QBO Construction Accounting GAAP Specialist: WIP & Job Costing (US Clients)

Work Location: Remote

Job Type: Full-Time Contractor

Working Hours: Monday to Friday

9:00 AM – 6:00 PM EST (U.S. Time Zone)

We are hiring a QBO Construction Accounting Specialist to own the monthly accounting cycle for U.S.-based construction clients, with a heavy emphasis on job costing, WIP (Work-in-Progress) schedule preparation, percentage-of-completion revenue recognition, and accrual-based financial reporting.

This role goes beyond standard bookkeeping. You will be responsible for producing financials that a CFO or external auditor can rely on — including accurate gross profit by job, properly classified cost of goods sold, monthly COGS accruals, over/under billing schedules, and clean project profitability reporting.

You'll work directly with client-side project managers and controllers who expect you to catch what doesn't make sense, ask the right questions, and flag issues before they become problems.

This position is ideal for someone with construction industry accounting experience who understands that a bill hitting the books isn't the same as a cost being properly recognized, and who can explain the difference clearly to non-accounting stakeholders.

This is an internal role with defined growth opportunities within the accounting team.

Key Responsibilities

Construction Job Costing & WIP

• Prepare and maintain monthly WIP schedules using percentage-of-completion method, including estimated cost to complete, earned revenue, and over/under billing calculations
• Review project profitability reports and investigate jobs showing costs with no revenue, revenue with no costs, or margins that fall outside expected ranges
• Ensure all costs are properly assigned to jobs, identify and resolve unassigned COGS, miscategorized overhead, and missing project tags
• Coordinate with client-side project managers to obtain contract values, change orders, estimated costs to complete, and job status updates
• Track new projects as they appear in the billing or cost data and ensure they are added to WIP schedules with complete information

Accrual Accounting & Month-End Close

• Record monthly COGS accruals for costs incurred but not yet billed by vendors, and reverse in the following period
• Prepare and post WIP adjustment entries (over/under billing entries) based on completed WIP analysis
• Perform full month-end close including bank reconciliations, AP/AR reconciliation, balance sheet reconciliation, and payroll entry review
• Review and correct expense classifications between COGS and SG&A — distinguish direct job costs (field labor, job materials, equipment rental, subcontractor costs) from indirect/overhead costs (office rent, admin salaries, lodging for non-field personnel)
• Ensure proper treatment of leases under ASC 842, including right-of-use asset and lease liability entries where applicable

Reporting & Financial Review

• Produce monthly financial packages including P&L (with gross profit by job where needed), balance sheet, project profitability summary, and WIP schedule
• Identify and flag anomalies negative gross profit months, COGS exceeding revenue, jobs with stale cost activity, and missing revenue recognition
• Maintain clean and consistent project/customer naming conventions in QBO aligned with contract IDs and estimates
• Support audit and review readiness by maintaining organized documentation and clean trial balances

Coordination & Communication

• Serve as the primary accounting point of contact for assigned construction clients
• Communicate directly with client-side personnel (project managers, controllers, ownership) to obtain missing information and validate classifications
• Proactively raise issues rather than booking entries you can't verify, if a bill comes in and you don't know the correct job or classification, you ask before posting
• Provide clear, concise status updates on monthly close progress and open items

Requirements

• Construction industry accounting experience is mandatory, you must have worked with job costing, WIP schedules, and percentage-of-completion revenue recognition before
• Completed ACCA, CA, CMA, or finalist
• Hands-on QuickBooks Online experience (non-negotiable), including project/job tracking, customer/sub-customer structures, and class/location tagging
• Strong understanding of accrual-basis accounting, particularly COGS accruals, over/under billing, and revenue recognition timing
• Professional proficiency in English (written and spoken), you will communicate directly with U.S.-based clients
• Ability to work EST hours (Mon–Fri)
• Advanced Excel / Google Sheets skills. pivot tables, lookups, and the ability to build and maintain WIP workbooks from scratch
• High attention to detail with strong self-review habits
• Ability to work independently, manage multiple client deadlines, and escalate appropriately

Preferred

• Experience with construction-specific reports: project profitability summaries, job cost detail, over/under billing schedules
• Familiarity with subcontractor billing cycles, retainage, bonding costs, and mobilization expenses
• Experience working with U.S.-based construction companies (paving, civil, infrastructure, or similar)
• Exposure to ASC 842 lease accounting and ASC 606 revenue recognition standards

Growth & Career Path

This role sits within the Construction Accounting Specialist track. High performers may progress into senior construction accounting roles, client-facing advisory positions, and team lead opportunities based on performance, quality, and ownership.

What We Value

• Judgment over mechanical entry if the numbers don't make sense, we expect you to stop and ask
• Accuracy over speed
• Ownership of the full monthly cycle, not just individual tasks
• Clear, proactive communication especially when something is missing or doesn't add up
• Willingness to learn client operations deeply enough to catch what a pure bookkeeper would miss

Application Question(s):

• Are you able to work USA EST Time zone hours Monday - Friday 9AM ET - 6PM ET?
• Have you prepared WIP (Work-in-Progress) schedules using the percentage-of-completion method? (Will be tested during the interview live)

Experience:

• Quickbooks: 3 years (Required)

Work Location: Remote