Design & pre-construction
Books and taxes for outsourced construction estimators.
A takeoff fee due whether or not the contractor wins the job, a retainer from a general contractor who sends you five bids a month, a cost database subscription, and dozens of small invoices across different clients. 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
February came in at $15,400. Four of your six bids this month were flat fees regardless of outcome, so the estimating income held steady even with two contractors losing their jobs.
- Halverson Construction retainerRetainer fees
- Bid fee, Coastline BuildersPer-bid fees
- RSMeans data subscriptionCost database subscription
- PlanSwift licenseTakeoff software
- Bluebeam Revu licenseTakeoff software
Why your books are different
A construction estimating business's books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees invoices from a handful of clients. Your business does the same takeoff work whether the contractor wins the bid or not, runs a monthly retainer for one client and per-bid fees for another, and pays for cost data and takeoff software every month no matter how many bids come in. When the books do not know that, you cannot tell which clients or which pricing model actually pays.
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1
Win-contingent fees mix with flat ones
One general contractor pays a flat fee per bid regardless of outcome, and another only pays if the job is won. Blended together, a string of unsuccessful bids can look like the business is failing when the flat-fee side was steady the whole time.
What we doKeeps flat per-bid fees and win-contingent fees in separate lines, so you can see which pricing model is actually carrying you. -
2
A retainer client's volume swings hide in the total
A retainer contractor might send two bids one month and eight the next, and if the retainer amount does not move with volume, a heavy month of takeoffs can quietly cost you far more time than the fee reflects.
What we doTracks bid volume against retainer income so you can see when a client's workload has outgrown the rate you agreed to. -
3
Cost database and software fees look like overspending in a slow month
RSMeans data, PlanSwift, and Bluebeam all bill on their own schedule regardless of how many bids you land that month, and a quiet month can look like a loss once those fixed costs are counted.
What we doTracks estimating software and data subscriptions as fixed costs, so a slow bid month reads as slow bidding, not runaway spending. -
4
Dozens of small client invoices blur together
Working with many general contractors at once means many small payments that look alike on a bank statement, even though some clients are reliable and others are chronically late.
What we doTags each payment to the contractor it came from, so you can see which relationships are actually worth keeping.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a construction estimating business.
Set up once for how each client pays and what keeps your bids accurate. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Retainer feesMonthly fees from general contractors who send recurring bid work.
- Per-bid feesFlat fees for a single takeoff and estimate, paid regardless of outcome.
- Win-contingent feesFees paid only if the contractor is awarded the job.
- Change order estimatingSeparate fees for pricing scope changes on jobs already won.
Money out
- Takeoff softwarePlanSwift, On-Screen Takeoff, or Bluebeam Revu licenses.
- Cost database subscriptionRSMeans or similar labor and material cost data services.
- Contract estimator payFreelance help brought in during a heavy bidding stretch.
- Continuing educationCourses on updated cost data or estimating methods.
- Office and equipment costsWorkstations and large monitors for plan review.
What we watch for you
- Bid win rate impact
How much of your income depends on win-contingent fees versus flat per-bid pay.
- Client volume trend
Whether a retainer client's bid volume has grown past what the retainer rate was set for.
- Fixed software cost share
How much of income goes to takeoff software and cost data subscriptions each month.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things construction estimators 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.
Not on those. I checked, and four of your six fees this month were flat regardless of outcome, so your estimating income held up even with those two losses.
I have been tracking their volume against the retainer rate, and it has grown noticeably the last two months. Worth raising with them before it becomes the new normal.
That call is above my pay grade, but I can tell you the busy stretches have been running long enough that it might pay for itself. I flagged it for the accountant to weigh in on.
The tax side
The tax side of a construction estimating business.
Most of what goes wrong here is simple: fixed software costs mistaken for a bad month, and uneven bid income making the set-aside hard to plan without help.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Self-employment taxA sole proprietor estimator pays 15.3 percent self-employment tax on top of income tax, up to the $184,500 Social Security wage base.
- The pass-through deductionMost owners can take up to 20 percent of qualified business income off their taxable income, once retainer and per-bid income are tracked accurately all year.
- Contractor 1099sA contract estimator brought in during a busy stretch, paid $2,000 or more in 2026 and not on payroll, gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
- Equipment write-offsPlan review workstations and large monitors can often be written off the year you buy them, under Section 179 or bonus depreciation.
Deductions outsourced construction estimators miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- PlanSwift or Bluebeam license
- RSMeans data subscription
- Large plan review monitors
- Contract estimator pay
- Continuing education courses
- Home office expenses
- Cloud storage for bid files
- Professional membership dues
- High-speed internet, business share
- Computer repairs and upgrades
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 construction estimating year, kept every month.
Bid volume runs on your clients' construction seasons more than a season of your own. Gus keeps the set-aside steady no matter how the bidding waves land. 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 contractor 1099 list is ready, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed, with retainer, per-bid, and win-contingent income already sorted apart all year.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether any retainer clients have outgrown their current rate.
- October
Before year end
Gus looks at software renewals and equipment worth buying before December and flags any client payments still outstanding.
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 outsourced construction estimators. 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 construction estimators ask first.
Some of my fees only pay out if the contractor wins the bid. Can Gus track that separately?
Yes. Gus keeps win-contingent fees apart from flat per-bid fees, so you can see which pricing model is actually paying the bills.
One client is on a retainer but keeps sending more bids than before. Will Gus notice that?
He tracks bid volume against retainer income over time, so a client's workload creeping past the original rate shows up clearly instead of quietly eating your time.
My software and data subscriptions bill every month regardless of how much work comes in. Does that hurt my numbers in a slow month?
It shows up as a fixed cost either way, which is accurate. Gus flags it so a slow bidding month reads as slow bidding, not a sign something is wrong.
I work with a dozen different general contractors. Can Gus keep them apart?
Yes. Every payment gets tagged to the contractor it came from, so you can see which relationships pay reliably and which ones do not.
I have never tracked my per-bid income separately from retainers. Can Gus fix that now?
Yes. Send your recent bank statements and Gus starts sorting retainer, per-bid, and win-contingent income apart from there, checked by an accountant as it goes.
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.
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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