By Tammy Hoang, QuickBooks ProAdvisor — Construction Bookkeeping Specialist | Construction Cost Accounting (949) 889-3283 | constructioncostaccounting.com The moment a multifamily developer takes outside money, the books take on a second job. It's no longer just tracking the project — it's tracking the investors: who put in what, who's been paid what, and where every dollar stands against the deal's promises. That's the world of capital accounts, contributions, distribution

By Tammy Hoang, QuickBooks ProAdvisor — Construction Bookkeeping Specialist | Construction Cost Accounting (949) 889-3283 | constructioncostaccounting.com For a roofing contractor doing storm and restoration work, the hardest part of the job isn't the roof — it's getting paid every dollar the insurance claim owes you. Between actual cash value, recoverable depreciation, supplements, and the owner's deductible, an insurance roof pays in pieces over weeks or months. Miss a pi

By Tammy Hoang, QuickBooks ProAdvisor — Construction Bookkeeping Specialist | Construction Cost Accounting (949) 889-3283 | constructioncostaccounting.com Roofing is one of the most financially complex trades a contractor can run — and most of that complexity comes from one thing other trades rarely deal with: insurance work. Between retail re-roofs and storm-restoration jobs paid by an insurance carrier, a roofer is really running two different businesses under one roof, e

By Tammy Hoang, QuickBooks ProAdvisor — Construction Bookkeeping Specialist | Construction Cost Accounting (949) 889-3283 | constructioncostaccounting.com For a concrete contractor, materials are where the money is made or lost — and they're the hardest cost to keep a grip on. Ready-mix pricing moves, a short load costs more per yard than you planned, an over-pour is money left in the ground, and if the delivery ticket never gets coded to the right job, the whole cost disap

By Tammy Hoang, QuickBooks ProAdvisor — Construction Bookkeeping Specialist | Construction Cost Accounting (949) 889-3283 | constructioncostaccounting.com Concrete is one of the most unforgiving trades to run the books for. Your margins are thin, your material costs move with the market, a short load or an over-pour eats your profit on the spot, and if you touch public work you're likely dealing with prevailing wage on top. Concrete contractor bookkeeping isn't generic book

By Tammy Hoang, QuickBooks ProAdvisor — Construction Bookkeeping Specialist | Construction Cost Accounting (949) 889-3283 | constructioncostaccounting.com If you build homes, your books have a job that a general contractor's don't: tracking a project from raw land through lots, construction, and sale — often with customer deposits, construction loans, and multiple homes moving at once. That's why many builders use the NAHB chart of accounts — a standardized account structur

By Tammy Hoang, QuickBooks ProAdvisor — Construction Bookkeeping Specialist | Construction Cost Accounting (949) 889-3283 | constructioncostaccounting.com Every year it's the same scramble: tax season arrives, your CPA asks for documents, and you realize the books aren't ready. Receipts are missing, accounts haven't been reconciled in months, and nobody's sure if the job numbers are right. It's stressful, it's expensive in CPA cleanup fees, and it's completely avoidable. Go

By Tammy Hoang, QuickBooks ProAdvisor — Construction Bookkeeping Specialist | Construction Cost Accounting (949) 889-3283 | constructioncostaccounting.com Bad bookkeeping rarely sends you a bill. There's no invoice that says "lost this bid because your job costs were wrong" or "declined for bonding because your WIP didn't reconcile." That's exactly why bad construction bookkeeping is so dangerous — the cost is real, ongoing, and almost completely invisible until it shows up

By Tammy Hoang, QuickBooks ProAdvisor — Construction Bookkeeping Specialist | Construction Cost Accounting (949) 889-3283 | constructioncostaccounting.com Before you hire anyone to handle your books, three fair questions deserve straight answers: what do I actually get each month, do they understand my kind of construction business, and how long before I'm up and running? This is the gut-check guide. If you're weighing whether a construction bookkeeper is right for you, t

By Tammy Hoang, QuickBooks ProAdvisor — Construction Bookkeeping Specialist | Construction Cost Accounting (949) 889-3283 | constructioncostaccounting.com Once a contractor decides their books need real help, the questions get practical fast: what does this cost, am I going to get a surprise invoice, what about cleaning up the mess I already have, and will any of this actually help me get bonded? This guide answers those four head-on. We won't dodge the money question — but

By Tammy Hoang, QuickBooks ProAdvisor — Construction Bookkeeping Specialist | Construction Cost Accounting (949) 889-3283 | constructioncostaccounting.com If you run a construction business, you've probably wondered whether the financial side really needs to be different from any other company's. It does — and the gap is bigger than most owners realize. Construction bookkeeping isn't regular bookkeeping with a hard hat on. It tracks money in a fundamentally different way, b

By Tammy Hoang, QuickBooks ProAdvisor — Construction Bookkeeping Specialist | Construction Cost Accounting (949) 889-3283 | constructioncostaccounting.com Every electrical contractor is running a small warehouse on wheels and most don't think of it that way. Each truck is carrying thousands of dollars in wire, breakers, devices, conduit, fittings, and fixtures. Multiply that across a fleet and you've got serious money rolling around the county every day. Yet electrician inv