The best construction accounting software have essential bookkeeping features, like A/R and A/P management. They also have specialized construction management tools, such as job costing, project management, and construction billing. They are easy to use and provide users access to various customer support channels, like phone, email, and live chat.
That said, we compiled the six best contractor accounting software, each with its own recommended use:
- Premier Construction Software Premier Construction Software is formerly Jonas Premier : Best overall construction accounting software
- Buildertrend: Best for sharing project-related documents with team members and customers
- QuickBooks Online: Best low-cost option for tracking costs by project, location, and class
- Sage 100 Contractor: Best for easy project estimation
- QuickBooks Enterprise Contractor: Best for midsize contractors with complex material inventory
- JOBPOWER: Best for tracking employee location with GPS
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Best Construction Accounting Software: Quick Comparison
Pricing | Number of Users Included | Our Accounting Features Rating | Our Construction Management Features Rating | Our Mobile App Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | From $15,000 (one-time) plus $349 per user monthly | 1 | 4.8★ | 5★ | 3★ |
 | $499 to $1,099 monthly | Unlimited | 3.3★ | 4.8★ | 3★ |
 | $35 to $235 monthly | 1 to 25 | 5★ | 3.7★ | 3.5★ |
 | Custom | Undisclosed | 4.4★ | 4.6★ | 3★ |
| From $142 monthly for one user | 1 to 40 | 5★ | 4.3★ | 2★ |
 | Custom | Undisclosed | 3.8★ | 4.9★ | ✕ |
Rating explanation: 5★: Excellent; 4★: Good; 3★: Average; 2★: Fair; 1★: Poor; ✕: Feature unavailable | |||||
Premier Construction Software: Best Overall Construction Accounting Software
Pros
Premier Construction Software offers three subscription plans:
- Starter: $15,000 implementation fee plus $349 per user, per month
- Premium: $25,000 implementation fee plus $299 per user, per month
- Enterprise: $50,000 implementation fee plus $249 per user, per month
If you need to use the mobile app, then you’ll have to pay $50 per user, per month.
Premier Construction Software, formerly Jonas Premier, offers robust accounting features similar to QuickBooks Online, including automating recurring A/P, tracking retainage payables for subcontractors, and customizing payment workflows and approvals. However, it offers more advanced construction management tools, such as job cost reports with detailed drill-down reports, RFI management, and subcontractor management.
As an all-in-one accounting and project management solution, there’s no need for you to use multiple software solutions to manage the various aspects of your construction business. It has all the tools you need—from bidding to billing; whereas with other solutions, like Buildertrend, you need QuickBooks Online integration to enable accounting features, like invoicing and income and expense tracking.
Our scoring rubric shows that Premier Construction Software’s biggest strengths are general accounting and construction management—justifying its position as our best overall construction accounting software.
It took a hit in pricing because the one-time implementation fees are a bit expensive, especially for small contractors. Also, its mobile app could have earned a higher mark if it had accounting features instead of focusing only on project management. We awarded it an above-average score for ease of use because it’s a complicated software, and many new users may easily get overwhelmed by its user interface.
Buildertrend: Best for Sharing Project-related Documents With Clients & Team Members
Pros
- Offers unlimited file, photo, and video storage in all its plans
- Includes a CRM feature
- Has a time clock feature that tracks employees’ locations on a map
- Integrates with QuickBooks or Xero for enhanced accounting features
Cons
- Requires a separate fee for your QuickBooks or Xero subscription
- Cannot manage equipment
- Can’t manage bills and purchase orders in its Essential plan
- Is more expensive than most construction-specific accounting software
Buildertrend is available in three subscription options, all of which include unlimited user access:
- Essential: $499 monthly; has basic project management tools, such as task scheduling and proposal management
- Advanced: $799 monthly; provides enhanced features, like sales order management, takeoff management, and advanced estimating
- Complete: $1,099 monthly; includes all features of Advanced, plus additional tools, like selection and warranty management and RFI management
A discount of $300 off for the first month is available.
