What QuickBooks reports should a contractor review?
The Profit & Loss by Job report is the most important report for any contractor. The standard P&L shows whether your business made money overall, but it doesn’t tell you which jobs made money and which ones lost it. Running P&L by Job shows gross profit for each project individually. You might be profitable overall while losing money on half your jobs. That’s a pricing problem you won’t catch without this report.
Job Profitability Summary gives you a quick snapshot of estimated costs versus actual costs across all active and completed projects. Review this weekly during busy seasons. It shows which jobs are running over budget before they become disasters. Catching a job at 80% of budget when you’re only 60% done gives you time to adjust. Catching it at 120% when the job is finished just tells you what you already lost.
The Estimate vs. Actuals report compares your original bid to what you actually spent. This is where you learn whether your estimating is accurate. If you’re consistently under-bidding labor or over-estimating material discounts, this report shows the pattern. Most contractors guess at why jobs lose money. This report gives you actual data to improve future bids.
Unbilled Costs by Job shows work you’ve done and expenses you’ve incurred but haven’t invoiced yet. Review this before sending invoices to make sure you’re billing for everything. It’s easy to forget the extra trip to the supplier or the change order materials that got buried in the project chaos. Leaving money on the table happens when this report gets ignored.
A/R Aging tells you who owes you money and how long it’s been outstanding. Construction has longer payment cycles than most industries, so seeing invoices in the 30-60 day column isn’t necessarily alarming. But invoices hitting 90 days need immediate attention. Cash flow problems in construction usually start with slow-paying customers that nobody followed up on.
A/P Aging shows what you owe vendors and subcontractors. Review this before approving any payments. It helps you prioritize which bills to pay when cash is tight and keeps you from missing early payment discounts. Pay your subs late consistently and they might not show up for your next project when you need them.
The Balance Sheet gets ignored by most contractors but it shows your overall financial health. Assets, liabilities, and equity at a glance. More importantly, it shows whether retained earnings are growing over time. A business that shows profit on the P&L but declining equity on the Balance Sheet has problems the income statement won’t reveal.
Review job profitability and unbilled costs weekly. Review A/R and A/P aging before processing payments. Review the Balance Sheet and Estimate vs. Actuals monthly. That rhythm keeps you informed without drowning in reports.
Most contractors set up QuickBooks but never configure construction job costing properly, so these reports either don’t exist or show garbage data. If you’re not seeing job-level detail, your chart of accounts and item setup need work before the reports become useful.
Working with a construction bookkeeper in American Fork who understands the industry means someone else generates these reports and highlights what matters. You get the insights without spending hours in QuickBooks trying to figure out what you’re looking at.
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More Questions
How do I handle retainage in my bookkeeping?
Track retainage separately from regular receivables using a dedicated retainage receivable account. Record the full revenue when you bill but split the receivable between what you can collect now and what's being held back.
Read answerWhat bookkeeping does a painting contractor need?
Painting contractors need job costing to track profitability by project, labor tracking by job, materials expense tracking, and subcontractor payment records for 1099s. Monthly reconciliation and accounts receivable management round out the essentials.
Read answerHow do I account for equipment depreciation in construction?
Equipment depreciation spreads asset costs over their useful life using methods like MACRS or Section 179. For contractors, proper depreciation tracking affects both tax deductions and job costing accuracy.
Read answerHow do I set up QuickBooks correctly from the start?
Start with three decisions before creating your company file: accounting method, fiscal year, and entity type. Then customize your chart of accounts, set up items for what you sell, connect your bank accounts, and configure job tracking if you need to see profitability by project.
Read answerHow do I track costs for post-construction cleaning?
Track every job separately in your accounting software. Log labor hours by project, assign supply costs to specific jobs, and allocate equipment and vehicle expenses. This job-level data shows which projects are profitable and improves future bidding.
Read answerWhat should I track for accurate job costing?
Track labor hours and burden, materials coded to jobs, subcontractor invoices, equipment usage, and allocated overhead. The key is capturing costs at the job level when they happen, not guessing at month-end.
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