Guides & Resources

Construction finance,
in plain English.

The concepts that decide whether your business makes money — WIP, billing position, job costing, cash flow — explained the way we'd explain them across the table. No jargon, no fluff, real numbers.

Client Stories
Construction Bookkeeping Case Studies
How contractors work with Blackline on monthly close, job costing, WIP, and fractional CFO support. Named stories only with written approval.
AFT · KLDRead →
Start Here
DIG Diagnostic: Construction Bookkeeping Cleanup
Scoped review of job costing, WIP, and close when contractor books are behind. Discover, Investigate, Guide — then a custom package quote. No tax preparation.
Cleanup diagnosticRead →
Start Here
How to Choose a Construction Bookkeeper
Buyer checklist for hiring a construction bookkeeper: WIP and job-cost literacy, first-call questions, monthly deliverables, QBO fit, responsiveness, and red flags. Use it on any firm.
14 min readRead →
WIP & Job Costing
WIP Schedule for Contractors
A WIP schedule compares earned vs billed on every job. Columns, over/under billing, and a labeled example — why contractors update it monthly.
8 min readRead →
WIP & Job Costing
WIP Report Template for Contractors
What columns a construction WIP report template needs, where each number comes from, and how to use one without mistaking a spreadsheet for your books.
14 min readRead →
Monthly Close
Month-End Close Checklist for Contractors
Month-end close checklist for general contractors: bank and card recs, AP/AR and lien-waiver tie-out, job-cost review, WIP update, owner package, and a close calendar.
12 min readRead →
Arizona Contractors
Construction Bookkeeping in Arizona
What Arizona contractors need from their books: job costing, TPT, retainage, WIP, and a close by the 15th.
5 min readRead →
Mesa Contractors
Construction Bookkeeping in Mesa, AZ
Construction-only bookkeeping, job costing, and a monthly close by the 15th for Mesa contractors. Office on E Brown Rd.
6 min readRead →
Gilbert Contractors
Construction Bookkeeping in Gilbert AZ
Construction-only bookkeeping, WIP, and job costing for Gilbert contractors. Mesa office minutes away. Close by the 15th.
6 min readRead →
Scottsdale Contractors
Construction Bookkeeping Scottsdale AZ
Construction-only bookkeeping, job costing, and WIP for Scottsdale custom home builders and remodelers. Served from the Mesa office. Close by the 15th.
6 min readRead →
Chandler Contractors
Construction Bookkeeping Chandler AZ
Construction-only bookkeeping, progress billing, and WIP for Chandler commercial and specialty trades. Served from the Mesa office. Close by the 15th.
6 min readRead →
Phoenix Contractors
Construction Bookkeeping in Phoenix AZ
Construction-only bookkeeping, WIP, job costing, and fractional CFO for Phoenix metro GCs and trades. Served from the Mesa office. No Phoenix storefront. Close by the 15th.
6 min readRead →
WIP & Job Costing
Construction Job Costing for Contractors
Construction job costing so every job tells the truth: cost codes, labor burden, equipment allocation, QBO, monthly profitability, and red flags.
12 min readRead →
WIP & Job Costing
Job Cost Report vs Profit and Loss
Job cost report vs profit and loss: why a contractor company P&L can look fine while jobs lose. Unallocated costs, timing, overhead, monthly owner review.
14 min readRead →
Specialty Trades
Bookkeeping for Electricians, Plumbers & HVAC
Bookkeeping for electricians, plumbers, and HVAC: service vs projects, truck materials, small-ticket job costing, tech labor, and monthly owner reports.
13 min readRead →
WIP & Job Costing
Bookkeeping for Homebuilders: Spec & Custom
Homebuilder bookkeeping for spec and custom builders: house-level job costing, construction loan draws, buyer deposits, closings, and warranty costs.
12 min readRead →
Specialty Trades
Roofing Contractor Accounting & Bookkeeping
Accounting and bookkeeping for roofing contractors: per-square job costing, insurance-claim jobs, material returns, crew labor, and a monthly close.
12 min readRead →
WIP & Job Costing
Construction Payroll Bookkeeping
Construction payroll bookkeeping: hours by job and cost code, labor burden on job cost, clean employee vs sub paperwork, monthly payroll-to-job reconcile.
14 min readRead →
WIP & Job Costing
QuickBooks Online for Contractors
QuickBooks Online for contractors: construction chart of accounts, Projects and classes, cost codes, retainage workarounds, bank feeds, and month-end close. Step-by-step job costing stays on its own guide.
13 min readRead →
WIP & Job Costing
Buildertrend and QuickBooks Online
