Construction, trades and restoration
A WIP schedule your bank and surety trust. Cash you can see 13 weeks out.
ProvenCFO runs construction accounting for general contractors, specialty subcontractors and restoration companies: job costing that matches the field, a WIP schedule with over and under billings every month, retainage and lien tracking, certified payroll, and the quarterly bonding package.
| Job | Contract | % complete | Earned | Billed | Over / (under) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ridgeline TI | $1,240,000 | 62% | $768,800 | $812,000 | $43,200 |
| Layton Clinic | $886,000 | 41% | $363,300 | $301,000 | ($62,300) |
| Ogden warehouse | $540,000 | 95% | $513,000 | $486,000 | ($27,000) |
| Total | $2,666,000 | $1,645,100 | $1,599,000 | ($46,100) |
Layton Clinic is $62,300 under-billed: that is your cash sitting in the owner’s account. Bill it this draw. Ogden shows a margin fade from 22% to 17%; the change orders are not all in.
Sound familiar?
- Profitable on paper, tight on cash, and nobody can explain the gap.
- The WIP schedule exists once a year, when the CPA builds it for the surety.
- Retainage receivable is a number in a spreadsheet, not in the books.
- Change orders get built before they get billed, and the margin fades at the end of every job.
- You run AP from a color-coded inbox every other Friday for three hours.
- The bank renewal asks for a package and it takes two weeks to answer.
Software we work in
QuickBooks Online with job costing, Xero, Procore, Buildertrend, Knowify, Foundation and Sage 100 Contractor (reporting), BILL, Ramp, Gusto. We integrate what you already use rather than forcing a switch.
Bookkeeping from $400 / mo
What ProvenCFO does for you each month
Job costing that matches the field
Every transaction coded to a job and a cost code the week it happens. Labor burden, equipment per hour and committed cost included so the job cost report is not a surprise at closeout.
WIP schedule, monthly
Percentage of completion, earned revenue, over and under billings and projected margin by job, reviewed by a controller and reconciled to the ledger. The schedule your surety asks for in May, every month.
Retainage, lien and notice tracking
Retainage receivable and payable on the balance sheet. Your state's preliminary notice and lien deadlines next to the AR aging so a receivable never turns into a hope.
Draws, pay apps and certified payroll
G702 and G703 pay applications, lien waiver log, subcontractor 1099s and certified payroll support for public work.
Bonding and bank packages
Quarterly bonding capacity memo, backlog report, and the lender package in the format your bank asks for, on their calendar.
13-week cash forecast
Built from the draw schedule, retainage, payroll and the bills in BILL. The low week is marked, and the decision that moves it is written down.
Questions
Why does my surety want a WIP schedule?
Because the WIP schedule shows whether your reported profit is real. Over-billings are cash you have collected on work not done; under-billings are work done that you have not billed. A surety uses it to set bonding capacity. The WIP guide explains it with an example.
Can you work with my existing CPA?
Yes. Most construction clients keep a CPA for the review or audit and the return. We close the books monthly and hand over a tied-out WIP and job cost package, which makes the year-end review faster and cheaper.
Do you handle certified payroll and prevailing wage?
We support certified payroll reporting for public work through Gusto or your PEO, and we track prevailing wage classifications in the job cost.
What does it cost for a $5 million subcontractor?
Typically bookkeeping plus controller, $1,650 to $3,000 a month depending on job count and transaction volume, with a cleanup project first if the books are behind. Adding CFO Foundation with the 13-week cash forecast is $1,500 more. Published starting prices are on the pricing page.
We use Google Sheets and Outlook for AP and job tracking. Is that a problem?
It is the most common starting point we see. Month one moves bills into BILL with an approval flow, month two gets job costing into the ledger, and the spreadsheet becomes a report instead of the system.
Where are your construction clients?
All over America. Lien and notice deadlines are tracked per state, and the bonding and lender packages follow each surety's and bank's format.
Related reading
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