Cornerstone Accounting
CONSTRUCTION ACCOUNTING SERVICES
Construction Accounting That Shows You Which Jobs Make Money
CPA-led accounting built for contractors: real job costing, a monthly WIP schedule, clean over/under billing, and financials your bank and bonding agent can trust. For construction companies doing $500K to $20M a year, nationwide.
✓ Led by a licensed CPA
✓ Built around job costing and WIP
✓ Works with the software you already use
WHY CONSTRUCTION BOOKS GO WRONG
Your Bank Balance Isn't Telling You the Whole Story
Construction doesn't fit generic accounting. When your books are set up like a retail shop's, the numbers look fine right up until a job closes out at a loss.
"Profitable" jobs that weren't
You learn a job lost money at closeout, when it's too late to fix the bid, the change orders, or the crew plan.
Cash that's already spoken for
Billing ahead of your costs feels like a good month. In reality, part of that cash belongs to work you haven't done yet.
Retainage nobody is tracking
Money held back on every pay app adds up across jobs. If it isn't tracked by job, it gets forgotten, collected late, or never collected.
Costs dumped into one bucket
Labor, materials, subs, and equipment land in general expense accounts, so you can't see margin by job, phase, or trade.
Change orders that never get billed
Extra work gets approved in the field but never makes it onto an invoice.
Financials that stall your bonding or loan
Your surety or banker asks for a WIP schedule and accrual-basis statements, and your books can't produce them.
CPA-LED. CONSTRUCTION-FOCUSED.
Accounting That Speaks Fluent Construction
Most generalist accountants record what happened in the bank account. Construction needs more than that, because revenue on a contract is earned as the work progresses, not when the check clears.
Cornerstone Accounting is led by Ethan, CPA, and construction is one of our two core specialties. We set up your books the way your projects actually run: by job, by phase, by cost code. Then we keep them current every month so you're making decisions on today's numbers, not last year's tax return.
✓
Job-by-job profitability, not just a company-wide P&L
✓
Accrual-basis, GAAP-aligned reporting that lenders and sureties expect
✓
A CPA you talk to directly, not a rotating offshore team
WHAT'S INCLUDED
Construction Accounting Services, Built Around Your Jobs
Everything you need to know where every job stands, from daily transaction coding to CFO-level planning.
Monthly Construction Accounting
Every transaction coded to the right job and cost code, with bank, credit card, and loan accounts reconciled monthly.
Job Costing & Cost Code Setup
A cost code structure that matches how you estimate, so budget-vs-actual reports actually line up with your bids.
Monthly WIP Schedule
Percent complete, earned revenue, and over/under billing for every open job, updated every month.
Financial Reporting & Job Profitability
Accrual-basis financial statements plus job-level gross profit, so you can see margin fade before closeout.
Payroll & Certified Payroll Coordination
Payroll costs allocated to jobs, including labor burden, plus coordination of certified payroll reporting for prevailing-wage work.
Cash Flow Planning
A forward view built from your billing schedule, retainage, payables, and payroll, so slow pay apps don't catch you short.
Retainage, Pay Apps & Change Orders
Retainage tracked by job (receivable and payable), with support for AIA-style pay applications (G702/G703) and change order billing.
Budgeting, Forecasting & Bid Feedback
Annual budgets and overhead rates, plus closed-job reviews that feed real costs back into your next estimate.
Virtual CFO for Contractors
Monthly reviews, KPI dashboards, bonding and bank preparation, and a sounding board for growth decisions.
WIP & JOB COSTING
The WIP Schedule: Where Your Real Profit Shows Up
On a long-term contract, your income statement depends on one estimate: how complete each job really is. If that estimate is off, you aren't just making a recordkeeping mistake. You're reporting profit you haven't earned, or hiding profit you have.
How we handle it every month
✓ Cost-to-complete reviewed with your team, not guessed
✓ Over/under billing calculated and booked to the balance sheet
✓ Job gross profit tracked month over month to catch margin fade early
✓ Approved and pending change orders tracked so they actually get billed
Illustrative example
Job
Contract
Est. Cost
Cost to Date
% Complete
Earned
Billed
Over/(Under)
Job A, Office Tenant Buildout
$1,000,000
$800,000
$400,000
50%
$500,000
$600,000
Overbilled $100,000
Job B, Retail Shell
$500,000
$400,000
$300,000
75%
$375,000
$325,000
Underbilled ($50,000)
Overbilled (billings in excess of costs and estimated earnings): you've invoiced more than you've earned so far. The cash feels great, but it's a liability. You still owe the work.
Underbilled (costs and estimated earnings in excess of billings): you've earned more than you've invoiced. Your P&L may look weak, but you're carrying unbilled revenue, and that's often a sign of a billing or change order problem.
