward — no hourly meter.