How we think about construction and real estate
Construction and real estate businesses live at the intersection of long projects, lumpy cash flow, and lenders who want to see the numbers monthly. The books have to track each project on its own — costs, revenue, holdbacks, change orders — while still rolling up to a corporate P&L that makes sense to the bank and the CRA. We set the ledger up so a job's profitability is visible by the 10th, not at the end of the build.
What makes the books different
- Job costing across labour, materials, subcontractors, and equipment, tied to project codes
- Holdback accounting (the 10% lien holdback) tracked separately on both AP and AR sides
- Work-in-progress and percentage-of-completion treatment when contracts span months
- Change orders, deposits, and progress draws reconciled against the contract value
What a monthly close looks like for you
Each month we reconcile every account, allocate costs to active job codes, post progress invoices, and reconcile holdbacks on the projects that have shipped or are in progress. You receive a monthly package with a corporate P&L plus a project-level WIP and profitability report. For developers and brokerages, we add a property-level or deal-level rollup so the partner reporting matches the operating ledger.
Tools we commonly use for construction and real estate clients
QuickBooks Online or Xero as the ledger, configured with a job-costing chart of accounts. Buildertrend, Procore, or Knowify for project management on the larger builds. Dext for supplier receipts, Plooto for trade payables, and Wagepoint or Payworks for site and office payroll.
Partners we work with
We work alongside Vancouver CPAs experienced in construction tax — capital cost allowance on equipment, GST on new residential builds, and the rules around personal services businesses for incorporated trades — and coordinate year-end directly with them. For bonding, lending, and contract questions, we refer to specialists who work in the BC construction sector daily.
A good fit if
- You run a general contracting, trades, development, or brokerage business in BC
- You need project-level profitability and holdback discipline, not just a year-end summary
- You want monthly numbers your lender, bonding company, or partners can rely on