Construction Accounting in Northwest Arkansas
Job costing, WIP reporting, and real-time job profitability — from a CPA who grew up in the construction business.
Our Specialty
Built for contractors
Construction is our specialty — not a service line we added to look versatile. Victoria Harris-Pelletier grew up in the construction business, and today contractors make up a large share of the firm's clients. That background means you don't spend the first three meetings explaining retainage, change orders, or why your P&L looks great in a month you actually lost money.
Construction finances behave unlike any other industry's. Revenue is earned across projects that run for months or years, costs land unevenly, and over- and under-billing can make a struggling company look profitable right up until the cash runs out. Generic bookkeeping hides all of that. We build books the way construction actually works: costs tracked at the job level, WIP schedules maintained every month, and margin visible by project while the project is still open.
The problem we hear most often is timing. Contractors routinely wait nine to twelve months to learn which jobs made money and which didn't — all while bidding new work one to two years out on numbers that were never verified. That's not a bookkeeping inconvenience; it's how profitable-looking companies quietly bleed. Our job is to close that gap so you're bidding from real historical cost data and catching overruns in week six instead of month twelve.
Problems We Solve
Sound familiar?
You find out too late
Job results arrive months after closeout, when nothing can be fixed. We report margin by job every month, while the work is still in progress.
Your bids are guesses
Without verified historical cost data, pricing is instinct. We turn closed jobs into a cost library you can bid from with confidence.
Billing outruns the work
Over-billing masks trouble and under-billing starves cash. WIP schedules show exactly where you stand on every open contract.
Bonding holds you back
Sureties and banks judge you on the quality of your WIP and financials. We prepare packages that stand up to that scrutiny.
Who We Serve
Contractors of every trade
From one-crew specialty subs to general contractors running bonded commercial work, we handle the accounting side so you can stay on the job. Northwest Arkansas's building boom means we work with contractors across Lowell, Rogers, Bentonville, Springdale, and Fayetteville — plus construction clients nationwide, virtually.
- General contractors and construction managers
- Specialty subcontractors — electrical, plumbing, HVAC, concrete, roofing
- Custom home builders and remodelers
- Excavation, site work, and civil contractors
- Commercial contractors bidding bonded work
- Growing trades businesses hiring their first office staff
Our Process
How we work
Job-Level Review
We assess how costs hit your books today, then rebuild the structure around jobs, phases, and cost codes that match how you actually work.
Set Up Real-Time Costing
Job costing, WIP schedules, and margin reports configured in your accounting system — updated monthly, not at year end.
Close the Books Monthly
Every month: costs coded, billings reconciled, WIP updated, and a clean financial package delivered on schedule.
Advise on Bids & Cash
Standing reviews where we walk through job margins, cash position, and what the numbers say about your next bid.
FAQ
Construction accounting questions
Why do construction companies need a specialized accountant?
Because construction finances don't behave like other businesses'. Revenue is earned over long projects, costs arrive unevenly, and over/under-billing can make a company look profitable while it bleeds cash. Standard bookkeeping hides all of that. Job costing and WIP reporting expose it — while there's still time to act.
What is WIP reporting and why does my bonding company want it?
A work-in-progress schedule shows each open job's contract value, costs to date, billings to date, and estimated profit. Sureties and banks rely on it to judge whether your backlog is healthy. A clean, current WIP schedule is often the difference between getting bonded for the next job and getting passed over.
I only find out how a job did months after it closes. Can you fix that?
Yes — that's the core of this service. With proper job costing, you see labor, materials, subcontractor, and overhead costs against each job every month. You'll know a job is going sideways in week six, not month twelve.
Can you help me bid more accurately?
Accurate historical job costs are the best bid data there is. Once your books track true cost by job and phase, you can price future work from real numbers instead of gut feel — critical when you're committing to prices one to two years out.
Do you work with subcontractors and specialty trades, or just GCs?
Both. Job costing, retainage tracking, and progress billing matter just as much for electrical, plumbing, roofing, concrete, and other specialty contractors as they do for general contractors and builders.
Do you handle percentage-of-completion accounting?
Yes. For contractors with long-duration contracts, percentage-of-completion revenue recognition is usually required and is what sureties and lenders expect to see. We calculate and maintain it as part of the monthly close.
Can you work alongside my estimator or project managers?
Absolutely — that's where this service earns its keep. We make sure the cost codes your PMs use in the field match what shows up in the books, so field reporting and financial reporting finally tell the same story.
Do you serve contractors outside Northwest Arkansas?
Yes. NWA's construction boom keeps us busy locally, but construction accounting works fully virtually — we serve contractors across the U.S. through cloud accounting systems.
Still have questions?
Call us — a real person answers, and the consultation is free.
Know your job costs before the job ends
Book a free consultation — we'll look at how your books handle jobs today and show you what real-time job costing would change.