Bookkeeper, controller or CFO: which level you need
Three plans, one published price a month each. Higher plans include everything in the lower ones.
Outsourced Bookkeeper
$1,750 a month
Books closed by the 10th, every account reconciled.
Outsourced Controller
$3,250 a month
Job costing, WIP and a 13-week cash forecast checked every Monday.
Outsourced CFO
$6,500 a month
Cash planning, bank and surety reporting, and a partner for the big decisions.
Every plan is month to month, and catch-up work is quoted in writing before we start.
A year of the Controller plan, beside the hire
National median yearly wage for financial managers, the group controllers belong to, May 2025. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics. Wages only: a hire also costs benefits and payroll taxes.
For scale: a year of the Controller plan is $39,000. The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national median wage for financial managers, the group controllers belong to, at $166,570 (May 2025), before benefits and payroll taxes.
3 founding spots on the Controller plan: $1,750 a month for your first 90 days, in exchange for a written case study about your numbers. Then $3,250 a month, the plan's full price. Once the three spots are taken, the plan is $3,250 from the start. Month to month after your first 90 days. Stop any month.
Need the books closed and reconciled? That's the Bookkeeper plan. Need to know which jobs made money and which week cash runs short? Read about a fractional controller for contractors. Need someone with your numbers in front of the bank or the surety? That's a fractional construction CFO. Or see every plan, line by line.
Book your free 13-Week Cash Review
30 minutes, then a one-page summary in 2 business days.
What construction accounting services include each month
This is outsourced accounting for construction companies, done monthly. Five pieces of work, each with the plan that includes it:
A payment recorded twice, caught in a roofing client's August close.
From Jordan's client work before Peacock Accounting & Finance. The client is unnamed.- Reconcile every account against the bank (every plan). It's where mistakes come out, like the payment recorded twice that Jordan caught in a roofing client's close.
- Close the books by the 10th (every plan). On the 10th, last month is closed and reconciled, and you know what you actually made.
- Job cost accounting: profit by job (Controller and CFO plans). Each job's costs against its contract, so you know which jobs made money before you bid the next one.
- Keep the WIP schedule (Controller and CFO plans). Each month, which jobs are over billed or under billed. Here's what a WIP schedule shows.
- Forecast cash 13 weeks out, checked every Monday (Controller and CFO plans). Cash in and cash out by week, checked against your bank, so the short week shows up while there's time to act. Try a free 13-week cash flow template.
On the CFO plan, add bank and surety reporting and cash planning for the big decisions. All five rest on the same thing: books kept the way construction actually works.
How accounting for contractors differs from regular accounting
Accounting for contractors tracks each job as its own profit center and records revenue as the work gets done, not when you send the bill. Accounting for construction companies is organized around jobs, not just accounts.
Revenue follows the work, not the invoice
Under the revenue standard, FASB ASC 606, revenue is recognized when, or as, the work promised in the contract is done. For work done over time, you measure progress toward finishing it. Contractors commonly measure it with cost: cost to date divided by total estimated cost. Billing is how cash comes in. It isn't revenue.
| Contract | $1,000,000 |
| Estimated total cost | $800,000 |
| Cost to date | $200,000 |
| Percent complete ($200,000 of $800,000) | 25% |
| Revenue recognized (25% of the contract) | $250,000 |
| Billed to date | $300,000 |
| Over billed | $50,000 |
In the sample, partway through the job and measured by cost, the job has billed $50,000 more than it has earned. That's cash in the bank for work you still owe.
Every job is its own profit center
Costs get coded to the job they belong to, so each job shows its own profit. A company can make money overall while one job loses it, and job costing is how you find out which one.
| Job | Contract | Final cost | Gain or loss |
|---|---|---|---|
| Office reroof | $420k | $351k | $69k |
| Medical office | $310k | $262k | $48k |
| School addition | $265k | $284k | −$19k |
In the sample, the three jobs came out $98,000 ahead together, and the total looks fine. The job view shows the school addition lost $19,000, which is the one to look at before you bid that kind of work again.
