Technology Tips for Contractors: Frequently Asked Questions on QuickBooks for Contractors

Sloppy bookkeeping and billing practices is one of the most basic drivers of underperforming contracting companies. Maintaining good bookkeeping is essential to profitability for companies and peace of mind for owners. 

Intuit’s QuickBooks software has served as the industry standard for bookkeeping across nearly all industries for decades. Construction is no exception to this rule. 

Proper utilization of QuickBooks can be one of the primary drivers of successful habits that support the growth of contracting companies. The tool is an easy solution for managing invoicing, expenses and job costing. Here are some of the top questions and answers for contractors in using QuickBooks. 

How can QuickBooks help with Job Costing? 

Basic use of QuickBooks will help to see see exactly how much money you spend and make for each job. There are tools that help to capture pictures and receipts for expenses, and allow you to tag hours and other expenses to each job to keep track of every dollar. It is a built in feature to view profitability and cost reports to better understand performance of both the company and individual projects. Additionally, QuickBooks Projects is a feature available to QuickBooks Online Plus and QuickBooks Online Advanced customers that has solutions for job costing built specifically for construction. 

Can QuickBooks help with invoicing and billing?

QuickBooks can help eliminate messy or inconsistent billings for contractors by centralizing all billing and collection data. QuickBooks invoicing for construction gives the flexibility to get paid in whichever method is most preferable to both the contractor and the customer. It accepts all major card types, bank transfers, checks, or cash. Invoices have a “Pay now” button so customers can pay instantly online, and you can even integrate mobile card readers so that people can swipe a card on site. QuickBooks automatically processes the payment, assigns it to a job for tracking, and transfers the money directly to the bank.

Can other people access my QuickBooks so I don’t have to? 

QuickBooks is built with multiple administrative access levels, so that contractors can customize who in their organization can access or input information. Also importantly, the accountant permissions provide CPA’s with a free version of QuickBooks designed specifically for them. QuickBooks Online Accountant provides a messaging exchange and document transfer portal directly inside so that they can stay on-top of issues that might impact your business or tax reporting in real time. 

Want to learn more about how to turn these insights into actionable best practices for your business through the experts at the Certified Contractors Network? Add the tools you need to make your business thrive by becoming a member and getting full access to thought leadership from the industry’s leading professionals.

Learn more about QuickBooks for Contractors here.