Best Construction Accounting Software for Contractors 2023

This article discusses the best construction accounting software. Whether you are a team of contractors, a home builder, a remodeler, or a CPA in the construction industry, you’ll surely learn some valuable insights about the best software for your construction accounting needs. 

Ready to find the software that will take care of your accounting needs? Read on!

Construction accounts software system comparison chart (top 10 highest rated)

This table displays a summary of our construction accounting software reviews. When you glance at this overview of construction accounting systems, you’ll see what each app is best used for, and where the pricing starts at. 

Remember, these are accounting solutions, not straight up construction project management software, which is something different. Also, we made a completely separate article for cloud based accounting software, if you prefer cloud-based solutions.
 

What is the best construction accounting software? Here’s our top 20 list:

Ready for the details about our contractor and home builders accounting software? We will begin with our top ten list from the table above, and then go into more reviews for a total of 20 accounting systems for construction.

1. Buildertrend (Best accounting software for contractors overall)

Buildertrend is a software solution for construction businesses that hails from Omaha and was launched back in 2006. Today they boast that over 1 million construction companies use Buildertrend, and that the system has been applied to 2 million projects in over 100 different countries. Many in the construction industry consider Buildertrend to be the best accounting software for contractors.

Pros:

Buildertrend has thorough modules for both commercial contractors and specialty contractors, as well as for home builders and remodelers.

When it comes to accounting and financial management for a construction business, Buildertrend has more than everything you need, including instant bid requests, subcontractor notifications, bill management, purchase orders, and payment processing.

There are great advanced budgeting tools which track billing, POs and change orders in real-time. Same goes with estimations, cash flow management and invoicing.

Buildertrend makes excellent use of construction accounting data and can produce regular financial reporting with all your key metrics.

Cons:

Buildertrend might seem like it has a high price tag at first, but that’s less severe once you price comparison shop a bit.

This construction management software will require a bit of time to learn, especially with some of the accounting features.

Pricing:

• Essential plan is $339 per month billed annually

• Advanced plan is $599 per month billed annually

• Complete plan is $1,099 per month billed annually

• Above pricing may be based on a promotion and subject to change

Visit Buildertrend
 

2. Intuit Quickbooks (Great general contractor accounting software)

Everyone knows Intuit Quickbooks Online as being one of the leading bookkeeping and accounting solutions for individuals and SMBs. It is not normally thought of as an accounting software for general contractors. However, you can definitely use Quickbooks as an accounting tool for general contractors.

Pros:

First off, Quickbooks scores a lot of points for its ease of use. The interface and dashboards are well designed and very intuitive to use.

Basic Quickbooks Online is solid for job costing, expense tracking, and invoicing, with these features working excellently for contractors just as in other industries.

You can manage bills, accounts payable, accounts receivable, as well as get a great inventory management tool.

Quickbooks Online lets contractors create and manage their 1099 forms to better prepare their taxes, as well as let you e-file the forms.

Finally, there is a Quickbooks Desktop Enterprise edition for contractors, with even more advanced job cost accounting, time tracking and payroll, and business intelligence reporting based on construction financial data.

Cons:

You might think the enterprise edition for contractors would be on premise, but the Quickbooks Desktop Enterprise version still holds everything in the cloud.

Some users do not like that Quickbooks is not solely dedicated to helping construction firms with accounting, and that the enterprise edition is not a true construction ERP.

Pricing:

• Plus plan is $85 per month

• Advanced plan is $200 per month

• Quickbooks Enterprise Gold is $199 per month billed annually

• Quickbooks Enterprise Platinum is $232 per month billed annually

• Quickbooks Enterprise Diamond is $404 per month billed annually

Intuit Quickbooks Review

Visit Intuit Quickbooks
 

3. Sage 100 Contractor (Top construction industry accounting software)

Sage is a massive name and among the best enterprise accounting software and all things ERP-related. The Sage 100 Cloud SaaS is a total business optimization product with great automation and analytics. Contractors and construction professionals can use it as an accounting tool, or you can get the dedicated Sage 100 Contractor, which we’ll discuss here.