Change orders move the contract
An approved change order changes the contract, and it can change the job's estimated cost, its percent complete and what you've earned. Finance leads quoted in a Construction Financial Management Association article review the WIP with their project managers each month, and one of their questions is whether all change orders have been submitted. A change order left off the pay app is work you've paid for and haven't billed.
Cash runs on pay apps and retainage
On an AIA pay application (the G702, with its G703 continuation sheet), you show the work completed and stored to date, the retainage held, what's been paid before, your change orders and the amount you're asking for. The architect certifies what's due, and it can be a different amount from the one you applied for. Meanwhile, payroll and suppliers go out every week. That's why cash lags profit, and why we forecast it 13 weeks out. On the Controller and CFO plans, that forecast is checked against your bank every Monday.
What to look for in a construction accounting firm
- Bank accounts reconciled Done
- Pay apps recorded Done
- Retainage tracked by job Missing
- Job costs coded Behind
Ask any firm you're considering for these. Here's how we answer each one.
- They speak your language. Pay apps, retainage, change orders and WIP, without a glossary.
- They name a close day. Ours is the 10th.
- They publish a price. Ours: $1,750, $3,250 or $6,500 a month.
- They tell you what you'll still do. Ours: send the month's bills and pay apps through the private folder set up for your company.
- One named person works on your books. Ours: Jordan Peacock, MBA.
- They work in the system you already use. Ours: your QuickBooks.
- They can produce what your surety or your bank asks for. On our CFO plan, that's bank and surety reporting.
The free review includes a close check like this one. Next, how the work splits with your tax preparer.
Working alongside your tax preparer
We do the months. Your tax preparer does the return.
We don't prepare or file tax returns, and we're not a CPA firm. Jordan Peacock: I am not a certified public accountant or public accountant.
Your tax returns stay with whoever prepares them, and so does the choice of accounting method on the return.
Through the year, we close the books by the 10th and reconcile every account. On the Controller and CFO plans, we also keep job costing, the WIP schedule and the forecast current. At year end, whoever prepares your taxes gets books that are closed and reconciled, and the year-end balance sheet and profit and loss. On the Controller and CFO plans, they also get the year-end WIP schedule.
Already working with an accountant, a bond agent or a banker? Here's how we work alongside your accountant, bond agent and banker.
Who does the work, and where
“I spent years watching business owners get overcharged, underserved, or stuck doing their own books badly.”
Jordan Peacock, MBAFounder, on why every price is published
Jordan Peacock, MBA, does the work: seven years in corporate accounting and finance, in month-end close, financial reporting and budgets. He works in your QuickBooks, alongside whoever does your taxes.
We're based in Pittsburgh and work with contractors anywhere in the US, remotely. The best fit is a contractor doing $2 million to $20 million a year.
Questions about construction accounting services
What is a project accountant in construction?
A project accountant tracks each job's costs, billings and change orders against its budget. On our Controller and CFO plans, that's profit by job and the monthly WIP schedule.
Do I need a tax preparer or a construction accountant?
You may need both, because they do different jobs. Your tax preparer handles the return. We handle the months in between: the close, job costing, the WIP schedule and the cash forecast.
Do I need construction accounting software?
No switch needed. We work in your QuickBooks.
What do your construction accounting services cost?
$1,750, $3,250 or $6,500 a month, depending on the plan, month to month.
Can you catch up books that are behind?
Yes. We quote the catch-up work in writing before we start, so you know that cost up front too.
Do you run payroll?
No. We record payroll from your payroll provider, but we don't run payroll or file payroll or sales tax returns.
Who is higher than an accountant?
A controller sits above an accountant, and a CFO sits above the controller. The Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that financial managers, controllers among them, usually come up from jobs like accountant, and that experienced financial managers may advance to become CFOs.
Do you work with contractors outside western Pennsylvania?
Yes. We're based in Pittsburgh and work with contractors anywhere in the US, remotely. The best fit is a contractor doing $2 million to $20 million a year.