QuickBooks Online Setup for Contractors: Items Classes and Job Costing

Start with the right foundation

1. Choose the right QuickBooks Online plan. Job costing and advanced reporting require higher tiers (Plus or Advanced) — don’t start on a plan that can’t track projects.
2. Set up your chart of accounts for a contractor — income by service type, cost of goods sold (materials, labor, subs), and overhead. A clean chart is the backbone of useful reports.

Items: the key to contractor bookkeeping

Set up products and services (items) that map to what you sell and what it costs — so each invoice line ties revenue and cost together. Use two-sided items where possible so you capture both the income and the expense. This is what makes job profitability visible.

Classes and projects for job costing

• Projects let you track income and costs per job, so you can see true profit per job — the number most contractors fly blind on.
• Classes can segment by division, location, or service line for higher-level reporting.
• Assign every transaction (invoice, bill, expense, time) to the right project so costs land where they belong.

Connect the rest of your stack

• Sync your FSM so field invoices flow in — see syncing your FSM with QuickBooks.
• Connect bank feeds and payments for automatic reconciliation.
• Add payroll and time tracking so labor costs hit the right jobs (time tracking apps).

Reports that actually help you run the business

• Profit & Loss by Project — which jobs make (and lose) money.
• Job costing reports — labor, materials, and margin per job.
• A/R aging — who owes you and how late.

Pair these with a simple owner’s dashboard — see the KPI dashboard template.

Is QuickBooks right for you?

It’s the standard for good reasons, but it can be more (and pricier) than a tiny business needs — see QuickBooks alternatives if you want something simpler.

Get the books right, then grow the top line

Clean books tell you which jobs are profitable; reviews bring in more of those jobs. Tailwind is the reputation layer that drives the leads your well-run books will thank you for — see how it works and the full tech stack.

Run your books like a pro, then grow. See how Tailwind works.