Industries  /  Construction & Trades
Bookkeeping for Construction

Your books should be as solid as what you build.

Construction and trades businesses deal with project-based billing, subcontractor costs, equipment expenses, and fluctuating cash flow that most bookkeepers are not equipped to manage. We are.

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Construction and trades financial management

Is this you?

If any of these sound familiar, you are in the right place.

You are juggling multiple projects and have no clear picture of which ones are actually profitable
Subcontractor invoices and payments are hard to track across projects
Your equipment and vehicle expenses are scattered across personal and business accounts
You invoice late because you are too busy on site to handle the books
Cash flow is unpredictable, you are flush when projects close and tight in between
HST on materials and labour is confusing and you are not sure you are filing correctly
You are growing but your financial systems have not kept up with your business
Tax time is a scramble and you are never sure what you owe
You want to bid on bigger contracts but your financials are not organized enough to support it
We Understand Your Challenges

Construction finances are complex in ways general bookkeepers miss.

Construction and trades businesses have a unique financial structure, project-based, equipment-heavy, and reliant on accurate cost tracking to protect margins.

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Job Costing Complexity
Without accurate job costing you cannot know whether a project made money until it is over, and by then it is too late to adjust. Every project needs its own financial tracking.
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Subcontractor Management
Tracking multiple subcontractors, their invoices, payments, T4A filings, and holdbacks, creates significant administrative complexity that must be done correctly for compliance.
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Equipment & Vehicle Expenses
Equipment purchases, leases, maintenance, fuel, and depreciation must be tracked and classified correctly to maximize your tax deductions and maintain accurate asset records.
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Uneven Cash Flow
Progress billing, deposit timing, and holdback releases create lumpy cash flow that is hard to manage without visibility and forecasting. Running out of cash between contracts is a real risk.
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HST on Construction Services
The HST rules for construction are nuanced, new builds, renovations, commercial versus residential, and the new housing rebate program all have different treatment. Errors are costly.
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Contract Bidding & Profitability
Bidding accurately requires knowing your true costs. Without clean historical job cost data, every bid is a guess, and underpriced contracts erode your margins without you seeing it coming.
Our Solution

Financial systems built for project-based businesses.

We understand the unique financial structure of construction and trades businesses. We set up and maintain job costing systems that give you real-time visibility into each project's profitability. We track subcontractor costs, manage payables, reconcile equipment expenses, and handle your compliance obligations, so you can stay focused on the work.

Whether you are a sole operator running two or three projects at a time or a growing firm with crews, subcontractors, and a fleet, we bring the financial rigour your business needs to scale without financial chaos.

Services for Construction
Full-cycle bookkeeping & reconciliation
Job costing & project profitability tracking
Subcontractor invoice & payment tracking
T4A preparation for subcontractors
Equipment & vehicle expense management
Progress billing & holdback tracking
Cash flow monitoring & forecasting
HST filing with construction rules applied correctly
Payroll processing for crews & staff
Monthly financial statements by the 15th
Year-end working paper preparation
Historical bookkeeping cleanup
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Recommended Starting Point
Most construction businesses start at the Growth or Scale tier.

The complexity of job costing, subcontractor tracking, and equipment management typically requires more than a basic bookkeeping package. Growth ($750/mo) works well for smaller operators. Scale ($1,400/mo) is the right fit for businesses running multiple concurrent projects with crews and subcontractors.

View Full Packages
10+
Years Serving Canadian Businesses
QBO
Platinum ProAdvisor Managed
7
Business Days to Onboarding
100%
Remote — Anywhere in Canada
FAQ

Construction bookkeeping questions, answered.

Do you set up job costing in QuickBooks Online?
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Yes. We configure QuickBooks Online's project or class tracking features to give you real-time profitability data per job — so you know which projects are making money and which are not, before it is too late to adjust.
Can you handle T4A preparation for my subcontractors?
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Yes. We track subcontractor payments throughout the year and prepare T4A slips at year-end, ensuring you are compliant with CRA requirements. We also advise on the employee versus independent contractor distinction, a classification that CRA scrutinizes closely in the construction industry.
How do you handle the HST rules specific to construction?
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Construction HST is nuanced, new residential versus commercial builds, renovation services, the new housing rebate, and holdback rules all have different HST treatment. We apply the correct rules to each transaction and prepare your HST returns accordingly, reducing your risk of costly CRA reassessments.
Can you help me understand which projects are actually profitable?
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Yes. This is one of the most valuable things we do for construction clients. With proper job costing set up you get a per-project profitability report every month. Over time this data also improves your bidding accuracy, because you are pricing based on real cost history rather than estimates.
My books are completely disorganized. Can you fix that?
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Yes. Historical bookkeeping cleanup starts at $300 per month of cleanup required. We have untangled the books for construction businesses with years of mixed personal and business expenses, missing receipts, and unreconciled accounts. We have seen it all, and we fix it without judgment.

Ready for books as solid as what you build?

Book a Financial Clarity Call and let's talk about your projects, your costs, and what your financial systems need to look like to support your growth.

Book a Financial Clarity Call