Pros:

You get all the power of Sage ERP but with dedicated contractor functionalities, and it functions especially well with small businesses and medium-sized businesses. This is an all-encompassing construction and service management system.

Great features for payroll, lean waivers and AIA billings. Solid estimation features that are agile too. You can also manage contracts, budgets, proposals and subcontractors. 

Sage has amazing inventory management, helping streamline updates for things like stock levels, purchasing and sales.

All of the entire Sage platform takes advantage of workflow automations that speed up a lot of the time-consuming data entry as well as keep you on top of the plan with automated reminders and notifications.

Cons:

No listed prices and Sage is not known to be the most budget-friendly accounting ERP tool, which can cut into a period of profitability during onboarding.

Could get confusing with all the various Sage software options and how they are related.

Pricing:

• Contact sage for prices for 100 Cloud, 100 Contractor or even Sage Accounting

Visit Sage 100 Contractor
 

4. Jonas Premier Construction Software (Good construction billing software)

Premier Construction Software is part of the larger family of Jonas Constructions ERP Software, with Premier being the construction accounting module for contractors. Jonas has been around since 1990, and they are based in the industrial heartland that is Ontario, Canada. 

Pros:

To begin with, Premier is one of the best billing software for contractors and all things accounts receivable. It handles cost-plus billing, progress-billing and other accounts receivable modules. 

With Premier, you can take advantage of their job costing features which streamline well with accounting, keeping all job data in one unified place.

What’s more, Premier has solid tools for things like document management, subcontract management and for handling change orders on the fly.

Premier has an offer for a one-time implementation with full onboarding and training for an unlimited number of users, and unlimited document storage.

Cons:

While supposedly things are always improving, there have been some business owners who expressed disappointment at the level of customer support. 

The above-mentioned one-time implementation does have quite the expensive sticker price attached to it.

Pricing:

• Monthly is $249 per month

• Annually is $199 per month

• One-time implementation is $30,000

Visit Jonas Premier Construction Software
 

5. Procore (Top construction invoicing software)

If you are looking for some of the best invoice software for contractors, then Procore is often a pretty good name to check out. Procore is a fully-stacked construction management solution, and it has great financial management features for contractors, along with pre-construction management, project management and a training platform. 

Pros:

As leading invoicing software for construction, Procore can help speed up the entire process from invoicing, reviews, approvals, sending and receiving. Track everything in a neat dashboard.

Procore collects financial data on things like invoice volume and speed of payment for assistance with future project planning. There is a fantastic Procore app for mobile devices for iOS and Android, and this mobile app lets you stay on top of invoicing and other payment updates in the field.

General project management financial features give you accurate forecasting for costs and budgeting to maximize profitability.

Cons:

Procore has many tools for contractor accounting and the construction industry, and this can get to feeling like a bit of an overload at times.

While this is great for general contractors and subcontractors, it might not be ideal for every kind of specialty real estate and home builder accounting purposes.

Pricing:

• Visit Procore’s website for custom pricing information

Visit Procore
 

6. Wave (Best free construction accounting software)

Wave is a Canadian software company. This is a financial software and accounting solution for individuals, freelancers, startups and small businesses. However, they have free accounting tools which can be used by contractors, and are therefore among the best free construction accounting systems. 

Pros:

It’s free. Not much more you need to add there when it comes to the benefits of Wave for contractors.

Helps you maximize your calculating abilities for things like labor, materials, costs and other job site considerations.

There are professional invoice templates which beat any regular Excel spreadsheet any day of the week. You can also use Wave to accept credit card payments.

Get good bookkeeping and bank account management, expense tracking, as well as tax season preparation management features.

