Bookkeeping for construction and trades businesses.
Progress billings, holdbacks, subs, and a truck full of receipts. We keep contractor books job-costed and current so you know which jobs actually made money — and so GST and payroll never sneak up on you mid-build.
Sound familiar?
These are the things we see most often in construction and trades books before we take them over.
- Receipts living in the truck, the toolbox and three different jackets
- No idea which jobs made money until the year is already over
- Holdbacks and progress billings recorded as plain income, so revenue looks wrong
- Subcontractors paid without tracking who is a sub and who is really an employee
- GST collected on deposits and spent before the filing is due
- Materials, fuel and equipment costs never split out by job
What we handle for construction and trades businesses
- Job costing so every project shows its own revenue, materials and labour
- Holdback and progress-billing treatment that matches the contract
- Subcontractor payment tracking and year-end slips prep
- Payroll for crews, including remittances, ROEs and T4s
- GST/PST filed on schedule, with the money set aside beforehand
- Equipment, fuel and vehicle expense tracking that survives a CRA look
The software construction and trades businesses already use
You keep the tools you know. We work inside them, so nothing has to be retyped or re-learned.
QuickBooks Online / Xero
The books, with bank and supply-store feeds coming in automatically.
Jobber, Buildertrend or Knowify
Quotes, jobs and scheduling — we map job data into the books.
Dext or Hubdoc receipt capture
Snap a lumberyard receipt in the truck and it files itself.
Payroll for crews
Remittances, ROEs and T4s handled, including WorkSafeBC reporting in BC.
Per-job costing reports
A monthly margin view per project, so you know what to bid again.
What to send us
Photos are fine. Upload everything at once in your client portal, or email it — whichever is easier.
- Business bank and credit-card statements
- Customer invoices and progress billings
- Supplier and lumberyard invoices
- Subcontractor invoices and their GST numbers
- Equipment loan or lease agreements
- Payroll records for any crew members
The dates that matter in construction and trades
- 15th of each monthPayroll source deductions due to CRA for your crew.
- One month after quarter endQuarterly GST/HST return and payment.
- Quarterly (BC)WorkSafeBC premium report and payment.
- Feb 28T4 slips for employees and T5018 slips for construction subcontractors.
- Six months after year endCorporate T2 return filed; tax owing due three months after year end.
How we run your file
We set up your chart of accounts around jobs rather than one lump 'sales' line, connect bank and credit-card feeds so material runs land automatically, and reconcile monthly. You get a short statement pack each month with a per-job margin view — the number that tells you whether to bid that kind of work again.
Snap receipts from your phone on site and they land straight in QuickBooks Online or Xero. No dropping off a shoebox, no Sunday-night data entry.
Solo trade
$150/month
One-person operation, no employees, GST quarterly or annually.
Small crew
$325/month
Two to five people on payroll, job costing, monthly statements.
Established builder
$595/month
Larger crews, holdbacks, multiple concurrent projects.
What it costs
Flat monthly fees from $150, set after a quick look at your volume — no hourly surprises and no lock-in contract.
FAQ
Construction & Trades bookkeeping questions
Straight answers before you pick up the phone.
Yes. We structure the books so each job carries its own revenue, materials, subs and labour, and you get a per-job margin view in your monthly statements.
Holdbacks are recorded separately from earned revenue so your income isn't overstated, and we track what's still owed to you until it's released.
It's normal in trades. We track every subcontractor payment and flag arrangements that look more like employment, so you can fix it before CRA asks.
Most small builders and trades run QuickBooks Online or Xero, often alongside a quoting and scheduling app such as Jobber, Buildertrend or Knowify. We work with whichever you already use and pull the job data into the books so quotes, invoices and costs line up.
Yes. Contractors across Canada work with us online — Ontario HST, Alberta GST-only filings and BC GST plus PST are all handled the same way, with photos of receipts sent from the job site.
A one-person trade with no employees usually fits our $150/month flat fee. Crews with payroll and job costing typically run $325–$595/month. The fee is set in writing after a quick look at your volume, and nothing is billed until you accept it.