Buildertrend and QuickBooks Online for contractors: what the field tool owns, what the books own, where jobs, costs, and billings break, and a fix.
15 min readRead →
WIP & Job Costing
Job Costing in QuickBooks Online
How to set up Projects, job-cost accounts, and labor so QuickBooks tells you which jobs actually make money.
6 min readRead →
WIP & Job Costing
Change Order Accounting for Contractors
Change order accounting for construction: approved vs pending vs unapproved, contract/estimate updates, billing COs, job-cost coding, WIP and POC impact.
10 min readRead →
Billing & Cash Flow
Over-Billing vs Under-Billing for Contractors
Overbilling vs underbilling on construction jobs: WIP columns, balance-sheet lines, cash trap, underbillings as unbilled risk, labeled example.
10 min readRead →
WIP & Job Costing
Costs in Excess of Billings
Costs in excess of billings is the underbilling asset on your WIP and balance sheet. Plain-English guide to it and its twin, billings in excess of costs.
13 min readRead →
Billing & Cash Flow
Why Profitable Contractors Run Out of Cash
The six ways construction eats your bank account while the P&L says you're winning — with the real numbers on how much cash a "profitable" job demands.
8 min readRead →
WIP & Job Costing
Markup vs Margin for Contractors
A 20% markup is not a 20% profit margin. Formulas, a conversion table, and a construction bid example so contractors stop underpricing.
7 min readRead →
Billing & Cash Flow
Retainage Accounting for Contractors
Retainage accounting for contractors: receivable vs payable, QuickBooks tracking, release by job, WIP & balance sheet, collection follow-up.
12 min readRead →
Billing & Cash Flow
Construction Draw Package Checklist
Construction draw package checklist: pay application, schedule of values, lien waivers, retainage on each draw, books match, and why draws get kicked back.
12 min readRead →
Billing & Cash Flow
AIA Billing for Contractors
AIA billing for contractors: G702/G703 in plain English, schedule of values, retainage on applications, and how those numbers match job costing, WIP, and QuickBooks.
14 min readRead →
Billing & Cash Flow
Lien Waiver Tracking for Contractors
Lien waiver tracking for contractors: conditional vs unconditional in plain terms, collect before you pay, a job log, and how waivers fit draw packages.
14 min readRead →
Billing & Cash Flow
AIA Progress Billing, Explained
The G702, the G703, and the schedule of values in plain English — plus the six pay-app mistakes that delay your cash 30 days at a time.
7 min readRead →
Fractional CFO
Blueprint: Fractional CFO for Construction
Outsourced fractional CFO for construction contractors. Monthly call, 13-week cash flow, bonding and lender support. DIG first. No tax preparation.
7 min readRead →
Billing & Cash Flow
13-Week Cash Flow Forecast for Contractors
Build a 13-week cash flow forecast for contractors: weekly in/out, a step-by-step walkthrough, and a labeled example so payroll crunches show up early.
8 min readRead →
Banking & Bonding
POC Accounting for Contractors
Percentage-of-completion (POC) accounting for contractors: cost-to-cost formula, WIP columns, over/under billing, and when gain or fade shows up.
9 min readRead →
Banking & Bonding
Bonding-Ready Financial Statements
Bonding-ready financial statements for contractors: surety review, WIP consistency, monthly reporting, CPA reviewed/audited prep, checklist.
12 min readRead →
Media · Press
Quoted in Adaptive's Series B Announcement
Adaptive raised a $30M Series B led by Tidemark to bring agentic accounting to construction. Jared was quoted in the release on how its Project Accounting Agents free our team to focus on what the numbers mean for clients.
Sep 17, 2026Read →
Media · Podcast
Jared on Builders, Budgets & Beers
Our founder joins Adaptive's construction finance podcast (Ep. 94) to talk about how builders get control of their numbers — real overhead, cash flow vs. profit, and fixing one thing at a time.
Watch / ListenEpisode →
Media · Podcast
Jared on the Brad Leavitt Podcast
Jared joins Brad Leavitt of AFT Construction (Ep. 230) to break down understanding construction finances — cleaning up the accounting process, integrating your software stack, and what a fractional CFO does for a builder.
Watch / ListenEpisode →
Compliance & Audits
How to Survive a Workers' Comp Audit
What the premium auditor checks, why one missing sub certificate can cost thousands, and the records that turn the audit into a one-hour formality.
7 min readRead →

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