Buildertrend offers unlimited document, photo, and video storage in all plans. You can import progress photos or document issues, access files from the mobile app, and share documents with clients and team members. Unlike other similar software, Buildertrend has a document version control, so you can track all changes made and who made those changes. Also, files, photos, and videos are stored in a job-specific folder, so you won’t have to go through a long list to find the files you need.
The document management module also expands the functionality of the Daily Logs feature. For instance, when entering a daily log, you or your team can add files or photos and videos to verify important project details of completed projects.
Buildertrend isn’t a complete bookkeeping system per se, but it integrates with QuickBooks Online and Xero to enable accounting features, like invoicing and income and expense tracking. However, its construction-specific features are hard to beat.
Buildertrend’s highest marks in our evaluation come from construction management and customer support, and the only loophole we found in its customer support is that it has very limited online communities where users can interact with each other. In addition to its robust document management features, it has other construction management tools, like estimate management, job scheduling, and a mobile app for tracking tasks and time tracking on the go.
On the downside, Buildertrend is a bit expensive, although we like that all plans support an unlimited number of users. Additionally, we’d like to see it improve its mobile app by adding accounting features, such as the ability to create and send invoices and accept online payments. If mobile accounting is a major consideration, consider QuickBooks Online or head to our list of the best mobile accounting apps.
QuickBooks Online: Best Low-cost Option for Tracking Costs by Project, Location & Class
Pros
- Lets you track income and expenses by class, location, job, and custom tags
- Has comprehensive accounting features
- Has vast support network in the form of QuickBooks ProAdvisors (ideal if you need extensive bookkeeping support)
- Supports multiple users with a single subscription price through its higher plans
QuickBooks Online comes in four versions, but you’ll need either Plus or Advanced to track revenue and expenses by project. We recommend Plus for most contractors—unless you need more than five users:
- Simple Start: $35 per month for one user
- Essentials: $65 per month for three users
- Plus (recommended for most contractors): $99 per month for five users
- Advanced: $235 per month for 25 users
QuickBooks Online offers 50% off for three months if you buy right away or a 30-day free trial with no credit card required.
QuickBooks Online lacks construction features, but its project management features are adequate for most construction businesses. It provides an affordable option for businesses seeking cost-tracking capabilities without the burden of high costs commonly associated with specialized software. The most popular plan—Plus—includes project accounting for only $99 monthly for five users, whereas most specialized construction software usually costs over $100 a month per user.
One of the reasons QuickBooks Online is our overall best small business accounting software is that it provides detailed cost tracking by projects, classes, and locations. This level of flexibility allows you to track and understand project costs accurately in a way that best suits your business needs. For instance, if your construction business involves multiple trades or specialties, class tracking allows you to see which trade is the most profitable and which ones require your attention.
QuickBooks Online is the only cloud software on this list that aced our general accounting criterion. It also earned the highest score for pricing, as it offers more flexible and affordable monthly subscription options than the other solutions in our guide. Additionally, it takes the lead for ease of use as it has a streamlined user interface, and it’s easy to seek support through its vast support network of QuickBooks ProAdvisors. This makes QuickBooks Online ideal for contractors who manage their own books.
However, QuickBooks Online lacks construction management features, like equipment management and construction billing. If you are currently using QuickBooks and need to add construction features, you may consider integrating it with a specialized tool, like our best construction software with QuickBooks integration.
Another drawback is that you can only track estimated vs actual project costs in the most expensive QuickBooks Online plan. If you are on a budget and comparing actual to estimated costs is important to you, consider QuickBooks Enterprise.
Sage 100 Contractor: Best for Easy Project Estimation
Pros
- Uses Windows features to create estimates easily
- Includes remote time tracking by employees and equipment management
- Supports construction-specific billing, such as AIA and time and material (T&M)
- Has a mobile app that can be used for sending change and dispatch orders
Cons
- Has no client portal
- Lacks mobile accounting features
- Is unable to track employee location
- Has no upfront pricing
You’ll need to contact Sage via its website to get a definite price. It doesn’t have a free trial, but you can request a “test drive” to explore the full version of the software before buying.
