Bookkeeping for Contractors & Trades Businesses
Contractors and trades businesses face unique financial challenges that standard bookkeeping services are not equipped to handle. At Pro Trade Bookkeeping, we specialize in bookkeeping for contractors, construction companies, and skilled trades, helping business owners understand their numbers, protect cash flow, and make confident decisions.
Whether you’re an electrician, plumber, HVAC company, roofer, or general contractor, your books need to do more than “balance”. They need to support job costing, cash flow planning, and long-term growth.
Why Bookkeeping for Contractors Is Different
Bookkeeping for contractors is fundamentally different from bookkeeping for service businesses, retail companies, or online brands.
Contractors Deal With:
Job-based income and expenses
Progress payments and deposits
Retainage and delayed cash collection
Labor-heavy payroll costs
Equipment purchases and depreciation
Multiple jobs running at the same time
A generic bookkeeper may keep your books “clean,” but without contractor-specific knowledge, your financial reports won’t tell you:
Which jobs are profitable
Where money is leaking
Why cash feels tight even when sales look strong
Job Costing: The Backbone of Contractor Bookkeeping
One of the biggest differences in bookkeeping for the trades is job costing.
What Is Job Costing?
Job costing tracks income and expenses by individual job or project, not just by month.
This allows contractors to:
See profit (or loss) on each job
Compare estimated vs actual costs
Identify underbidding issues
Improve future pricing
Without proper job costing in QuickBooks Online, contractors are often flying blind.
A profitable company on paper can still lose money job-by-job. And most contractors don’t realize it until it’s too late.