Bookkeeping

A trades business lives or dies on job costing. If you do not know what each job is costing to deliver, you cannot price the next one honestly. The simplest working setup for a new one-person or small-crew shop: 1. A dedicated business checking account. Never run personal expenses through it. The IRS and your future accountant both care. 2. A separate credit card used only for job materials and business purchases. Statements become your materials receipts. 3. Mileage log in a phone app (MileIQ, Everlance) so vehicle miles are defensible. 4. Receipts captured the day of purchase. Shoeboxes are for shoes; use an app (Dext, Expensify) or a cloud folder. 5. Monthly close, even if only for 30 minutes. Reconcile the checking account, categorize transactions, review what each open job cost you this month. Cloud accounting software for small contractors in rough order of popularity: QuickBooks Online, Xero, Wave (free tier), Zoho Books. QuickBooks is the de-facto standard because most accountants already speak it. Job costing is where trades diverge from retail. Every job should have at least three labor/material buckets tracked: - Direct labor (hours, not dollars; convert at billing time) - Materials from supply house invoices - Subs and rentals At month close, compare revenue per job to cost per job. Jobs that lose money teach you something about your estimates or your workflow. Sales tax is where many new shops get bitten. Rules vary by state and by what you do. Contract labor versus materials versus service calls can be taxed differently. When in doubt, ask a CPA once (one hour of their time) instead of guessing for three years.