Construction Bookkeeping Cleanup and Catch-Up
There are two kinds of behind. Catch-up is books that were never done: eighteen months of bank statements and nothing else. Cleanup is books that were done badly: deposits as income, a thousand uncategorised transactions, a balance sheet that has not reconciled since 2024. Your bookkeeper does both, and quotes them the same way.
How a cleanup is quoted
Your bookkeeper asks for read access to the bank and card accounts and the existing accounting file, if there is one, and spends a short time measuring the problem: how many months, how many accounts, how many transactions, whether payroll was run, whether the balance sheet can be trusted. Then it quotes a project.
The structure is a deposit up front, a monthly retainer while the work runs, and then the ordinary monthly bookkeeping fee once the books are current. The deposit covers the first block of work; the retainer keeps the project moving at a predictable cost rather than as one large invoice at the end. If there is a date in view, say so: the order of work changes when a tax deadline or a loan application is the reason you are here.
What the work is
Rebuilding from the bank
Every transaction that cleared is pulled in and coded, to an account and, where it can be identified, to a job. Receipts fill in what the bank cannot say. Where records are genuinely missing, your bookkeeper documents the assumption rather than inventing a category.
Fixing the structure
A chart of accounts that fits a contractor, cost codes that match how you estimate, customer deposits moved off the income line and onto the balance sheet, retainage separated from receivables, owner draws taken out of expenses.
Reconciling the balance sheet
Bank, card and loan balances tied to statements for every month. Undeposited funds cleared. Payroll liabilities matched to what was actually filed and paid. The balance sheet is where bad bookkeeping hides, and a cleanup that stops at the P&L is not finished.
The year-end package
Reconciled statements and the supporting schedules your tax preparer needs, including a WIP schedule if you have open jobs at year-end and a 1099 list for your subs.
The construction-specific errors a cleanup fixes
- Customer deposits booked as revenue in the month received, inflating that year and starving the next
- Materials expensed to overhead rather than to the job, so every job looks more profitable than it was
- Retainage buried in receivables, making the company look collectible when it is not
- Owner draws and personal spending in expenses, understating profit and confusing the tax preparer
- Sub payments with no W-9 on file, which is a 1099 problem waiting for January
- Loan payments booked entirely as expense, with the principal never reducing the liability
- Duplicate transactions from a bank feed connected twice, or from invoices received and paid both posted as expense
Behind before tax day
The most common reason anyone finds this page is a preparer asking for books that do not exist. Your bookkeeper will tell you honestly, after seeing the bank statements, whether a clean set of books is achievable by the date, and if not, what a defensible interim set looks like so an extension is filed with real numbers behind it. What they will not do is produce something that looks finished and is not.
After the cleanup
The point of a cleanup is never to need another one. Once the books are current they roll into monthly bookkeeping at the ordinary fee, with the structure fixed so that deposits, jobs and retainage are handled correctly from the first month. A company that has been through one cleanup and then kept monthly books generally finds January uneventful, which is the goal.
What it costs
Each cleanup is quoted after your bookkeeper has measured it, because the honest range is wide: a few months of a one-truck operation is a modest project, two years of a twelve-person company with payroll and open jobs is not. The deposit, retainer and monthly structure is the same for both. The cost guide gives examples at several sizes.
Send how many months are behind and whether there is a date. Your bookkeeper replies within a business day with whether the date is reachable and what the deposit would be.
Common questions
How far behind is too far?
There is no too far. Multi-year rebuilds from bank statements are normal work for your bookkeeper. Missing records make it slower, not impossible.
Can they finish before my tax deadline?
Sometimes. After seeing the bank statements your bookkeeper will say plainly whether the date is reachable, and if not, what a defensible interim position looks like.
Do I pay for the whole cleanup up front?
No. A deposit up front, then a monthly retainer while the work runs, then the ordinary monthly fee once the books are current.
What if my old bookkeeper will not hand over the file?
The bank statements are yours and are enough to rebuild from. The old file is helpful but not required.
Will my tax preparer accept the result?
The year-end package is prepared to what preparers ask for: reconciled statements, supporting schedules, a WIP schedule where relevant. Your bookkeeper will speak to your preparer directly if that helps.
Is cleanup only for construction companies?
Your bookkeeper cleans up books for any small business, but this site is written for contractors because that is where the deposit, job-cost and retainage errors live.
Related services
- Construction Bookkeeping Services
- Contractor Bookkeeping for Trades and Service Companies
- Construction Payroll Services
- Job Costing and WIP Reports for Contractors
Who we work with
Request a quote for catch-up & cleanup
Tell us about the company and the state of the books. Your bookkeeper replies within one business day with a plain answer: what it would take, and what it would cost. Requests answered within one business day · Calls Mon–Fri, 9am–5pm Eastern Or call (888) 720-4009 if you would rather talk it through first.