As one of our best construction accounting software, Sage 100 Contractor helps you create estimates quickly and accurately using various formulas, templates, and variables. It has Microsoft Windows features—such as cut, copy, and paste—which allow you to create estimates easily in a few clicks. Other similar software, like JOBPOWER, has an unintuitive estimate creation screen with too many fields to complete, and this can be confusing for new users.
With Sage 100 Contractor, you can even import information from other estimates, copy and paste an estimating grid into your Excel worksheet if needed, and export estimating notes to purchase orders, change orders, work orders, requests for proposals (RFPs) documents, and subcontracts.
Based on our evaluation, Sage 100 Contractor has a pretty impressive set of construction management features in addition to its estimating tool. These include equipment management, budgeting, and job scheduling. It scored well in general accounting, as it has most of the accounting features needed by construction companies, such as the chart of accounts, financial reports, journals, banking, ledgers, inventory, payroll, and others.
Unfortunately, it took a hit in the pricing, ease of use, and mobile app criteria. Just like Premier Construction Software, Sage 100 Contractor is a bit complicated, and it is potentially expensive and difficult to learn and understand. Also, it has a mobile app for tracking time worked by employees, but the app lacks basic accounting features like invoicing and expense tracking.
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise Contractor: Best for Midsize Contractors with Complex Inventory
Pros
- Includes advanced inventory management like barcode scanning
- Has strong job costing features
- Can manage an unlimited number of companies
- Offers fixed asset management
- Is desktop software; doesn’t require Internet connection
Cons
- Is expensive for small-scale contractors
- Lacks equipment management features
- Has a limited mobile accounting app
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise Contractor is available in four editions, as summarized below.
- Silver: From $142 per month or $1,481 per year for one user
- Gold: From $194 per month or $1,922 per year for one user
- Platinum: From $231 per month or $2,363 per year for one user
- Diamond: From $142 per month or $1,481 per year for one user
There is no free trial available, but the product comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee.
QuickBooks Enterprise is popular for its advanced inventory management features, making it ideal for midsize contractors needing to track materials across multiple job sites. It has the important tools needed for managing complex inventory, including barcode scanning, serial and lot number tracking, and advanced inventory reports. It also includes an advanced pricing module that allows you to set up custom pricing rules based on specific jobs or customer types.
Another benefit is that it can manage an unlimited number of companies and generate consolidated reports for those companies. In contrast, other similar software like QuickBooks Online require a separate subscription fee for each company. That said, Enterprise is ideal for contractors handling multiple projects across different regions or those operating with different subsidiaries.
QuickBooks Enterprise Contractor aced the general accounting category, and it could have done the same for construction features if users could use it for managing equipment and storing project documents. It also fell short in ease of use, as it’s desktop software with an outdated and traditional user interface.
While QuickBooks Enterprise is known for its premium support through Priority Circle, we couldn’t award a higher mark for support because it doesn’t provide email support and the user community is not that extensive. Also, it didn’t do well in pricing because it’s one of the most expensive software on the list.
Furthermore, the mobile app scored poorly because of its limited features—used only for receipt capture and mileage tracking. If you work primarily on-site on your local computer, you may not need extensive mobile accounting features. However, if you frequently work on the go, you may consider a cloud-based option like QuickBooks Online.
JOBPOWER: Best for Tracking Employee Location With GPS
Pros
- Allows supervisors and managers to track employees’ location in real-time
- Has a built-in GPS tracker with an integrated map
- Lets you choose between on-premise or cloud-based software
- Has integrated job costing and accounting
- Has a robust construction payroll system
- Supports AIA and T&M billing
Cons
- Doesn’t integrate with accounting software like QuickBooks
- Lacks a client portal
- Lacks upfront pricing
- Has no built-in estimation module
You’ll need to request a free demo on its website to receive exact pricing information for the desktop and cloud versions.
