QuickBooks cleanup · Construction
QuickBooks cleanup for construction companies.
When job costs land on the company instead of the job, retainage hides inside receivables and nobody keeps a WIP schedule, the books can look fine while jobs quietly lose money. We rebuild job costing, WIP and retainage in your own QuickBooks file, on a written fixed-fee scope, and hand you books that show profit job by job.
A construction cleanup reassigns costs to the jobs and cost codes they belong to, separates retainage receivable and payable, rebuilds the work-in-progress schedule with over- and under-billing, ties certified payroll to payroll, and completes subcontractor records. It is done in your own QuickBooks file on a written fixed-fee scope, and leads into monthly construction bookkeeping if you want it kept clean. Your CPA confirms the revenue-recognition method and files.
TechBrot Inc. · independent bookkeeping and advisory firm led by a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor — not a CPA firm and not affiliated with Intuit Inc.
Intuit certifications
Every engagement is reviewed by a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor (QuickBooks Online Level 2, Payroll) — verification on request. Intuit’s ProAdvisor program becomes ProPartner Accountants in early 2027; the certifications continue.
Construction cleanup, in five questions.
What is a construction QuickBooks cleanup?
Rebuilding a contractor’s books job by job: costs reassigned to jobs and cost codes, retainage separated, a WIP schedule rebuilt with over- and under-billing, and certified payroll tied to payroll.
Why can’t I see profit by job?
Because costs were posted to general expense accounts instead of to jobs. Job profit only exists in QuickBooks when every cost carries a job.
What is over- and under-billing?
The difference between what you have billed on a contract and what you have earned by work completed. It belongs on the balance sheet, from the WIP schedule.
Do you handle retainage?
Yes — retainage receivable and payable are tracked separately from ordinary receivables and payables until they are released.
Who chooses percentage-of-completion or completed-contract?
Your CPA. It is a tax and accounting-method decision; TechBrot keeps the books ready for whichever method your CPA confirms.
Why contractors’ books drift.
Construction books have to answer a question ordinary books do not: which jobs make money. That needs every cost posted to a job and a cost code, billing tracked against the contract, and retainage held apart until it is released.
When materials go to “supplies”, crews go to “payroll” and progress billings go straight to income, the company total can look healthy while individual jobs run over — and the balance sheet overstates what has been earned or understates what is owed.
What a construction cleanup turns up.
Costs posted to the company, not the job
Materials, labor and subcontractors in general expense accounts, so job profit is invisible.
Retainage inside receivables and payables
Money held back on progress billings mixed into ordinary receivables, overstating what customers owe now.
No WIP schedule
Billings never compared with work earned, so over- and under-billing never reach the balance sheet.
Certified payroll that does not tie
Prevailing-wage reports that do not match what payroll actually paid on public work.
Subcontractor records incomplete
Missing W-9s, vendors not flagged for 1099 reporting, and certificates of insurance nobody tracks.
Job by job, cost code by cost code.
Map jobs and contracts
Open and recently closed jobs, contract values, change orders and billing to date.
Reassign costs
Materials, labor, equipment and subcontractors reclassified to the right job and cost code.
Separate retainage
Retainage receivable and payable split out and tracked to release.
Rebuild WIP
A work-in-progress schedule with over- and under-billing, tied to the balance sheet.
Tie payroll and subs
Certified payroll to payroll, subcontractor records completed, and the books handed over CPA-ready.
Three signs it is past a quick fix.
You cannot tell which jobs made money
The company profit and loss is the only profit number you have.
Your bonding agent or lender wants a WIP schedule
And there is nothing in QuickBooks to build one from.
Year-end surprises from your CPA
Adjustments for retainage, over-billing or misclassified costs arrive after the year closes.
What a construction cleanup costs.
Construction cleanups are priced as QuickBooks cleanup (published at $1,200–$15,000+), fixed fee against a written scope that names the jobs and the months. The number of active jobs, how far behind the file is, and whether WIP must be rebuilt from scratch set where a cleanup lands.
Whether you report on percentage-of-completion or completed-contract is a tax and accounting-method decision for your CPA; we keep the books ready for either.
Questions about cleaning up a contractor’s books.
How much does a construction cleanup cost?
Can you rebuild job costing for jobs that are already finished?
Do you prepare certified payroll reports?
Will my bonding agent accept the WIP schedule?
Is TechBrot a CPA firm?
Jobs you cannot see into?
Get job costing, WIP and retainage rebuilt.
Book a free 30-minute discovery call, or start with the free QuickBooks file review. You get a written fixed-fee scope — jobs, months and what needs rebuilding — within 3 business days.
Tell us what’s wrong with the books. We’ll tell you whether cleanup, catch-up or monthly bookkeeping fits.
Call (877) 751-5575. If we miss you, a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor returns your call within one business day. Written fixed-fee scope within 3 business days. No hourly billing.