Bookkeeping and CFO Services for Contractors and Trades
Construction is one of the hardest businesses to keep financially clear. Every job is a small business of its own, with its own estimate, labor, materials, change orders and payment schedule. Money goes out weeks before it comes in, retainage holds back part of what you earned, and a busy year can still end with less cash than it started. The Gabb Group provides bookkeeping, job costing, payroll, CFO support, card processing and financing preparation for Florida contractors and trades, from general contractors and builders to electricians, plumbers, HVAC, roofing, landscaping and land clearing companies.
Job Costing: Knowing What Each Job Earned
The single most valuable report a contractor can have is gross profit by job. Our job costing tracks every job’s labor, materials, subcontractors and equipment against its estimate and its billings, so you can see:
- Which jobs, and which types of jobs, actually make money
- Where estimates are consistently too low
- Whether change orders are being priced and billed
- How labor productivity compares across crews
That information feeds directly back into estimating, so the next bid is priced on fact.
Work in Progress and Billing
For contractors working on longer jobs, profit is measured as the work is completed rather than when cash arrives. A work-in-progress schedule compares costs to date, billings to date and percentage of completion on each open job, and shows where you have billed ahead of the work, or fallen behind it. It is also exactly what bonding companies and lenders ask for. We prepare it monthly from the job cost records.
Getting Paid
Construction cash flow lives and dies on collections:
- Progress billing on a schedule tied to milestones, sent promptly
- Retainage tracked by job, so held-back amounts are actually collected at the end
- Deposits taken by payment link before work begins
- Card and ACH payments through our partner USA Payments, with mobile and tap-to-pay so crews collect at completion, at a cost that can be up to half of what you pay with Square and Stripe
- ACH for large commercial payments, at a fraction of a card’s cost
Florida Rules Contractors Live With
- Workers’ compensation. Florida requires construction businesses with one or more employees to carry coverage, and corporate officers and LLC members count as employees. See business insurance.
- Construction lien law. Subcontractors and suppliers protect their lien rights in part by serving a Notice to Owner within 45 days of first furnishing labor or materials. Tracking those dates by job protects your right to be paid.
- Sales tax on materials. Contractors improving real property are generally treated as the consumer of the materials they buy, so they typically pay sales tax on materials rather than charging it to the customer. The details depend on the contract, so we confirm how your jobs should be handled.
- State licensing through the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation for licensed trades.
Payroll for Crews
Construction payroll carries its own complications: hourly crews, overtime, multiple job sites, and workers’ compensation premiums based on payroll by job class. Our payroll services handle every cycle and keep labor coded by job, so payroll feeds job costing automatically and workers’ compensation audits go smoothly.
Equipment and Financing
Trucks, trailers, excavators and tools are how a contractor grows. Equipment financing spreads their cost over their working life, and a line of credit covers the gap between paying crews and collecting from customers. We prepare the lender-ready financial statements and work-in-progress reports lenders and bonding companies review, and connect you with lenders through our partner Asenta Capital.
Planning a Contractor’s Year
Florida construction has its own rhythm: busy stretches, slower periods, and hurricane season, which can halt work and then flood the market with repair jobs. Our cash flow forecasting builds your backlog and billing schedule into a month-by-month cash plan, and our fractional CFO services help decide when to add a crew, buy equipment or bid larger work.
Independent Contractors and Subcontractors
Many trades rely on independent contractors, and the classification matters. Paying someone as a contractor who should legally be an employee creates payroll tax and workers’ compensation exposure. We help you keep classification consistent, collect W-9s before the first payment, and issue 1099-NEC forms at year-end. For payments made after December 31, 2025, the federal 1099-NEC reporting threshold rose to $2,000.
What Reports Should a Contractor Review Every Month?
A short monthly package tells a contractor most of what matters. We prepare and walk through:
- Job profit report, gross profit on each open and recently closed job against its estimate
- Work-in-progress schedule, showing over and under billing on each open job
- Receivables aging, with retainage listed separately so it is not forgotten
- Payables aging, including what is owed to subcontractors and suppliers
- Backlog, the signed work not yet performed and the margin built into it
- Cash forecast, the weeks ahead with payroll, material orders and expected collections
Read together, these show whether the business is winning the right work at the right price.
Common Bookkeeping Mistakes in Construction
- Materials posted to general expenses instead of the job they were bought for, which hides the real cost of each job
- Crew time coded to overhead, so labor on the job report looks lighter than it was
- Change orders billed late, or performed and never billed at all
- Equipment recorded as an expense instead of an asset, which distorts profit and the balance sheet
- Deposits recorded as income before the work they pay for is done
Each of these is simple to fix once the chart of accounts and job codes are set up properly.
What Should a Contractor Have Ready to Get Started?
A list of open jobs with their contracts and estimates, recent bank and loan statements, payroll reports, a list of trucks and equipment, and access to your accounting and estimating software. From there we set up job codes and start building the reports above.
Questions From Contractors
What Is Job Costing?
Job costing tracks the labor, materials, subcontractors and equipment spent on each job against its estimate and billings, showing the real profit on every project.
What Is a Work-in-Progress Schedule?
It compares costs to date, billings to date and percentage of completion on each open job, showing where you are over or under billed. Bonding companies and lenders often require it.
Do Florida Contractors Charge Sales Tax?
Contractors improving real property are generally treated as the consumer of their materials and pay sales tax when they buy them, rather than charging it to the customer. Specifics depend on the contract.
When Must a Notice to Owner Be Served in Florida?
Within 45 days of first furnishing labor, services or materials to the property, to preserve lien rights.
Do Construction Businesses Need Workers’ Compensation in Florida?
Yes, with one or more employees, and corporate officers and LLC members count as employees.
What Is Retainage in Construction?
Retainage is a portion of each progress payment the customer holds back until the job is complete. It is money you have earned but not yet collected, so it should be tracked by job and billed promptly at completion.
Talk With Us About Your Construction Business
Tell us what you build, how many crews you run and where the numbers are frustrating you, and we will show you how we can help.
- Consultation
- A no-cost 30-minute consultation to look at where your business stands today.
- Hours
- Monday to Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM
- Where We Work
- Based in Riverview, serving Florida and clients nationwide. See Areas We Serve