Commercial & custom builders
Books and taxes for commercial general contractors.
Progress draws, retainage held back until closeout, subcontractor payments, and change orders that show up after the contract is signed. Gus sorts all of it, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
September made $27,000. The retainage from the Meridian Office Park draw finally came through, so I moved it out of pending and into income.
- Meridian Office Park drawProgress billing
- Retainage release, MeridianRetainage
- ABC Supply CoMaterials
- Sunbelt RentalsEquipment rental
- Hartford surety bondBonding
Why your books are different
Commercial GC books go wrong in the same four places.
A generalist bookkeeper sees deposits and bills. Your business is draws that arrive as a percentage of the job, retainage held back until the punch list closes, and a dozen subcontractors paid across several open jobs at once. When the books do not separate all of that, you cannot tell which job is actually making money.
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1
A draw is not the same as a sale
When a $180,000 pay application clears for a 40 percent complete phase, the whole check does not belong to this month. Book it as one lump sale and next month, when nothing lands because you are waiting on inspection, looks like the business fell apart.
What we doMatches each draw to the percentage of work actually finished, so income tracks the job's real pace, not the day the check clears. -
2
Retainage gets forgotten
A $2.4 million office build holds back 10 percent, close to $240,000, until the punch list is signed off. If that holdback never gets tracked as its own number, it vanishes from view and a builder juggling four jobs loses track of what is still owed.
What we doKeeps retainage on every open job as money already earned, so it stays visible from the first pay app until the final release. -
3
Change orders vanish in the field
A superintendent approves an extra $8,000 of electrical work on site to keep the schedule moving, and the paperwork never makes it back to the office. Three months later the cost is in the job but the revenue to cover it never got billed.
What we doFlags jobs where costs went up without a matching rise in billed revenue, so a missed change order gets caught before closeout. -
4
One account, six open jobs
Running a tenant buildout, a warehouse addition, and a strip mall renovation through the same checking account makes every deposit and bill look the same. Without job costing, a losing job hides behind two profitable ones until the year is already over.
What we doTags every dollar to the specific job it belongs to, so profit on each project is visible long before the year closes out. -
5
Subs paid without a W-9 on file
A drywall sub gets a rush check to keep a job moving, and nobody grabs a W-9 first. January arrives, the sub cleared $14,000 for the year, and now the 1099 is late because nobody has an address or a tax ID on file.
What we doKeeps a running list of every subcontractor paid and flags the ones missing a W-9, so January is not a scramble.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a commercial general contractor.
Set up once for how you get paid and what you spend on a job, and an accountant checks it every month.
Money in
- Progress billingDraws paid as each phase of a job is completed, tied to the AIA-style pay application.
- RetainageThe 5 to 10 percent held back by the owner until the punch list is signed off.
- Change order billingExtra scope added after the contract, billed and tracked apart from the base contract.
- Construction loan drawsPayments released by the project's lender as inspections confirm work complete.
- Design feesUpfront fees on jobs where the plans are drawn before the contract is priced.
Money out
- Subcontractor paymentsFraming, electrical, plumbing, and every other trade paid on the job.
- Materials and suppliesLumber, concrete, drywall, and fixtures bought from suppliers like ABC Supply.
- Equipment rentalCranes, lifts, and excavators rented from United Rentals or Sunbelt.
- Bonding and insurancePerformance bond premiums, general liability, and builder's risk coverage.
- Permits and feesBuilding permits, plan review, and local impact fees paid before work starts.
- Fuel and fleetFuel, repairs, and insurance for trucks and site vehicles.
- Office and softwareJob costing, scheduling, and takeoff software subscriptions.
What we watch for you
- Job margin
Profit on each open job, so a job losing money gets caught before it closes out.
- Retainage owed
What has been earned but held back by owners, so nothing gets forgotten at closeout.
- Backlog
Signed work not yet started, an early sign of whether the pipeline is thinning out.
- Labor share
Wages and subcontractor pay against money in, so pricing keeps up with real labor cost.
Ask Gus
Things commercial GCs ask Gus.
Text him like you would text anybody. He answers in plain English, and when a question is above his pay grade, an accountant looks and gets back to you.
Most of that check was retainage from a job you finished two months ago. I booked it as retainage coming in, not new profit, so this month's real work still shows up honest.
Get a W-9 before the first check clears. I keep a list of who is paid and what is on file, so January is not a scramble.
It counts the day the work happened, and I flagged it since I have not seen a matching change order bill yet. Worth checking with your PM before the job closes out.
The tax side
The tax side of a commercial general contracting business.
