You can, but genuine job costing expertise is harder to find than general bookkeeping help. Most bookkeepers work with retail shops, service businesses, and professional firms where expense categorization is straightforward. Construction accounting requires a completely different approach, and many bookkeepers overestimate their ability to handle it.

The core issue is how expenses get recorded. A general bookkeeper categorizes a Home Depot charge as materials. A bookkeeper who understands job costing asks which job those materials went to, codes them to that project, and possibly breaks them down by phase or cost code. Without that project-level tracking, your financial statements show total spending but tell you nothing about which jobs made money and which ones lost money.

When you’re vetting bookkeepers, ask specific questions. How do you set up job costing in QuickBooks? Can you track costs by phase or cost code? How do you handle progress billing and retainage? Have you worked with contractors before? Listen for specifics, not generalities. Someone who actually knows construction job costing can explain their process in detail. Someone who doesn’t will give vague answers about being a quick learner.

Construction accounting has requirements that trip up general bookkeepers. Retainage affects your receivables and cash flow projections. Work in progress accounting matters for accurate financial statements. Progress billing doesn’t fit neatly into standard invoicing workflows. Certified payroll has its own documentation requirements. A bookkeeper without construction experience will make mistakes in these areas that cost you time and money to fix.

Local presence offers some advantages. Meeting in person helps when you’re setting things up or reviewing job profitability reports together. A bookkeeper familiar with Utah County and the Wasatch Front understands the local construction market and can relate to the projects you’re running.

TRUEquity Bookkeeping is based in American Fork and works specifically with contractors and construction companies. As a bookkeeper American Fork businesses trust for job costing, the firm was founded by someone who spent years on the operations side of construction before moving into accounting. That background means understanding how the industry actually works, not just the accounting theory behind it.

If you’ve been frustrated by bookkeepers who don’t understand your business, you’re not alone. Most contractors have that experience before finding someone who actually gets construction accounting. The right bookkeeper will ask about your jobs, not just your expense categories.