Cons:

Large contractors and construction businesses might be shy about Wave as it does not have that heavy-duty feel one expects for ERP-related systems like financial management for construction.

Advanced payments and payroll features are not included for free.

Pricing:

• Wave accounting, invoicing and banking are free

• There are per-use charges for extra tools

• Prices online are listed in CAD

Wave Accounting Review

Visit Wave
 

7. CMIC (Good construction financial software for general ledger)

CMIC makes a number of products for construction ERP, including for general contractors, specialty contractors, highway construction, construction project management, and more. When it comes to financial management, there is accounting, HR and payroll, operations and inventory management.

Pros:

CMIC’s financial software is ideal for general ledger accounting. It ties together revenue management like invoicing and cash receipts, as well as cost management like labor, equipment, materials and subcontractors.

You get awesome financial reporting with good forecasting, and financial management that gets you month end and year end reporting.

CMIC makes good use of workflows and automation to maximize efficiency when running construction accounting projects.

Everything comes in a great unified dashboard powered by real-time data analysis and total portfolio visibility.

Cons:

This is no simple software solution. Expect serious data prepping, onboarding and training and adaptability timeframes.

As such a professional piece of construction finance software, expect the price to be not so much on the discount side.

Pricing:

• Contact CMIC for pricing

Visit CMIC
 

8. XERO (Good construction payments software)

Like Quickbooks Online, Xero is not usually considered a contractor’s accounting system. It is more of a general accounting management software, although it can definitely be used for contractors as a construction payment software. This is more of a home builder and remodeler small business tool.

Pros:

For accepting payments with Xero, contractors can get paid directly to their bank accounts online, and there are apps like Stripe or GoCardless which connect to Xero. Xero is also very safe for payments with their credit card or debit.

There is a great online invoice system for contractors, with a pay-now button embedded on the forms to send the payment instantly.

Xero has good expense tracking for construction, among the many tools there is one that lets you use a mobile app to snap a photo of an expense for effortless and paperless data entry.

Project management tools like time tracking and cost tracking are ideal for construction companies looking to come in on budget and on deadline.

Cons:

There are no tools with real specificity for the construction industry, but as we said, for billing, payments, expenses, invoicing and other accounting tools, it’s good for small business contractors.

You need the Gusto app to do payroll with Xero. But at least Gusto is a good tool.

Pricing:

• Early plan is $12 per month

• Growing plan is $34 per month

• Established plan is $65 per month

Xero Review

Visit Xero
 

9. Knowify (Top accounting software for home builders)

Knowify was founded as a company back in 2012. It is part of the assembly of the Construction Companies Advisor Network, a formation of CPAs. Today it is a great construction business management software solution, with plenty of tools for accounting for home builders.

Pros:

For home builders and their various industries, Knowfiy has modules for each specific need. These include tools for managing electrical businesses, plumbing, HVAC, remodeling, painting, concrete pouring, roofing and siding, and more.

More accounting software for builders tools that Knowify covers include excavation, flooring, solar paneling, landscaping and sheet metal contracting work.

For an accounting tool, there is good job costing. It gets you time tracking and profitability reports. You can also do purchasing management, subcontracts, and get a document manager. There is also AIA style billing and invoicing.

Knowify is also great if you want to streamline your accounting tools with a CRM platform for construction businesses.

Cons:

For larger companies and enterprise-level operations, Knowify could seem a bit lightweight at first.

Things like CRM pipeline management are not available in the cheapest plan. Also there is no real inventory management or warehouse management. 

Pricing:

• Launch plan is $99 per month billed annually 

• Growth plan is $149 per month billed annually  

• Enterprise plan is $264 per month billed annually 

• For the Beyond Enterprise plan, contact Knowify

Visit Knowify
 

10. Foundation (Best AIA billing software)

Foundationsoft, or the Foundation software Group, makes a slew of products for contractors and the construction industry, big or small. They also include a suite of features for CPA firms and professionals. Foundation also happens to be the best system for AIA billing, which is the American Institute of Architects billings standard.

