What I Build For You
Business Structure & Setup
Business Structure & Setup
Most construction businesses grow without ever really being designed. The crew expands, the work expands, and somehow the owner ends up making every decision, owning every problem, and being the only person who knows how the whole thing fits together. That's not a business — that's a one-person show with a payroll.
I help you step back and design the actual structure of your company: who owns what, how decisions get made, where accountability lives, and how the business is supposed to function on paper before we start writing the SOPs and job descriptions that fill it in. This is the foundation everything else rests on. Without it, the rest is just paperwork.
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
The processes that run your business probably live in your head — how you bid jobs, onboard subs, track change orders, close out projects, handle payroll questions, file lien waivers. That works fine until you get sick, take a vacation, or try to hire someone to take any of it off your plate.
I write SOPs the way construction businesses actually need them: clear, practical, written in your team's language, and built around how the work really gets done. No corporate template binders that gather dust. Just real, usable documentation that lets the business run without you holding every piece of it together.
Job Descriptions
Job Descriptions
Most construction businesses don't have written job descriptions — they have whoever's been there longest doing whatever needs doing. That works until it doesn't. The minute you try to hire, train, delegate, or hold someone accountable, the lack of clear roles becomes the bottleneck.
I write real job descriptions for the roles in your business — what each person owns, what they don't, what success looks like, and how they fit with everyone else. Whether you need them for hiring, performance reviews, or just to finally write down what you've been holding in your head, this is the structure that makes everything else possible.
Employee Training & Onboarding
Employee Training & Onboarding
The first 30 days of a new hire either set them up to succeed or set them up to fail — and most construction businesses don't have a system for either. New employees figure it out by asking questions, watching others, and hoping they don't break anything important.
I build training and onboarding systems that actually work: documented workflows, week-by-week onboarding plans, training checklists, and the kind of structured ramp-up that turns a new hire into a productive team member without consuming all of your time. The bonus: when systems exist, you stop being the person every new employee depends on.
QuickBooks Setup & Cleanup
QuickBooks Setup & Cleanup
If your QuickBooks file is a mess — uncategorized transactions going back months, accounts that don't reconcile, duplicate entries, vendors entered seventeen different ways, a chart of accounts that grew like weeds — you're not unusual. Most construction businesses I work with start here.
A clean QuickBooks file is the foundation for everything else: accurate reports, real job costing, smooth payroll, easy tax prep, and books your CPA actually wants to receive instead of dread. If your file is fighting you, no amount of ongoing bookkeeping will fix it. The cleanup has to come first.
I do QuickBooks cleanup as a project: I assess what's broken, give you a fixed scope and quote, and rebuild the file so it's accurate, organized, and structured around how a construction business actually works. Job costing set up correctly. Chart of accounts that makes sense for your work. Reports that mean something. Then — if you want — we can transition into ongoing bookkeeping. Or you can take the clean file and run with it yourself. Both are completely fine.
Bookkeeping
Bookkeeping
Most construction businesses don't have a bookkeeping problem — they have a meaningful information problem. The numbers are there, but the books are messy enough that they don't actually tell you anything useful: which jobs were profitable, where margins are slipping, what's tied up in receivables, whether last quarter was a fluke or a trend.
I do bookkeeping for construction businesses the way it should be done — accurate, on time, and structured so you can actually use the information to run the business. Job costing that means something. Reports you can read without a translator. Books that are ready when your CPA, banker, or insurance auditor needs them, without the panic.
If your books are currently a mess, we'll start with a cleanup. If they're functional but not telling you what you need, we'll restructure them. If they're already clean, I'll keep them that way — and use them as the foundation for the structure and consulting work most construction businesses need next.
Payroll Services
Payroll Services
Construction payroll isn't just 'make sure people get paid.' It's prevailing wage rates, certified payroll reports, job costing across multiple projects, multi-rate hours for the same person, payroll taxes, garnishments, and the occasional surprise audit — all of it on a weekly clock.
I run payroll for construction businesses with all the construction-specific complications already accounted for. Prevailing wage jobs handled correctly the first time. Hours costed to the right jobs so your job profitability reports actually mean something. Quarterly payroll tax filings on time. Certified payroll reports submitted without you having to chase them.