Most of what goes wrong here is timing and paperwork: revenue booked when the check lands instead of when the work happens, and a sub paid without the right form on file.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Long-term contract incomeJobs that run past one tax year sometimes have to show income as it is earned rather than only when billed or paid, depending on the size of the business and how long the jobs run. Gus flags multi-year jobs for the accountant to review.
- Equipment write-offsSkid steers, excavators, and lifts you own outright can usually be written off the year you buy them, up to $2,560,000 under Section 179, with 100 percent bonus depreciation on top for equipment bought after January 19, 2025.
- Subcontractor 1099sAny subcontractor not on your payroll who you pay $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps that list running all year so it is ready when the deadline comes.
- Worker classificationA crew that works your schedule, uses your equipment, and takes direction on site every day usually looks like employees, not subcontractors, no matter what the invoice says. Getting that wrong gets expensive, so Gus flags it before it becomes a habit.
Deductions commercial general contractors miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Equipment depreciation
- Truck and fleet fuel
- Small tools and hand tools
- Jobsite trailer rental
- Safety gear and PPE
- Bonding premiums
- General liability insurance
- Builder's risk insurance
- Takeoff and estimating software
- Plan review and permit fees
- Dumpster and debris hauling
- Continuing education
General information about 2026 federal rules, not advice for your business. Your accountant looks at your actual numbers before anything gets filed.
All year, not just April
A commercial GC's year, kept every month.
Bids happen year round and jobs run long past a single season. Your team keeps you ahead of the tax calendar no matter how many jobs are open at once. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
Plan the year
Last year's return gets started, the subcontractor 1099 list gets finalized, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January no matter how the draws landed.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand on every open job, what you will owe, and whether this year's bid season landed more work than last year's.
- October
Before the push
Fall is when many commercial and public jobs push to get enclosed before winter. Gus looks at equipment worth buying and moves worth making before December.
What you get
What you pay depends on what your business needs, and it does not move after that, busy season or slow. No hourly bills, no surprise invoices, no setup fee.
Book a call- Monthly bookkeeping
Every transaction sorted into categories set up for commercial general contractors. You never categorize a thing.
- An accountant checks every transaction
Real review, every month, before your books close. Not a spot check.
- Your business tax return, filed
Prepared, reviewed, and signed by that same accountant every year.
- The monthly number
What you made, what you spent, what to set aside for taxes.
- Your own bookkeeper
A real person assigned to your business, in the app whenever you need them. No hold music.
- On your books all year
Every month, not just in April. Your team speaks up whenever something is worth your attention.
- Cancel any time
No contract. No cancellation call. Your books are yours.
Straight answers
Questions commercial general contractors ask first.
Can Gus track retainage separately from regular income?
Yes. Retainage held back on a pay application stays visible as money you have earned but not yet collected, on every open job, until the owner releases it at closeout.
I run three jobs at once out of one bank account. Can Gus still tell me what each one is making?
Yes. Every deposit and bill gets tagged to the job it belongs to, so you can see profit on each project without waiting for the whole year to add up.
Do you handle certified payroll on prevailing wage jobs?
No. Certified payroll filing is payroll processing, which is not part of the subscription. Gus flags which of your jobs carry that requirement so you know to route the labor reporting to whoever handles it.
A change order took two months to get signed. Does that mess up the books?
It can, if the cost lands in one month and the bill lands two months later. Gus flags jobs where costs rose without a matching rise in billed revenue, so it gets caught early instead of at closeout.
My books are a year behind on three different jobs. Is that fixable?
Yes. Send the bank statements and job records you have. Gus sorts them by job, the accountant checks them, and most owners know where each project stands within a week.
Is a real accountant checking my books?
Yes. You get your own bookkeeper, Gus does the first pass on every transaction, and an accountant checks every one before your month closes. That same accountant prepares, signs, and files your business return. Goatkeeper is not a CPA firm, and we never pretend a person looked when they did not.
What does it cost, and can I cancel?
It starts at $197 a month, depending on what your business needs. No setup fee, no hourly bills, no contract. Cancel any time from the app, and your books go with you.
More in commercial & custom builders
We keep books for the business next door too.
- Barndominium builders
- Church & religious facility builders
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- Private utility locating
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- Sheet metal contractors
- Waterproofing & caulking contractors
- Drafting & CAD services
What makes a bookkeeper worth paying for Every business we keep books for
Book a call
Pick a time. That's the whole signup.
Fifteen minutes with a real person on our team. They look at where your books are, tell you straight what it takes to get caught up, and get you set up on the spot if it fits.
- $197 a month to start
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever