QuickBooks
Accounting
A general small-business accounting platform that has become the default bookkeeping tool for a large share of construction companies, especially smaller subcontractors.
What it does
QuickBooks wasn't built specifically for construction, but its wide ecosystem of bank, payroll, and industry-tool integrations has made it the practical default anyway. A contractor can track income and expenses by individual job rather than just for the company as a whole, send invoices and collect payment electronically, and run payroll through an add-on that also handles year-end contractor tax reporting. Setting it up to actually reflect how a construction company operates, with a proper job-costing structure, takes real configuration rather than working correctly out of the box.
Key features
- Per-job profit and loss tracking, so a contractor can see whether a specific job actually made money rather than just the company as a whole
- Invoicing and online payment collection, including credit card and bank transfer options
- An optional payroll add-on that handles wage payments, tax filings, and year-end contractor tax reporting
- Integration with many construction-specific scheduling and customer management tools that plug into QuickBooks for the accounting side
How it's actually used
- A construction accountant sets up class tracking so the company's income and expenses can be broken out by crew or division instead of one company-wide total
- A small contractor invoices a client directly from a completed job and collects payment electronically without a separate payment processor
Tutorials
Tutorial videos for this tool are coming soon.
Good to know
- Pricing:
- Subscription-based, tiered by number of users and features, with payroll and payment processing sold as add-ons on top of the base accounting plan.
- Website:
- https://quickbooks.intuit.com/
Reviewed 2026-09. Costs, timelines, and licensing details vary by location and change over time. Treat these as a starting point, not a quote.