Construction Accounting & Bookkeeping in San Diego
Job costs you can trust, progress billings that go out on time, and a WIP schedule that tells you where every project really stands.
Construction accounting runs on the job, not the calendar. Each project has its own contract value, budget, change orders and billing schedule, and the profit on it is only clear when costs are tracked against that budget as the work happens. Retainage holds back part of every billing until completion, general contractors pay on their own timelines, and payroll has to be met every week regardless. For waterproofing and specialty trades, warranty obligations can follow a project for years after the crew has moved on.
Skyward provides accounting and bookkeeping for contractors and specialty trade companies across San Diego County, from our office in Escondido. We set up QuickBooks Online with projects, cost codes and items that match how you estimate and bill, reconcile every account in a disciplined monthly close, and deliver job cost reports and a WIP schedule your project managers can use. Field paperwork, subcontractor invoices and lien waivers come in through a secure Karbon portal instead of a truck dashboard.
Crews are where construction margins are won or lost, and California makes employing them complicated. Daily overtime, meal and rest periods, and prevailing wage requirements on public projects all carry real penalties when they are missed. Our HR team helps you keep classifications, onboarding paperwork and policies in order, and we organize the payroll records that public-works reporting depends on. All of it runs on a fixed monthly fee, so your overhead is one number you can bid against.
Services we typically run
- Outsourced Accounting
- Bookkeeping
- Financial Reporting & Dashboards
- Internal Controls
- Outsourced HR
What we handle
The realitiesof your sector.
01
Job costing that matches the estimate
If labor, materials, equipment and subcontract costs are not coded to the job and cost code they belong to, job reports become guesswork. We align your QuickBooks Online cost codes with how you estimate, code costs as they are incurred, and allocate payroll to jobs from crew time. You see estimated versus actual cost by phase while the job is still running, when there is still time to act.
02
Progress billing and change orders
Pay applications based on a schedule of values need to tie back to the contract, prior billings and approved change orders, or they get kicked back and delay payment. We prepare progress billings from your project managers' percent-complete figures and track change orders from pending through approved, so approved extra work gets billed and pending work is visible rather than forgotten.
03
Retainage receivable and payable
Retainage withheld by general contractors is real money owed to you, and retainage you hold from subcontractors is money you owe. We track both by job, separate from regular receivables and payables, and report what is due as each project reaches completion. That way retention is invoiced as soon as it is earned instead of sitting unbilled for months after closeout.
04
A WIP schedule that reflects reality
A work-in-progress schedule compares cost to date, estimated cost to complete and billings to date, showing which jobs are overbilled or underbilled. Bonding companies and lenders often ask for one, and it is the clearest early warning of a job going sideways. We build the WIP schedule monthly from closed books and your updated cost-to-complete estimates, so it holds up when someone outside the company reads it.
05
Warranty reserves for waterproofing work
Waterproofing contractors stand behind their work long after final payment, and callbacks cost labor and materials with no new revenue. We help you track warranty claims and costs by project and, working with your CPA, set a reasonable reserve based on your own history. The result is a balance sheet that reflects future obligations and job margins that are not overstated in the year the work was done.
FAQ
Questions,answered plainly.
Can QuickBooks Online handle job costing for a contractor?
For most small and mid-sized contractors, yes, when it is set up deliberately. We use projects, cost codes and service items that mirror your estimates, connect payroll so labor lands on the right job, and build job cost and WIP reports from the results. If your field software tracks time or materials, we design the books so that data flows in cleanly.
Do you prepare certified payroll reports for prevailing wage jobs?
We organize the payroll records that certified payroll reports draw on, including hours by classification and job, rates paid and fringe benefit detail, and help prepare the reports for your review. The reports are signed and submitted by your company, and the wage determinations themselves come from the awarding agency. Our HR team also helps you set up the processes that keep the underlying records accurate.
How do you track retainage in the books?
We record retainage receivable and retainage payable separately from ordinary invoices and bills, by job. Each month you get a schedule showing what is being held, by whom and on which projects. When a project reaches completion, the schedule tells you exactly what to bill for release and what you owe your subcontractors.
Can you help with lien waivers and preliminary notices?
We can track the lien waivers you collect from subcontractors and suppliers against the payments they relate to, and keep a record of notice deadlines you give us. We do not file liens or give legal advice on lien rights. When a payment dispute reaches that point, we provide your construction attorney with clean billing and payment history.
What does construction bookkeeping with Skyward cost?
We work on a fixed monthly fee based on scope, such as the number of active jobs, billing and WIP requirements, and whether HR support is included. There is a six-month initial commitment, then the engagement runs month-to-month. Contact us for a quote based on your company's volume and the way you run jobs.
Services
Built forconstruction & waterproofing.
- Finance
Outsourced Accounting
A full accounting department without the overhead: classifications, reconciliations, AP and AR support, month-end close and reporting, delivered by one steady team for a fixed monthly fee.
- Finance
Bookkeeping
Up-to-date, reconciled, tax-ready books every month. We clean up what is there, set up processes and automations, and deliver accurate monthly statements for a fixed fee.
- Finance
Financial Reporting & Dashboards
Monthly statements, budget versus actual by department, AR and AP aging, weekly cash reporting and KPI dashboards in Power BI, Excel or Google Sheets.
- Finance
Internal Controls
Segregation of duties for small teams, approval workflows, reconciliation discipline, documented close procedures and fraud-risk reduction that keep your books audit-ready.
- People
Outsourced HR
Comprehensive oversight of HR practices, policies and procedures: onboarding, compliant terminations, contractor classification under AB5, payroll support and audit-ready records.
Ready to take yourbusiness Skyward?
Tell us where your finance and HR operations stand today. We'll map out what fixed-fee support would look like — usually live within about a week.