List unfinished bookkeeping before choosing help
Check what bookkeeping remains after the site work. List uncoded purchases, unreconciled accounts, unissued invoices, open credits, and missing job information. Decide whether you need more time, a clearer process, or a specialist’s help.
Judge the need for help by the records you can produce now, not an invented revenue cutoff. Can you explain what the business owes, what customers owe it, and which costs belong to each job? Identify the records behind each answer.
The IRS recordkeeping guidance allows a system suited to the business that clearly shows income and expenses. Choose software and staff that help you keep that record. You still need the documents behind each entry.
If you enter everything yourself, set aside time to record and review it. If you cannot keep that schedule, define the work for an employee or outside bookkeeper. Keep tax treatment and accounting-method decisions with your CPA.
Define the bookkeeper’s scope before hiring
The Bureau of Labor Statistics describes bookkeeping work that includes recording transactions, assigning accounts, producing reports, checking entries, and reconciling differences. Use that description to start the hiring conversation. Confirm the person’s services and qualifications.
For a construction business, ask how the provider handles your job references and purchasing records. Define who collects receipts, who decides uncertain job codes, and who approves corrections. Get a task list instead of a promise to handle everything.
Use this recommended scope checklist:
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| Work area | Decision to settle |
|---|---|
| Transaction entry | Accounts and job references used for each entry |
| Receivables | Who prepares invoices and follows up on approved balances |
| Payables | Who records bills and who authorizes payments |
| Reconciliation | Accounts reviewed, frequency, and unresolved-item reporting |
| Job reports | Which costs and billing records appear for each project |
| Payroll support | Provider’s exact role and the responsible payroll service |
| Period close | Delivery date, reports, and owner review process |
| CPA handoff | Records supplied and questions escalated |
Use the table to define your scope. Not every bookkeeper handles payroll, tax work, or construction accounting.
IRS employment-tax guidance separates employer deposit and reporting duties; ask who handles each applicable task. Request a written proposal with exclusions. Ask who reviews work requiring a CPA or another qualified professional.
Compare owner-managed, in-house, and outsourced work
Choose around how much office work you have and when it needs doing. Compare the staffing options against your own workload. Compare who does the work, how they get information from the field, and who covers their absence.
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| Option | Useful reason to consider it | Control to plan |
|---|---|---|
| Owner-managed | You can maintain the records and meet your review schedule | Reserved office time and outside advice where needed |
| In-house staff | You need a person involved in day-to-day office questions | Defined scope, supervision, backup, and access limits |
| Outsourced bookkeeper | You want an agreed recurring bookkeeping service | Document handoff, response times, deliverables, and ownership |
| Shared arrangement | Staff collect records while another provider reconciles or reviews | Clear boundaries and one owner for open questions |
Ask each provider to quote the same task list. Clarify cleanup work, ongoing work, extra reports, and software charges. Check scope and exclusions before comparing monthly prices.
If an office manager already handles some entries, describe that work before adding a second provider. Name who enters each record and who checks it so tasks are neither duplicated nor missed.
Test job-cost understanding with your workflow
Ask the candidate to explain an example from purchase to job report. Remove customer names, banking details, and other private information first. Show the kind of receipt, supplier invoice, labor record, and project reference your business uses.
Ask where an unclear purchase goes while the owner confirms the job. Ask how they match a material return to the later credit. Ask how the provider distinguishes a corrected entry from an additional transaction. Look for an explanation you can follow.
The contractor account guide explains why purchasing references and buyer controls need to agree with the office records. Give the bookkeeper accepted orders and receiving records. A supplier subtotal alone may not identify the job.
Use the supplier selection guide to establish the billing and credit contacts. Send unresolved supplier issues to the responsible person. Flag entries that need confirmation instead of burying them in a general category.
For budgeting, retain the material takeoff and accepted purchase scope as project documents. Ask your CPA which management reports should compare planned and recorded costs. This guide does not prescribe an accounting method or revenue-recognition treatment.
Check how the provider handles draws and progress billing
Bring your contract’s billing requirements. Ask how the provider handles that process and its records. A provider should not impose a generic form on every builder relationship.
As one documented example, AIA’s G702 and G703 summary describes payment applications carrying contract-sum status, completed and stored work, retainage, prior payments, and change orders. Use those forms where the contract calls for them. They are not mandatory for every residential job.
Ask who prepares the billing records and who approves progress on site. Keep project approval with the responsible person under the contract. The bookkeeper can assemble records while the responsible person checks whether installation is complete.
Ask how prior applications and receipts are reconciled. Request a process for corrections and missing approvals. Refer questions about the right to payment, retainage, contract interpretation, or tax treatment to the project’s attorney or CPA.
Keep records and account ownership with the business
The IRS identifies receipts, invoices, paid bills, deposit records, and other supporting documents as evidence behind entries. Keep organized copies where your business controls access. Do not rely on the provider’s software account as your only copy.
Ask your CPA which retention periods apply to each record category. The IRS retention guidance ties retention to the event and the need to support tax items. Do not apply one blanket period to every contract, asset, payroll, and tax record.
Keep accounting subscriptions and administrator access under your business’s control. Set the provider’s permissions using the software’s access controls. Separate recording transactions from approving bank payments where your operation permits.
Agree how you receive exports, reports, source documents, and handoff details when the provider’s work ends. Test that access before relying on it. Keep a named backup for the provider’s absence and a route for urgent questions.
For supplier shortages or damage, preserve the delivery record alongside replacements, returns, and credits. Ask the bookkeeper to report unresolved items. Show the owner which corrections have been requested and which have been recorded.
Where Cercha fits
Cercha’s Support category gives service providers a profile and search listing. A support provider can use that presence to begin a conversation with a builder or trade business. Confirm the provider’s bookkeeping scope, qualifications, references, access, and agreement directly.