Pros:

For your accounts receivable needs, Foundation lets you do progress-billing construction jobs using AIA features. This allows you to track and invoice customers and create complete billing forms all according to regulation.

You also get near instant invoicing features for simpler billing needs from Foundation. These include accounts payable, automated recurring invoices, lien waivers and credit memos, and tax liability tracking.

Foundation includes great general ledger features, like over/under WIP limits for billing, comparative trial balances, bank reconciliation, automated recurring journal entries, and construction audit trail management.

Cons:

This is a serious SaaS and if you are on a budget or do not have much time and resources available for proper implementation, you might want to skip this one.

There is a Foundation mobile app, but it could do with a makeover and some updates.

Pricing:

• Contact Foundation for pricing details

Foundation Accounting Review

Visit Foundation
 

11. Acumatica (Good cloud based construction accounting software)

Acumatica is a maker of many greatest digital tools for managing businesses of various industries, including accounting and financial management modules. Everything runs in the cloud, which is why Acumatica is one of the best cloud-based accounting software for contractors. Aside from construction, Acumatica is used by distribution companies, manufacturing, retail, transportation, equipment rental and more.

Pros:

As a construction SaaS, Acumatica is ideal for real estate in residential projects as well as commercial real estate construction.

This app gets some good scores for its ease of use, especially considering how powerful it is and how many tools there are.

Along with general construction management, there is project accounting with time tracking, service management, equipment management, and payroll tools.

You get to leverage Acumatica’s ERP analytics for enhanced business intelligence, or BI as it’s called, to help with forecasting and better accounting planning.

Cons:

While this is relatively user friendly, the look and feel of the interfaces might seem old fashioned for some younger construction business owners and contractors.

As the price is not clearly advertised, don’t be shocked when the bill adds up to more than you had hoped for.

Pricing:

• Contact Acumatica for specific pricing information

Visit Acumatica
 

12. Jobpower (Good contractor bookkeeping software)

Jobpower is a maker of software for the construction industry that has been around since 1985, long before SaaS became commonly used in the industry. This is a cloud-based system with many tools and features for contractors and large-scale construction firms.

Pros:

As a leading construction bookkeeping software, Jobpower lets its users and CPAs get access to great general ledger features, like balance sheet management, audit trails tracking, and bank statement reconciliation.

Simple but effective automations save time on tasks like posting debit and credit card data to general ledgers, or entering billing or invoicing details. You can also reuse last year’s forms with simple adjustments for the current one.

There is a lot of help you get with things like construction job costing, construction crew payroll, and for things like managing subcontractors and purchase orders, or POs.

Jobpower will also help you update from other apps like Quickbooks, making the transition as seamless as possible.

Cons:

This collection of contractor accounting solutions is a bit of a monster to tackle all at once, which isn’t bad necessarily as it has everything you need, but it might appear overwhelming to new users.

It would be nice to see some pricing information on the website.

Pricing:

• Visit Jobpower’s website for pricing

Visit Jobpower
 

13. Penta (Top contractor accounting system for payroll)

Penta Technologies has been making great construction accounting software solutions for some time now. It is a full enterprise resource planning platform that has amazing financial management tools, and is a top payroll accounting system for construction firms.

Pros:

For construction payroll and labor management tools, you get multi-state and multi-union payment processing for both the US and Canada, automated accounting for inter-department and intercompany payroll, and payroll burden allocation.

There is a very advanced labor cost review module which can help you cut down on wage costs and total construction project budgets.

Aside from regular home building and real estate construction, Penta is good for niche industries like concrete construction, mechanical and HVAC contractors, industrial contractors, oil and gas contractors and more.

Cons:

There will be a lot to learn when you are getting set up with Penta construction accounting systems.

This is great for businesses in the US and Canada but not ideal for construction projects in other parts of the world.

