Construction Accountant Job Description

Separate accounts help you better determine how much money is coming into and out of your construction business. And accounting, it’s important to have a business bank account or credit card and keep it separate from your personal finances. That makes reconciling your transactions much easier and faster because you don’t have to sift through income and expenses unrelated to your construction business.

• For custom home builders, every project is different, which means every accounting cycle can change.
• For example, an HVAC technician paid at $20 an hour might be billed at a fixed $50 per hour.
• If the other management team members share this feeling, responsibility for cash management probably will be assigned to the finance department.
• Effective cash management is essential to maintaining a construction company’s financial health.
• In fact, it is not uncommon for a contractor to estimate an average gross margin on projects which is higher than the gross margin on its financial statements.

This is due to the position of trust the financial manager occupies and the integrity expected of the financial manager. Integrity is an element of character that is fundamental to trust and it is the benchmark the financial manager uses to test decisions. Dawn Killough is a construction writer with over 20 years of experience with construction payments, from the perspectives of subcontractors and general contractors. Dawn has held roles such as a staff accountant, green building advisor, project assistant, and contract administrator. Her work for general contractors, design firms, and subcontractors has even led to the publication of blogs on several construction tech websites and her book, Green Building Design 101.

Introduction to Construction Accounting

These common financial mistakes can be a construction company’s worst nightmare. They can add up fast, leading to long-term financial struggles and business viability. For most contractors, retainage is simple enough on paper, even though by nature it’s an exception to the rule.

Ensures customer satisfaction by responding to various requests from external investors, lenders, and others related to financial reports, construction draws. Project Abstracts – Develops a general understanding of the underlying agreements for assigned projects. Works to become familiar with the specific sections that are relevant to better understand the overall structure, including commitments, cost classifications, AIA documents, GMP and lender requirements, and project fees. Ensure that field and accounting teams are working from the same set of financial data.

Construction Accounting 101: Expert Guide for Contractors

At the end of any accounting period, reconciliation involves matching balances and ensuring that debits from one account for one transaction is same as the credit to another account for the same transaction. Janet Berry-Johnson, CPA, is a freelance writer with over a decade of experience working on both the tax and audit sides of an accounting firm. She’s passionate about helping people make sense of complicated tax and accounting topics. Her work has appeared in Business Insider, Forbes, and The New York Times, and on LendingTree, Credit Karma, and Discover, among others. The first step for all construction firms is to open a separate business bank account that will be used exclusively for your business.

Scan or save copies of accounts payable invoices to your server or cloud storage system. By doing this, you’ll ensure you always have a copy of every invoice, even if something happens to the paper copy. This helps to reduce the chances of having repeat and unnecessary accounts in your COA. Keeping construction bookkeeping your COA lean also eliminates clutter in transaction posting and reporting. You need to find a balance between the number of accounts and the required amount of detail. When putting together a list of expense accounts, it is best to consider the requirements of your specific industry.

Minimize the number of accounts

Often that requires specialized software to track and create those billings. Revenue recognition or income recognition is how a contractor determines when they’ve officially made money on a project. Remember, this comes into play because construction contracts are usually long-term and often have delayed payments. Contractors aren’t necessarily able to complete, bill and collect on a contract in the same month. Construction accounting is a unique form of bookkeeping and financial management.

The position will be part of a regionally focused accounting team, collaborating to achieve department and company-wide goals. The Accountant has the ability to work both independently and in a team setting. Greystar is looking for dedicated and hard-working individuals who want to help us continue to be the best as what we do. Today, we are the largest rental housing operator and developer in the US and one of the largest global investment management companies, delivering industry-leading services to investors, clients, and residents. We offer unrivaled professional development and career growth opportunities to our team members and look forward to welcoming you to Greystar, where our people are what make us the Global Leader in Rental Housing.

Find the best Construction Accounting Software

A time-and-materials contract is a variation on the preceding cost plus contract. Customers are billed a standard hourly rate per hour worked, plus the actual cost of materials used. The average net profit margin for construction businesses ranges from just 3-7 percent, according to research from IBIS World. Now that you have learned the essential parts comprising a chart of accounts, you can engineer a COA that grows with your construction business and helps you succeed. Collaboration – Establishes and maintains professional communication with all internal and external project stakeholders.

Make sure you are accurately tracking the retainage that is owed to your subcontractors. Retainage is recorded separately from accounts payable, since it is typically not payable in the current period. “Accounts payable” is a term for the money you owe to vendors and subcontractors for business costs and expenses. It includes all types of costs, including overhead, direct costs, and indirect costs.