Regulating bookkeepers

 

Contractors — I’m curious:
Would you trust an unlicensed electrician on a six-figure job?

Why are we doing it with your financials?

If I were to design a regulated path to bookkeeping for contractors, it would look like this (high level):

1️⃣ Mandatory Construction Accounting Education
Before touching a GC’s books:

Job cost accounting fundamentals

Cost codes & cost types

WIP & percent-complete vs completed contract

Retainage (AR & AP)

Change orders & contract values

Labor burden & payroll allocations

2️⃣ Construction Competency Exam
Demonstrate the ability to:

Set up jobs correctly

Post costs to the right job and cost code

Reconcile job cost reports to the GL

Identify margin fade early

Explain why job profit ≠ cash in the bank

3️⃣ Supervised Field Experience
No “learn as you go” on a live contractor:

Required hours under a CPA/EA or construction-focused accounting firm

Exposure to real job cost cleanups, not demo files

4️⃣ Clear Scope of Practice
Bookkeepers should not:

“Estimate” WIP

Guess at retainage

Override contract values

Decide revenue recognition policy

5️⃣ Continuing Education
Construction changes constantly:

Labor laws

Sales tax rules

Software (JobTread, Buildertrend, Procore, QBO, etc.)
No CE = no credential.

6️⃣ Accountability

Ethics standards

Complaint process

Real consequences for negligence

It’s about protecting contractors from bad data that looks fine until the job is finished and the money is gone.

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