Pricing:

• Get in touch with Penta to see about the costs

Visit Penta
 

14. ViewPoint Spectrum (Great construction project management accounting app)

ViewPoint makes a large number of business software for the general contractor and construction industry. One of those products is called ViewPoint Spectrum. This is an ERP that is totally web-based and covers essentials like accounting and project management.

Pros:

ViewPoint Spectrum runs many of its tools on workflow automations to reduce data entry work and eliminate manual errors.

You can use Spectrum along with many other ViewPoints tools or other apps with great integrations connectors.

If you are a construction company with maintaining high levels of profitability, then Spectrum is a solid tool if you can afford it.

Spectrum does real-time construction data analytics with ViewPoint, resulting in highly detailed charts and graphs. Also you get a mobile app.

Cons:

ViewPoint is part of the even larger Trimble corporation, and many users prefer to have their business tools owned and operated by fewer levels of subsidiaries for better customer service.

The final price tag can possibly be a bit prohibitive, but for many of Viewpoint’s most dedicated users, it is worth it.

Pricing:

• For Viewpoint Spectrum pricing, visit their website

Visit Viewpoint Spectrum
 

15. AccuBuild (Good contractor accounting platform for job costing)

AccuBuild can trace its roots as a company back to 1987. It was initially designed to meet some real gaps in the construction accounting world. The overall software package is divided into accounting, document management, project management, workforce management, and business intelligence.

Pros:

AccuBuild is a great accounting tool for construction companies who need job costing. It can handle job-to-date totals or fiscal year totals easily. You also get unlimited information capacity for estimates and billing. Billing data can be divided into units completed, amount completed or by percentage.

If you need to incorporate job-site specific costing into your construction project, AccuBuild is a great tool for this. 

There are work in progress scheduling tools as well as job cost capsheet reporting features.

Other fine AccuBuild accounting tools for contractors are payroll, worker retainage, retention tracking, equipment and inventory management, and over/under billing.

Cons:

The user interface and dashboards of AccuBuild might not be the most pleasant to navigate for your first few times, but surely you’ll manage eventually.

Like many of its competitors, AccuBuild would prefer you to contact them to get a live demo which would surely funnel you into their sales system without you knowing what the costs look like.

Pricing:

• Go to AccuBuild’s site to request a demo and pricing

Visit Accubuild
 

16. A-Systems JobView (Good job cost reporting software for construction)

A-Systems JobView is made by the A-Systems Corporation which makes a few good apps for construction management and accounting. Unlike many of its competitors, it is a one-time purchase product and it is software you install on your own system, although there are cloud hosting options available.

Pros:

A-Systems JobView is the job costing and reporting module. It is extremely thorough, giving you tools for detailed transaction reports, job cost analytics, unit price reporting, change order management, set-up costing and more.

There are many great formats for job cost reporting, like cost versus budget analysis, purchase orders, job manager, budget positions, paid versus unpaid, and overall cost versus revenue.

A-Systems JobView also includes payroll, general ledger tools, accounts receivable and accounts payable, equipment costing and inventory management. 

Cons:

There is a very in-your-face old school look and feel to this platform, so if you don’t mind peering into a time machine to the 90s every time you use this, you won’t have a problem.

Some construction firms and contractors these days prefer the subscription model to the one-time purchase software model.

Pricing:

• A-Systems JobView SBA version $249.95

• For the standard or preferred edition, visit A-System's website

Visit A-systems Jobview
 

17. ZipBooks (Good free construction accounting system)

ZipBooks is another accounting software that is not dedicated to construction or any other specific industry. It is a basic accounting system for individuals, freelancers, startups and SMBs, with very affordable pricing including a free version. You can, however, use ZipBooks for construction if your projects are not too massive.

Pros:

There is a free plan of ZipBooks which surely can be used for managing the accounting of simpler construction jobs. It’s easy to connect your bank account and credit cards to ZipBooks to get started.

