Deposit & progress-payment tracking
Deposits held as liabilities and recognized as work is completed.
Remodelers · Seattle & Tacoma
Bookkeeping for kitchen, bath, and whole-home remodelers
Remodeling projects live and die by material costs, change orders, and customer deposits. A single scope creep on cabinets or tile can wipe out a project's margin — and you often don't see it in QuickBooks until 60 days after the fact. We keep every remodel's numbers clean so you can price the next one with confidence and stop discovering money problems at year-end.
Why remodelers accounting is different
Remodelers get burned by two things generic bookkeepers miss: unearned deposits treated as revenue (inflating your P&L until you owe tax on money you'll still need to spend), and change orders that quietly turn a 20% margin job into a 4% margin job. The math of a $60K kitchen with three change orders and a countertop swap is different from the math of a fresh contract — and it needs to be tracked as it happens, not recovered at close.
What we hear from remodelers
- "Customer deposits mixed in with earned revenue"
- "Change orders never fully reconciled against original bids"
- "Material overages eating into margin without warning"
- "Cash flow crunch between deposit and final payment"
What we handle for remodelers
Fluent in QuickBooks Online, Buildertrend, Jobber.
Change order accounting
Every change order tied to the job so profitability stays visible.
Material cost tracking
Vendor invoices coded to jobs so overages surface early.
Monthly reports by project
Job-level P&Ls so you know which project types pay best.
Numbers we track for remodelers
Every monthly report includes the metrics that actually drive decisions in your business:
- Gross margin by project type (kitchen vs. bath vs. whole-home)
- Change order revenue as % of contract
- Deposit liability outstanding
- Average material overrun per project
- Days from deposit to project start
Washington-specific for remodelers
Washington remodelers collect retail sales tax on labor for residential remodels — a rule that trips up out-of-state contractors and anyone new to the state. Deposits collected before the work is performed still need to have sales tax remitted in the period they're earned, not the period they were collected. We keep the deposit ledger and the sales tax return in sync.
Common bookkeeping mistakes in remodelers
We see these on almost every set of books we clean up. Fixing them is usually step one of onboarding.
- Recording customer deposits as income the day the check clears — creates phantom profit and a phantom tax bill
- Never reconciling the final change order log against invoiced amounts — leaves earned revenue uninvoiced
- Blending selections/allowances overages into general 'Materials' instead of tagging them to change orders
Remodelers accounting — frequently asked questions
What Our Clients Say
74 five-star reviews from construction and real estate businesses across Washington
"Ruvim and his team have been great to work with. They're reliable, responsive, and provide accurate bookkeeping and payroll support. We appreciate their attention to detail and the outstanding work they do!"
"I worked with Ruvim and Ready Accounting for over two years and had a great experience. Ruvim is extremely responsible, reliable, and always on top of things. He built a great system that made reconciling all of our company accounts simple and organized, kept our filings on time, and helped us manage ACH payments to our trade partners smoothly. Ruvim is knowledgeable, responsive, and someone you can trust with the financial side of your business. Highly recommend Ready Accounting to any company looking for dependable and professional accounting support."
"Working with Ready Accounting has been smooth and stress-free. Ruvim is knowledgeable, responsive, and truly cares about your success. Highly recommend!"
"Ruvim is the best bookkeeper there is period. We have used several bookkeepers in the past but no one matched his level. I highly recommend using him."
"We have been with ready accounting for about half a year or so and let me say it's been amazing! Upon opening a business and hiring employees, there was so much things needed to be done where I had absolutely no clue how to do! A friend of mine recommended ready accounting and honestly never looked back! He does an amazing job and best of all, I don't have to do a thing! Thanks ready accounting for being trustworthy and amazing!"
"Ruvim is very organized, thorough and knowledgeable. Excellent communication skills, timely and cares about his clients and their business operations. Highly recommend!"
"Ruvim is an incredibly knowledgeable individual who consistently demonstrates responsiveness and helpfulness. Whenever I have questions, he promptly provides accurate answers, making him an invaluable resource for my business. His understanding of my business accounting needs is unparalleled, and he consistently delivers exceptional results. I wholeheartedly recommend him to anyone seeking reliable expertise and support."
5.0 rating from 74 Google reviews
Want the story behind the stars? Read real client case studies — including a Bellevue remodeler and a Tacoma developer.
Book a call with Ruvim
Tell us about your remodelers business — we'll follow up to schedule a call, usually the same day.
Prefer to reach out directly? We answer most inquiries within a few hours during business days.
Email us
Info@readyaccounting.coCall us
(253) 367-3672