The best construction accounting software programs have essential bookkeeping features, like accounts receivable (A/R) and accounts payable (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:
- 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
- JOBPOWER: Best for tracking employee location with GPS
We evaluated our best contractor accounting software by engaging with and using each program personally and understanding its strengths and drawbacks carefully in terms of features, pricing, ease of use, and customer support. This firsthand approach allows us to determine the best use case of each platform and provide tailored recommendations based on your needs—adhering to the Fit Small Business editorial policy.
Best Construction Accounting Software: Quick Comparison
Pricing | Number of Users Included | Free Trial | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | ✕ | ||
 | $499 to $1,099 monthly | Unlimited | ✕ |
 | $35 to $235 monthly | 1 to 25 | 30 days |
 | Custom priced | Undisclosed | ✕ |
 | Custom priced | Undisclosed | ✕ |
General Accounting | Construction Billing | Equipment Management | Document Management | Employee Location Tracking | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5★ | 5★ | N/A | 3★ | 2★ |
| 3★ | 5★ | N/A | 5★ | 2★ |
| 5★ | N/A | N/A | 1★ | N/A |
| 3★ | 5★ | 4★ | 3★ | N/A |
| 2★ | 5★ | 3★ | 3★ | 5★ |
Rating Explanation: 5★: Excellent 4★: Very good 3★: Good 2★: Fair 1★: Poor N/A: Feature is unavailable | |||||
Jonas Premier: Best Overall Construction Accounting Software
Pros
- Lets you drill down into job costing line items
- Supports any billing contract type
- Offers unlimited document storage
- Allows you to track equipment and inventory costs
- Enables you to create, send, and track requests for information (RFIs)
- Lets you manage subcontractor agreements and payments
Cons
- Has expensive implementation fees
- Lacks payroll management features
- Lacks a client portal
- Lacks customer relationship management (CRM) features
Jonas Premier offers three subscription plans:
- Starter: $299 per user, per month, plus one-time implementation fees starting at $15,000 per user per month
- Premium: $249 per user, per month, plus one-time implementation fees starting at $25,000
- Enterprise: $199 per user, per month, plus one-time implementation fees starting at $50,000
We selected Jonas Premier as our overall best construction accounting software because it provides an all-in-one accounting and project management solution for contracting businesses of any size. It has better accounting features than the other construction-specific software we’ve evaluated, such as the ability to set up recurring A/P, track retainage payables for subcontractors automatically, and create custom workflows and approvals for payment.
We find that the general accounting features in Jonas Premier are comparable to those in QuickBooks, but Jonas Premier has much stronger project accounting features than QuickBooks. Its project features include the ability to generate job cost reports with drill-down capability, create RFI documents easily, and track time from the mobile app.
Buildertrend: Best for Sharing Project-related Documents With Clients & Team Members
Pros
- Offers unlimited file and 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
- Essential: $499 per month; $199 for the first month
- Advanced: $799 per month; $499 for the first month
- Complete: $1,099 per month; $799 for the first month
All plans support an unlimited number of users.
Buildertrend offers unlimited document and 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.
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
Cons
- Doesn’t allow you to convert estimates to budgets for comparison with actual job expenses
- Lacks enterprise resources planning (ERP) features like project or tools management
- Doesn’t let you call customer service directly
- Lacks a client portal
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 $90 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.
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
- 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 on its website to get a definite price. It doesn’t have a free trial, but you can “test drive” the full version of the software by visiting its website.
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.
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 time and material (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.
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. We allocate extra credits to cloud-based construction accounting software, as we believe they are generally easier to use than locally installed programs.
10% of Overall Score
We 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
We use 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 Jonas Premier 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 Jonas Premier or Sage 100 Contractor or even integrate QuickBooks with Buildertrend.
