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Having worked with QuickBooks since it first came out in the early 1990’s, and specializing in the commercial construction industry when I had an active bookkeeping practice —and even right up until today; I’m amazed at how few resources or reference materials there are for “how to use QuickBooks in the Commercial/Government Construction industry.”

Our eBooks provide you with step-by-step instructions – with lots of screenshots – for high end construction software specific tasks; such as getting equipment costs into job costing reports, tracking General Liability Insurance (when it’s based on gross payroll), etc.

New items are being added frequently, they just take time to create. We will be moving many of our QuickBooks training materials here from our main website during the month of December 2012, as we work on reorganizing and rebranding all of our websites..

Browse this category to see what we have to offer and if you don’t see something that you are looking for, feel free to submit a request using the Suggestion Box link at the top of the page.

Please note, if you are a ProAdvisor, CPA, IT person or other accounting professional, you need to be aware that the paid training items offered in this section are copyrighted materials and cannot be reprinted or redistributed.

WIP Calculator for Percentage of Completion Calculations

Published January 13, 2014 | By Nancy Smyth
You can easily create a detailed WIP/Percentage of Completion Schedule from QuickBooks IF:
  • You create an Estimate for EVERY job/project AND there is only one Estimate per job
  • You’ve modified the QuickBooks Estimate Template to include Cost and Markup columns and you utilize those columns when building your Estimate
  • All of your “Items” have been set-up to capture BOTH revenue and costs (double-sided items)
  • You enter ALL job related employee time and vendor costs using double-sided items
  • You create Job Types for Over/Under and Completed (with sub-types for years) and assign them correctly to your jobs
If all of these things currently exist in your QuickBooks company data file, you can easily create a detailed WIP/Percentage-of-Completion schedule by creating an Actual vs. Estimate Summary Report --> exporting it to QuickBooks and then plugging that data into our WIP Calculator - all WITHOUT spending hours performing manual calculations!
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eBook: Certified Payroll Training Guide

Published December 11, 2012 | By Nancy Smyth
The current economic situation has dealt a serious blow to both homebuilders and commercial contractors and many are finding themselves making the move to Public Works construction and Prevailing Wage projects. Making the move from residential/commercial construction projects to government-funded construction projects, which have certified payroll reporting requirements, can be overwhelming for most contractors, their office staff, and the accounting professionals who support them.  This often misunderstood requirement can lead to major problems; including denial of payment and contract termination.  Don't get caught in a payroll certification trap! Price:  $35.00
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FAQ – Upgrading QuickBooks eBook

Published November 1, 2012 | By Nancy Smyth
This time of year there's always a lot of hype and pressure to upgrade to the newest version of QuickBooks.  Inuit put "upgrade" ads in your current version of the software, they send you emails with "special offers", perhaps your QuickBooks professional advisor or your CPA is making the recommendation that you upgrade. Sometimes this is just hype and a way for these folks to make some extra money - because they earn a commission on your purchase.  Other times their urging is legitimate, perhaps the version of QuickBooks that you are using is scheduled to "sunset or retire" by May of 2013 and you'll use many of the services that you rely on - like payroll and on-line banking for example. Download our 19-page FAQ-Upgrading QuickBooks eBook today. Price:  Free
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eBook: Documenting Change Orders

Published June 20, 2012 | By Nancy Smyth
It is sad to say, that the days of the “verbal agreement” or the “handshake”, are pretty much a thing of the past. You must now be able to prove or demonstrate that your company has been required to perform extra work on the project, and you must, also, be able to prove the contract value of that change order or extra work order. In other words, it is not enough for you to show that more money than anticipated was spent in the performance of the work on the project. When you put the requested changes in writing on a construction change order form and get your customer's signature, there's no "weasel-ing out" on the customer's part when it comes time to payment. Just show them a copy of the change order form with their signature on it and they can't claim that you did the extra work without their authorization. Price:  $14.95
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eBook: Payroll Mistakes. It’s Not As Easy as 1-2-3!

Published May 31, 2012 | By Nancy Smyth
Payroll is an essential part of your business – not just a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly annoyance. Payroll is the primary way that employees are rewarded for good job performance and retained. If you are issuing late or incorrect paychecks, it can lead to dissatisfied, unmotivated workers – or worse. It’s hard to keep good employees when a company gets payroll wrong. The consequences of some mistakes can be more serious than just your paychecks simply being incorrect. Many mistakes result in getting a very hard time from people you don’t know (and certainly don’t want to know) – the federal and state enforcement types. Price: $6.95
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eBook: Learn About AIA Billing & How To Fill Out an AIA G-702/G-703

Published April 25, 2012 | By Nancy Smyth
eBook: The AIA billing system was developed to provide a standardized method of submitting job related paperwork to send to architects and others by a contractor in order for the contractor to be paid for work performed on a construction project. Has anyone every asked you to complete an AIA G-702 and G-703 - and you've never done one before? Learn how to fill out an AIA G-702 & G-703 billing form with our AIA Billing Training Exercise. 38 pages. Price:  $25.00
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eBook: Getting Equipment Costs into QuickBooks Job Costing Reports

Published April 18, 2012 | By Nancy Smyth
eBook: If you feel that getting equipment costs into your job costing was a function that only costly construction software was capable of doing. Think again, QuickBooks can track this accurately if it's set up correctly. Yes, it's a little more work - but it's accurate, effective, and a whole lot cheaper than costly construction software. Our 32-page eBook will teach you how. Price: $25.00
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eBook: Hiring a Bookkeeper for your construction biz-Test their skills

Published April 11, 2012 | By Nancy Smyth
eBook: There comes a time when it just makes sense to hire a bookkeeper to handle the day-to-day data entry tasks, but you also need to make sure that they are familiar with QuickBooks® and the construction industry and the only way to do this is by testing their skills. Hiring some one who seems to have a strong bookkeeping background from their resume, but has never worked for a contractor might not be the right choice. We've developed a Construction Bookkeeper Test, with 145 questions, that will help you evaluate their skills. Price:  $25.00
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Nancy Smyth, Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor

Nancy Smyth, Sunburst Software Solutions, Inc.
QuickBooks Construction & Payroll Expert


I've been using and supporting QuickBooks products since the early 1990's. I've worked with thousands of contractors, assisting them with QuickBooks setup, Certified Payroll Reporting requirements, AIA Billing and Weighted-Average Overtime.


QuickBooks is a powerful product, but learning how to use it in your construction business can be difficult. I hope you find resources available here to be helpful.

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