QuickBooks for Contractors

By Craig M Kershaw

QuickBooks for Contractors is a must have reference tool for construction professionals who want to get the most out of QuickBooks. Beyond the basic manuals and how to guides, this book answers “How do I get QuickBooks to …?”

This unique guidebook presents numerous workarounds and examples of practical applica

• Language: English
• Publisher: The CFO Source, LLC
• Release date: Oct 6, 2016
• ISBN: 9780997738810

Book preview

QuickBooks for Contractors

Presented by:

Craig M. Kershaw, CPA, MBA

QuickBooks for Contractors

By Craig M Kershaw

Copyright © 2015 by Craig M Kershaw, The CFO Source, LLC

This eBook is licensed for your personal use only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, then please purchase an additional copy.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

For permission requests, write to:

The CFO Source, LLC

5515 Hudson Drive

Eldersburg, MD 21784

http://www.cfosource.net/

Ordering Information: Quantity sales. Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the publisher at the address above.

Orders by U.S. trade bookstores and wholesalers:

The CFO Source, LLC

5515 Hudson Drive

Eldersburg, MD 21784

Main category—Business & Money > Bookkeeping

Other category—Computers & Technology > QuickBooks

ISBN: 978-0-9977388-1-0

First Edition

Table of Contents

About the Author

Chapter One – Overview of Functionality

What Can QuickBooks Do for the Contractor?

Profit and Loss Statement Considerations

Balance Sheet Considerations

Determining the Level of Detail to Track

Chapter Two – Setting Up Jobs in QuickBooks

Chapter Three – Customizing Item Codes

Overview

Item Code Types

Setting Up Item Codes

Set-Up of a Service Item Code

Additional Information on Item Codes

Chapter Four – Creating and Using Estimates

Overview

Showing Multiple Lines for Revenue

Showing Single Line for Revenue

Chapter Five – Vendor/Subcontractor Transactions

Recording Vendor Bills to Jobs

Recording Vendor Refunds

Tracking Subcontractor Insurance Expiration Dates

Chapter Six – Using QuickBooks Payroll for Job Costing

Overview

Setting Preferences for Job Cost Payroll and Workers’ Comp

Using The Weekly Timesheet to Track Hours and Pay By Job

Workers’ Compensation Costing and Management

Modifying the Workers’ Comp Payroll Item Code

Setting Up Workers’ Comp Codes

Setting up the Experience Modification Rate

Setting Default Workers’ Comp Codes for Employees

Workers’ Compensation Reports

Generating Certified Payroll Reports

Using Company Contribution Payroll Item Codes to Charge Non-Payroll Expenses to Jobs

Dealing With the Problem of Payroll Item Codes That Only Post to One Account

Chapter Seven – Billing for Contracts

Billing for Prepayments/Deposits – Two Approaches

Approach One - Posting the Deposit to Accounts Receivable with a Credit Memo

Accounting Comment on this Approach

Approach Two - Posting the Deposit to a Current Liability Account

Progress Billing

Time

Expenses

Mileage

Items

Generating a Time and Material Invoice

Alternative Approach to Time and Material Billing

Retention Billing

Chapter Eight – Equipment and Vehicle Costing

Set-Up

Allocating Costs to Jobs

Chapter Nine – Inventory Costing

Overview

Setting Up and Using Inventory

Making Inventory Adjustments

Chapter Ten – Percentage Completion Accounting

Chapter Eleven – Functionality for Government Contractors

Costs Aggregation Approaches

Account Types

Accounts & Sub Accounts

Class Codes

Cost Allocation Approaches

Chapter Twelve – Reports

Reports to Review for Data Integrity

Expenses Not Assigned to Jobs

Unbilled Costs by Job

Job Profitability Reports

Summary Profitability Reporting

Individual Job Profitability Reports

Profit and Loss by Job

Job Profitability Detail

Job Estimates vs. Actuals Detail

Modifying and Memorizing Reports

The Expand/Collapse Function

Customizing Reports

Memorizing (and Retrieving) Reports

Appendices

Appendix A

Appendix B

Appendix C

About the Author

Craig Kershaw, CPA, MBA is the managing partner of The CFO Source, a Baltimore based consulting firm that provides senior level financial expertise to small and medium size businesses. With over 20 years of experience at the CFO and Controller level in transportation, construction, and service industries, he has worked with medium size businesses and Fortune 500 corporations, demonstrating excellence across the full range of financial management responsibilities—financing, treasury, accounting, risk management, information technology, and QuickBooks training. Craig is experienced in all levels of financial and accounting software, from QuickBooks to custom systems used in multi-billion dollar operations.

A Certified QuickBooks Pro Advisor since 2009, Mr. Kershaw has helped numerous clients set up, trouble shoot, and fine tune their accounting. He teaches continuing professional education courses to members of the Maryland Association of CPAs using his QuickBooks series, and regularly contributes articles on QuickBooks functionality for the Maryland Construction Networks Networked and Connected newsletter.

The CFO Source provides services to clients in the construction and contracting business, and the firm’s guidance in their financial matters empowers them to more efficiently and effectively track job costs and profitability, manage backlog, improve estimating processes, and produce accurate financial statements. The CFO Source’s clients receive training for tracking estimated costs versus actual, properly billing and collecting contract revenues, preparing percentage of completion information their lenders and sureties require, and worker’s compensation reporting.

Craig’s QuickBooks training series began as how to instructions for clients wanting to record specific transactions. In many cases, the guidance could not be found in more basic manuals. The growing list of real user how to solutions has developed into a series of books, allowing users to learn the breadth and scope of QuickBooks capabilities.

Chapter One – Overview of Functionality

Keeping track of the myriad of details necessary to run a successful contracting or construction business can seem like a daunting task. This