Both distort your picture of profit and cash. We calculate and book them every month so your balance sheet reflects reality.
Retainage withheld by your customers, and retainage you withhold from your subs, are tracked by job as their own balances. Nothing gets lost when a project closes out.
We generally measure progress with the cost-to-cost method: cost incurred to date divided by total estimated cost. It only works if the cost-to-complete estimate is real, so we update it each month with your project managers instead of plugging in a guessed percentage.
A work-in-progress (WIP) schedule lists every open contract with its contract value (including approved change orders), estimated total cost, cost to date, percent complete, revenue earned, and amount billed. It's the bridge between what's happening in the field and what shows up on your financial statements, and it's one of the first reports a surety or lender asks for.
WHO WE WORK WITH
Accounting for General Contractors, Subcontractors, and the Trades
If you bid jobs, bill progress, and manage crews, we speak your language. We work with construction businesses doing roughly $500K to $20M in annual revenue, anywhere in the U.S.
General Contractors
Multi-sub projects, pay apps, and retainage on both sides.
Subcontractors
Tight margins, slow pay, and retainage held for months.
Specialty Trades
HVAC, electrical, plumbing, roofing, concrete, and more.
Home Builders
Spec and custom homes, construction draws, and lot-level costing.
Remodelers
Many short jobs, fast change orders, and deposit tracking.
Site Work & Excavation
Heavy equipment costs and equipment-rate tracking.
Commercial Interiors
Tenant buildouts on tight schedules.
Service + Project Contractors
Separate service-call and project profitability in the same company.
BONDING & BANKING
Financials Your Surety and Your Bank Will Take Seriously
Bonding capacity and credit lines are built on your financial statements. Underwriters look closely at working capital, equity, your WIP schedule, and how much profit fades between bid and closeout. Inconsistent or cash-basis books can cost you capacity, even when your jobs are going well.
We keep your books in a form that's ready when your surety agent or banker asks, and we coordinate with your outside CPA when you need a reviewed or audited statement.
Cornerstone prepares monthly financials and supporting schedules. Reviewed or audited statements are issued by an independent CPA firm when your surety or lender requires them.
Your bonding-ready package
- ✓ Accrual-basis balance sheet & income statement
- ✓ Monthly WIP schedule with over/under billings
- ✓ Retainage receivable & payable by job
- ✓ AR & AP aging
- ✓ Backlog / contracts-in-progress summary
- ✓ Closed-job gross profit review
YOUR TECH STACK
We Work Inside the Software You Already Use
No forced migration. We work in your accounting system and connect it to the tools your field and project teams already rely on.
QuickBooks Online
Procore
Buildertrend
Knowify
CoConstruct
JobTread
Excel / Google Sheets
Gusto & ADP (payroll)
âš™
Clean QuickBooks setup for construction
Projects/jobs, classes or cost codes, and items mapped to your estimate.
⇄
Field-to-books flow
Commitments, change orders, and invoices from your project tools reconcile to the ledger.
?
Not sure what you need?
We'll tell you honestly whether your current setup can grow with you.
Product names are trademarks of their respective owners. Cornerstone Accounting is not affiliated with or endorsed by these companies.
We Work Inside the Software You Already Use
QuickBooks Online · Procore · Buildertrend · Knowify · JobTread · CoConstruct · Foundation · Gusto & ADP (payroll) · Excel / Google Sheets. Clean QuickBooks setup for construction, job costing tied to your project tools, and payroll that codes labor to the right job.
HOW IT WORKS
From Messy Books to Monthly Job Reports in Three Steps
01
Schedule Your Free Financial Checkup
A no-pressure call with a CPA. We look at how your books handle jobs, WIP, retainage, and cash today, and tell you exactly what we'd fix.
02
We Set Up and Clean Up Your Books
We build a construction-ready chart of accounts and cost codes, catch up and reconcile past periods, and get your open jobs and WIP schedule straight.
03
Reliable Reports and Ongoing Support
Every month you get financial statements, job cost reports, and your WIP schedule, plus a CPA to walk through what the numbers mean for your next bid.
FAQ
Construction Accounting Questions, Answered
Have a question that isn't here? Email ethan@thecornerstonecpa.com or call 470-505-4218.
Know Your Numbers Before You Bid the Next Job
Book a free financial checkup with a CPA. We'll review how your books handle job costing, WIP, retainage, and cash flow, and give you a clear list of what to fix, whether or not you hire us.
Prefer to talk now? 470-505-4218 · ethan@thecornerstonecpa.com
No cost. No obligation. Talk directly with a CPA.