For a busy residential construction company, steady revenue can hide a difficult question: is each individual project actually making money?
That was the situation facing Hasler Homes Ltd., an experienced custom home builder ready to bring that same level of precision to their financials. In this case study, we share how we rebuilt their construction bookkeeping workflow around proper job costing so the directors could finally understand profitability at the project level and run the business with confidence.
About the Client
Hasler Homes Ltd. is an established residential construction company that specializes in high end custom builds. Their team brings serious depth to every project, including project managers, foremen, Red Seal carpenters, and skilled tradespeople who are used to managing complex residential builds from the ground up.
What they did exceptionally well was build homes.What they wanted help with was seeing the financial picture behind that work.
The Challenge: Strong Revenue, Limited Visibility
Although the business had consistent revenue activity, the owners were ready to move beyond high-level revenue tracking and into project-level profitability visibility.
Project costs, subcontractor expenses, markups, and billing were spread across the business and difficult to track in a centralized or reliable way. That created some very real problems for the directors. It was hard to assess how individual projects were performing, identify costs that had not yet been billed to clients, understand which subcontractors and trades were profitable, and make timely decisions based on accurate information.
In short, and they wanted a financial system built to grow with it.
Our Approach
We started by reviewing Hasler Homes’ existing accounting workflow, reporting structure, and technology stack. The goal was not simply to tidy up the books. It was to design a system that gave the owners a true, project level view of profitability.
To do that, we implemented an integrated stack built around Dext, QuickBooks Online, and Plooto, with each tool chosen to solve a specific part of the puzzle: job costing, project profitability tracking, invoicing, and payment processing.
Building a Smarter Accounting System
Streamlined Receipts and Expense Capture with Dext
We set up Dext to streamline receipt submission and expense capture across the business. Job codes were allocated to specific projects, so every expense could be tracked accurately at the project level rather than disappearing into a general pool of costs.
Expenses could also be marked up directly through Dext and QuickBooks Online, which made invoicing far more efficient. Once an expense was allocated to a job, it flowed into QuickBooks Online and could be pulled straight into a client invoice when the time came to bill.
Project Tracking in QuickBooks Online
Next, we configured QuickBooks Online projects to give the client real visibility into project profitability. This allowed them to track costs and revenue by project, support progress invoicing, monitor subcontractor costs, and assess how profitable different trades were on each build.
With this in place, the directors finally had a clear, ongoing view of how each project was performing financially, rather than waiting until the end of a job to find out.
A Chart of Accounts Built for Construction
We then redesigned the chart of accounts, so it reflected the way the business operates. The new structure made it possible to compare subcontractor related expenses against the corresponding revenue billed to clients.
That comparison is where a lot of value sat. It made it much easier to spot costs that had not yet been billed back, assess overall profitability on sub trades, and give the directors a clean, high-level overview of every trade being billed across the business.
Faster Payments and Collections with Plooto
Finally, we implemented Plooto to simplify both vendor payments and customer collections.
On the payables side, bills now flow from Dext into QuickBooks Online and are then pulled automatically into Plooto for payment. This created a faster, more streamlined process, reduced manual work, and improved efficiency right across accounts payable.
Plooto is also used to collect payments from customers, which has strengthened the client’s collections process. By giving customers a more direct and efficient way to pay, the business reduced friction in accounts receivable and gained better visibility into cash flow.
The Results
With an improved reporting structure and a properly integrated technology stack, Hasler Homes gained a much clearer understanding of project costs, subcontractor profitability, unbilled expenses, and overall business performance.
The owners now have the financial visibility they need to make more informed decisions, manage project margins more effectively, and run the business with greater confidence. Instead of guessing whether a project worked out, they can see it.
Thinking About Job Costing for Your Construction Business?
Every construction business is different, but the challenge we see again and again is the same: plenty of activity, not enough visibility into what each project is really earning. The right accounting setup changes that.
If you run a residential construction or trades business and want clearer insight into project profitability, job costing, and cash flow, we would love to help. Get in touch with Atlas Cloud Accountants to talk through your numbers.