5-Day Contractor Monthly Close Standard
12-Gate Construction Month-End Close Checklist & Chart of Accounts
The 12-Gate Construction Month-End Close Checklist is a deterministic 5-day operating procedure for $2M to $50M contractors that reconciles bank statements, field-software invoices, payroll labor burden, uninstalled equipment (Account 1360), and gross ASC 606 WIP balances (Accounts 1350 and 2450) to $0.00 Trial Balance variance before financial statements go to owners, banks, or surety underwriters. Download both reference CSVs below or run your open projects directly in WIP Calculator.
Part 1: The 12 Monthly Close Verification Gates
| Gate | Close Stage | GL Accounts | Pass Condition ($0.00 Variance Rule) |
|---|---|---|---|
| GATE-01 | 1. Cash & Card Statement Lock | 1000-1090 / 2050 | Opening + Cleared Inflows - Cleared Outflows = PDF Statement Ending ($0.00 variance; zero plug JEs). |
| GATE-02 | 2. Bidirectional FSM Invoice Sync | 1200 Trade AR | Issued/Paid invoices in BuildOps, ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, or Jobber = QBO 1200 count & dollar sum. |
| GATE-03 | 3. Retainage Separation | 1210 Retainage Asset | 5% to 10% GC holdbacks isolated in 1210 rather than aging past 90 days inside 1200 Trade AR. |
| GATE-04 | 4. AR Remittance Clearing | 1160 Remittance Clearing | 1160 = $0.00 at close; zero customer bank-feed deposits posted directly to 4000 Income when open AR exists. |
| GATE-05 | 5. Merchant Batch Gross-to-Net | 1170 Processor Clearing | Gross FSM card/ACH closes minus net bank payouts minus 6240 fees = exact last-2-day in-transit batch. |
| GATE-06 | 6. Two-Leg Transfer Clearing | 1150 Transfer Clearing | Bank checking outflow debits + credit-card inflow credits to 1150 net to $0.00 without deleting bank-feed lines. |
| GATE-07 | 7. Consume-Once AP & Sub Bills | 2000 AP / 5200-5300 | Every vendor check/ACH linked via BillPayment to an open Bill; zero duplicate expenses or blank payees. |
| GATE-08 | 8. Payroll & Burden Allocation | 5100 / 5150 / 6150 | Gross payroll + taxes/WC = 5100 Job Wages + 5150 Job Burden + 6150 Unapplied Shop/Drive + 6100 Office. |
| GATE-09 | 9. Staged Materials & Sub Cutoff | 1360 / 2120 Accrued | Uninstalled yard chillers/switchgear held in 1360; pre-cutoff unbilled sub work accrued in 2120 (reverse Day 1). |
| GATE-10 | 10. WIP-to-GL Two-Way Footing | 4000 & 5100-5400 | WIP Billed = Job 4000+1210 AND WIP Installed Cost = Job 5100-5400 with QBO Not-Specified COGS = $0.00. |
| GATE-11 | 11. Prior WIP Reversal & TB Gate | 1350 & 2450 | Prior-month WIP reversed Day 1; ending TB 1350 = Gross Underbillings and TB 2450 = Gross Overbillings. |
| GATE-12 | 12. Zero-Plug Provenance Sign-Off | All BS (1000-3999) | Every Balance Sheet account supported by statement, subledger, or signed WIP schedule; 3000 OBE = $0.00. |
Part 2: Standard Contractor QuickBooks Chart of Accounts (1150-6150)
| Acct # | Account Name | QBO Type | WIP & Field-Software Mapping Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1150 | Inter-Account & Card Payment Clearing | Other Current Asset | Both legs of bank-to-card payments route here; target ending = $0.00. |
| 1160 | Unidentified Customer Receipts Clearing | Other Current Asset | Hold unmatched wires/checks until applied via ReceivePayment to Open AR. |
| 1170 | Merchant Processor Batch Clearing | Other Current Asset | Bridges gross FSM card receipts to net bank payouts + 6240 discount fees. |
| 1200 | Accounts Receivable - Trade | Accounts Receivable | Collectible progress & service invoices excluding unmatured retainage. |
| 1210 | Retainage Receivable | Other Current Asset | 5%-10% contractual holdbacks tied by job to signed Schedule of Values. |
| 1350 | Costs in Excess of Billings (Underbillings) | Other Current Asset | Gross ASC 606 WIP asset; must equal WIP Schedule Underbillings column. |
| 1360 | Uninstalled Job Materials & Staged Equipment | Other Current Asset | Delivered chillers/switchgear held out of WIP % complete until installed. |
| 2110 | Retainage Payable (Subcontractors) | Other Current Liability | 5%-10% withheld from subcontractors until substantial completion release. |
| 2120 | Accrued Job Costs - Vendor/Sub Cutoff | Other Current Liability | Pre-cutoff field work whose supplier/sub invoice arrives next month. |
| 2410 | Customer Deposits & Mobilization Advances | Other Current Liability | Upfront cash received on unstarted jobs; never book as revenue on receipt. |
| 2450 | Billings in Excess of Costs (Overbillings) | Other Current Liability | Gross ASC 606 WIP liability; must equal WIP Schedule Overbillings column. |
| 2460 | Accrued Loss Provision on Contracts | Other Current Liability | Remaining 100% anticipated loss reserve on onerous contracts (ASC 605-35). |
| 4000 | Contract & Service Revenue - Billed | Income | Gross progress billings and service invoices before WIP adjustment. |
| 4010 | WIP Revenue - Overbilling Deferral | Income | Debited when Billings in Excess (2450) increases during the period. |
| 4020 | WIP Revenue - Underbilling Accrual | Income | Credited when Costs in Excess (1350) increases during the period. |
| 5100 | Direct Field Labor - Job Wages | Cost of Goods Sold | Productive crew wages tagged 100% to Customer:Job ($0 Not Specified). |
| 5150 | Direct Field Labor - Taxes, WC & Burden | Cost of Goods Sold | FICA, FUTA/SUTA, trade Workers Comp class rate, and field benefits. |
| 5200 | Direct Materials (Installed) | Cost of Goods Sold | Job-coded supply-house bills & POs excluding staged equipment in 1360. |
| 5300 | Subcontractor Costs (Job-Coded) | Cost of Goods Sold | Subcontractor pay-apps tied to SOV, COI/W-9, and 2110 retainage. |
| 5400 | Equipment Rental, Permits & Rigging | Cost of Goods Sold | Job-specific cranes, lifts, and municipal permits. |
| 6150 | Unapplied Shop, Drive & Callback Labor | Expenses | Paid tech hours minus job-logged hours to measure true utilization %. |