If you've been running payroll yourself, hating every Friday, this is a service that pays for itself in time alone — and dramatically reduces the chance of the kind of compliance error that costs real money to fix.
Contractor Compliance
Contractor Compliance
Minnesota is one of the strictest states in the country for construction compliance — and the rules keep changing. The 14-point test for worker classification. The new Paid Leave requirements. Prevailing wage on government-funded jobs. Annual filings, 1099 thresholds, W-9 collection, sales tax on materials, workers' comp class codes, unemployment reporting. Miss any of it and the consequences range from 'annoying' to 'expensive enough to threaten the business.'
I keep construction businesses compliant with the rules that actually apply to them — not generic small business compliance, but the specific MN construction stuff that bookkeepers without industry experience routinely miss.
Specifically, I handle: worker classification reviews (employee vs. subcontractor), 1099 and W-9 collection and filing, annual MN and federal reporting, Paid Leave registration and reporting, prevailing wage and certified payroll documentation, audit preparation, and the kind of organized recordkeeping that turns a Department of Labor inquiry from a crisis into a five-minute conversation.
If you're not sure whether you're compliant, you probably aren't — and a 30-minute conversation can usually tell us where the gaps are.
Cash Flow Management & Budgeting
Cash Flow Management & Budgeting
Construction cash flow is its own special problem. You pay for materials and labor weeks before you get paid for the job. Progress billing pushes payments later than you'd like. Retainage holds back 5-10% of every check until project completion. And in Minnesota, winter and summer cash flow look like two different businesses entirely.
Most generic 'save six months of expenses' advice doesn't apply. What construction businesses actually need is cash flow visibility tuned to how the work flows: when money is going out, when it's coming in, what's tied up in receivables and retainage, and how the next 60-90 days are likely to look.
I help construction owners build realistic budgets, forecast cash flow project-by-project, identify the patterns that quietly drain working capital, and plan for the seasonal swings instead of being surprised by them. The goal isn't just 'manage your money' — it's knowing far enough in advance whether next month is going to be tight, so you can make decisions instead of scrambling.
Financial Reporting
Financial Reporting
Most construction owners get a P&L and a balance sheet every month and have no idea what to do with them. The numbers are correct. They're just not telling the story.
I build financial reporting that actually answers the questions construction owners need answered: which jobs made money, where margins are slipping, what's tied up in receivables, how cash flow is going to look in 60 days, whether last quarter was a fluke or the start of a trend. Real reports, in plain language, on a regular cadence — so you can make decisions instead of guessing.
If you want to know what your numbers actually mean, this is the service that turns bookkeeping from a compliance task into a tool you can run a business with.
Year-End & Tax Prep Support
Year-End & Tax Prep Support
When tax season hits, your CPA needs clean books, organized records, and accurate reports — not a shoebox of receipts and a panicked email. I close out your year, reconcile your accounts, categorize expenses correctly, generate the financial reports your CPA needs, and issue your 1099s and W-2s. You walk into tax season organized, your CPA spends less time (and bills less), and nothing slips through the cracks. Note: I prepare your books for tax filing. I do not file returns directly — that work is done by your CPA or tax preparer.
How Cleanup Pricing Works
$195+
For books that are 1–2 months behind. Good for staying current after a busy season.
Includes:
Account review
Light corrections
Categorized transactions
Reconciled accounts
$350+
For books 3–6 months behind. The most common starting point — books are messy but recoverable.
Includes:
Multiple account clean-up
Moderate corrections
Categorized transactions
Reconciled accounts
Clean, updated financial reports
Custom Quote
For books 6+ months behind or with significant complications — multiple entities, missing records, or years of buildup. Custom quote based on the assessment.
Includes:
Full financial clean-up
Major corrections
Multi-account review
Categorization and reconciliation
Tax-ready statements
What Every Clean-Up Includes
A full review of your current bookkeeping
Categorized transactions and reconciled accounts, brought current
Organized financial records that match how a construction business actually works
Tax-ready statements your CPA can use immediately
Friendly, judgment-free support — no lectures about how it got this way
Contractor Compliance Support
In addition to bookkeeping packages, I also assist with Minnesota subcontractor compliance and payroll to help your business run smoothly.
Ready to Get Started?
Contact me today to schedule a consultation and take control of your finances with confidence.