ZipBooks can help contractors manage equipment, materials, labor, job sites and other moving factors of a construction project.

You got your standard invoicing and billing, expanse tracking, payroll services and tax preparation.

Automations are there to help speed up the work, and business intelligence works for you by offering insights into how to maximize productivity and profitability.

Cons:

As ZipBooks is not tailored to contractors or the construction industry, this can be seen as a drawback to this platform.

For more intense or complex construction accounting needs, ZipBooks may come across as shallow.

Pricing:

• Starter plan is free

• Smarter plan is $15 per month

• Sophisticated plan is $35 per month

• For the Accountant plan contact ZipBooks

Zipbooks Review

Visit Zipbooks
 

18. Construction Partner (Top construction estimating software)

Construction Partner has been in the construction accounting game for over 20 years and they know what they are doing. What this platform lacks in a modern hip look and feel it makes up for with no-frills accounting tools.

Pros:

Construction Partner gets you access to all the major accounting features one expects for the construction industry.

This is a great software solution for contractors who do a lot of construction estimating. There is flexible labor setup costing, equipment set up estimations, speed-labor calculations, cost burden allocation, and it’s easy to change or modify this info as you progress.

Construction Partner costs a one-time low price. They will even take care of installation and do full training for you and your team. It’s also good for an unlimited number of users.

Construction Partner is known to have pretty decent customer support. 

Cons:

Well, some people cannot get over the design of this platform. But that’s their problem for being so superficial.

The one-time payment plan is not everybody's favorite type of software now that the world of SaaS subscription models is upon us.

Pricing:

• Visit Construction Partner to request a demo and pricing information

Visit Construction Partner
 

19. RedTeam (Great financial management tool for contractors)

Like most company ‘about us’ pages state, RedTeam was born out of the founders finding a problem that needed a new digital solution, and in this case, it was how to streamline the many factors involved in construction projects, among them accounting and overall financial management. 

Pros:

All accounting and financial data that is created during construction planning and work gets used by RedTeam for thorough analytics.

Automation and workflows use financial data to streamline work processes wherever possible.

You get your standard billing methods, including AIA billing, progress billing and cost billing.

A RedTeam mobile app can speed up the process of invoicing and getting invoice approvals.

RedTeam excels at work in progress reports, or WIP reports.

Cons:

Like a lot of brands in this space, RedTeam prefers to give potential users a bespoke price instead of having their pricing sheet spelled out on their homepage. This is not necessarily a con, but most SaaS shoppers don’t love it.

The subcontractor collaboration features require a second app called TeamPlayer.

Pricing:

• Visit RedTeam’s website to watch a demo and get pricing

Visit Redteam
 

20. Plexxis (Good contractor accounting app for automated data entry)

Created in 1999 by a group of dudes consisting of engineers and software developers, this is Plexxis, a cloud-based construction management tool. They offer specific modules for subcontractors, foremen, labor and accounting, and it's a great app for using automations to take over things like manual data entry.

Pros:

Plexxis creates a live data feedback system between bidding, field costs and finance, automatically translating data from one to the other, eliminating errors and cutting down on work time.

Same thing goes for automatic data conversion for operations accounting when it comes to materials, equipment or labor.

Cons:

Plexxis is a bit tough to wrap your head around at first. 

Pricing:

• Visit Plexxis for pricing

Visit Plexxis

What is the best accounting software for construction company use? Our conclusion

So what is the best accounting software for construction industry use? Buildertrend is the best overall, but special mention should go to other apps like Jonas Premier, Procore, and Sage 100 Contractor. And don’t forget some good free options like Wave or ZipBooks. 

Finally, if you just want standard small business accounting software to use for construction, Quickbooks Online and Xero are nice options. One thing to keep in mind is that not all of these tools are compatible with Macbooks. However, for the sake of all Mac users out there, we wrote a separate article on the best accounting software for Mac. Make sure to check it out as well!