General contracting
Multi-month projects coordinating subcontractors, draws and change orders, where job costing decides whether you made money.
Six short steps. No email or account.
Family
Construction and contracting
Project-based building work with subcontractors, draws and long timelines.
Also covers
- Residential remodelling
- Custom home building
- Commercial construction
- Priority decisions
- 10
Operating reality
What makes this different
The realities that change which tools can actually work for you.
Job costing is not optional. Without cost-to-complete tracking a profitable-looking project can lose money quietly.
Progress billing against draw schedules is the normal billing pattern and most generic invoicing handles it badly.
Change order discipline is the single largest margin lever in remodelling work.
Subcontractor insurance certificates and lien waivers must be collected before payment, every time.
Retainage means cash arrives materially later than revenue is recognised.
Where to start
The decisions that matter here, in order
You do not have to take them in this order, and you do not have to take all of them. This is where most businesses like yours start.
- 1Accounting software
Track income and expenses so tax time is a report, not an archaeology dig.
- 2Estimates and quotes
Send a professional quote quickly, and know when it is accepted.
- 3Project management
Track multi-step work and who owes what by when.
- 4Business insurance
Cover the things that could end the business in one bad afternoon.
- 5Invoicing
Send the bill, and let people pay it without writing a cheque.
- 6Paying contractors
Pay 1099 help and collect the paperwork you need for January.
- 7Documents and client portals
Keep files organised and share them with clients securely.
- 8Cash flow and budgeting
See what is coming in and going out before the account gets tight.
- 9Time tracking
Know the hours worked, and which job they belong to.
- 10Licences and permits
Find out what your trade and your state actually require you to hold.
Your next step
Answer six short questions about your general contracting business: your team, where the work happens and what you want to fix first. You get an operating plan in the order to tackle it, with the must-haves and comparison points for each area.
Answers
Common questions
- What software does a general contracting business need?
- Multi-month projects coordinating subcontractors, draws and change orders, where job costing decides whether you made money. The decisions that matter most are 10 areas, starting with the ones tied to how the work actually gets done and paid for.
- What makes running a general contracting business different?
- Job costing is not optional. Without cost-to-complete tracking a profitable-looking project can lose money quietly. Progress billing against draw schedules is the normal billing pattern and most generic invoicing handles it badly. Change order discipline is the single largest margin lever in remodelling work. Subcontractor insurance certificates and lien waivers must be collected before payment, every time. Retainage means cash arrives materially later than revenue is recognised.