According to JOBPOWER, when you choose the desktop version, you’ll receive unlimited and toll-free telephone support for one year. After that period, you may purchase a support plan. The cloud version includes support, unlimited updates, and cloud hosting fees.
JOBPOWER offers an ERP solution with an integrated GPS location tracker and a map. The GPS tracker helps field supervisors and managers track the location of their employees, especially if they’re working in the field.
Also, JOBPOWER allows you to set up hourly rates to charge to jobs when owned equipment is used, as well as track repairs and maintenance by equipment. It can be deployed as an on-premise program or as cloud software through private hosting. For an additional fee, JOBPOWER can host your software in the cloud, allowing you to access your files from anywhere.
JOBPOWER is as powerful as Premier in terms of construction management, and it has a pretty decent set of accounting features, like A/P and A/R management. However, it scored poorly in all the other areas of our evaluation.
It is also a complicated software and is not popular in the US, so it might not be easy to find a bookkeeper who is knowledgeable about the software. If you want something easier to use but with comparable features, consider QuickBooks Online. You’ll also appreciate its huge network of QuickBooks ProAdvisors, making it easy for you to enlist professional help when needed.
Additionally, we wish that JOBPOWER’s pricing information was disclosed so that contractors could easily gauge its feasibility based on their budget. It also lacks a mobile app, which is an important feature, considering that contractors are often on the move, meeting clients or visiting job sites. Again, if mobile accounting is essential to you, explore QuickBooks Online or our list of the best mobile accounting apps.
How We Evaluated Construction Accounting Software
We evaluated our best contractor accounting software across seven major criteria, as discussed below.
10% of Overall Score
Pricing is only 10% of the score because it’s more important to focus on getting contractor accounting software that has the features that fit your business needs than fixating on price.
20% of Overall Score
The best construction accounting software must have essential bookkeeping features, such as A/P and A/R management, income and expense tracking, and financial reporting.
35% of Overall Score
Contractor features include specialized tools, such as the ability to manage and track equipment, share project documents with clients, track employee location, and general construction reports.
10% of Overall Score
Ease of use is an important factor, particularly if the owner or other nonaccountant will be keeping the books. I allocated extra credits to cloud-based construction accounting software, as I believe it is generally easier to use than locally installed programs.
10% of Overall Score
I checked whether the provider offers essential customer support options, like phone, live chat, email support, and self-help guides, such as blogs, videos, and user communities.
10% of Overall Score
Most construction companies have crews working on the field, so it is important to have a mobile app that allows them to record their activity anywhere from their smartphone.
5% of Overall Score
I used software ratings from several review websites—but note that these ratings may change quickly depending on user reviews.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Accounting software for construction has unique features like the ability to create change orders, track job costs, and accept specialized billing methods like AIA and time and material billing.
Yes, you can—but only if you only need bookkeeping features, like income and expense tracking, budgeting, and reporting. However, if you require specialized features like equipment management and construction billing, you need construction-specific software like Premier Construction Software or Buildertrend.
Yes, you can use a free program like Wave if you only need basic accounting support for tracking total expenses, automating invoices, and receiving payments. Head out to our review of Wave to see if its free features are adequate for your construction business.
The best accounting software for contractors should be easy to use and have the customization levels and features you require to support your business—like the ability to track job costs, create estimates, and bill clients through specialized billing methods, such as time and material. They should also offer convenient and reliable customer service options.
Bottom Line
Managing a construction company is complicated, so it’s important to look for accounting software with integrated construction-specific features, such as job costing, equipment management, and specialized construction billing. If you think general accounting software is enough for you, choose QuickBooks Online. However, if you need specialized contractor features, consider Premier Construction Software or Sage 100 Contractor or even integrate QuickBooks with Buildertrend.