QuickBooks job costing, commercial roofing accounting, and retainage tracking for Pittsburgh roofing contractors.
Pittsburgh is a heavily commercial and industrial roofing market, shaped by the region's steel and manufacturing legacy and its ongoing redevelopment. The South Side industrial corridor, the North Shore, and the Mon Valley still carry significant industrial roofing stock. Residential roofing in the Pittsburgh hills — the South Hills, North Hills, and East suburbs — involves complex terrain and multi-structure properties that require careful per-job cost tracking. Pennsylvania's prevailing wage law (Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage Act) applies to roofing on many public and publicly funded projects, adding certified payroll requirements for a significant portion of commercial work. Union labor is more prevalent in the Pittsburgh market than most other US markets.
Pittsburgh union roofing work (through the United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers Local 37) requires tracking union fringe benefits, pension contributions, and apprenticeship fund contributions as separate job costs. These add 35–50% to base wage costs and must appear in your QuickBooks Project costs or your job margin calculations will be wrong.
Also see: Roofing bookkeeper for all Pennsylvania contractors →
Every Pittsburgh roofing job gets its own QuickBooks Project. Every invoice, bill, and expense tagged to the correct job. Monthly Project Profitability report shows gross margin on every completed job — so you know which work types in the Pittsburgh market are worth bidding more of.
Retainage held on Pittsburgh commercial jobs tracked in a dedicated QuickBooks account — visible on your balance sheet, aged monthly, flagged for collection when jobs complete. Most contractors we onboard have $40K–$120K in untracked retainage.
Two reports by the 10th of every month: company P&L and per-job profitability sorted by gross margin. Reports that drive real decisions, not just annual tax filing.
Every sub paid over $600 in Pittsburgh tracked year-round. Clean 1099 list ready January 31st — no scramble, no missing payments, no IRS exposure.
JobCostBooks works remotely inside your QuickBooks Online account — we serve Pittsburgh contractors across the full metro area.
All work is done remotely. Location doesn't limit service quality.
Fixed monthly pricing. QuickBooks cleanup included in onboarding.
If JobCostBooks doesn't find at least $10,000 in fixable profit leaks in your first 90 days, your first month is free. Uncollected retainage, job costing errors, miscategorized expenses — we've never had to honor it.
Pittsburgh union roofing contractors should create four separate COGS accounts in QuickBooks: Union Wages, Union Health/Welfare Benefits, Union Pension Contributions, and Union Apprenticeship/Training. Every Project cost entry for union labor must be split across all four categories. This gives you the true loaded labor cost per job — which is typically $55–$75/hour fully loaded vs. the $35–$45 base wage that most contractors use when estimating.
$325–$750/month for a local Pittsburgh bookkeeper. JobCostBooks provides roofing-specialist bookkeeping — job costing, retainage tracking, monthly P&L — for $600–$1,800/month depending on revenue and crew size.
Yes. JobCostBooks operates inside your QuickBooks Online account with accountant-level access — the same as any local bookkeeper. All data stays in your QuickBooks account, which you own and control. We communicate via WhatsApp and email during US business hours.
Book the free 15-minute QuickBooks screen-share. If it's a fit, onboarding starts within 3–5 business days. QuickBooks cleanup and setup takes 10–14 business days. First clean month-end report within 30 days of starting.
Book a free 15-minute QuickBooks screen-share. We'll open your file, find the profit leaks, and tell you exactly what they're costing you.
Book My Free Assessment →$10K guarantee · Plans from $600/mo · hello@jobcostbooks.com