Bookkeeping for roofing companies on QuickBooks Online.
Books and Trucks does monthly bookkeeping for roofing companies in QuickBooks Online, from $599 a month, or $995 a month with ServiceTitan reconciliation and job costing, and cleans up all past books free when you start.
Reroofs, repairs, insurance claim jobs and supplier deliveries all have to land in the books correctly. We close your books every month in QuickBooks Online, file your sales tax, and put the numbers in one dashboard.
Checked by the Books and Trucks team.
Booked calls: weekdays, 9am to 5pm Eastern. By phone, or 30 minutes on Teams.
Not ready for a call? Get a free look at your books
Three things roofing owners tell us about their books
“I lose track of which insurance checks are still out.”
“Supplier bills pile up faster than I can match them to jobs.”
“Storm season was huge and I still do not know what we made.”
How we set up the books for a roofing company
Insurance payments matched to each claim
Insurance checks often arrive in parts, and the homeowner pays the deductible separately. We record each payment against the customer and the claim, so you can see what is still owed on every roof.
Materials and dump fees
Shingles, underlayment, dumpster rental and disposal fees each go to their own cost account, so your monthly reports show what the materials and tear-offs really cost. On the ServiceTitan plan they are also tied to each job.
Crews paid as subcontractors
We keep a W-9 on file for each crew you pay as a subcontractor and track what you pay them, so the year-end 1099 list is ready for you or your CPA. For payments made in 2026, a Form 1099-NEC is due once a subcontractor is paid $2,000 or more in the year, up from $600.
The depreciation holdback booked as money owed
On a replacement cost claim the carrier pays the actual cash value first and the recoverable depreciation only after proof the work is done. The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association's sample claim shows an $11,000 first payment and a $5,000 second payment released after proof of repairs. We book that second payment as a receivable on the job, so it gets chased when the roof is finished instead of being forgotten.
Source: Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, Factors that affect the claim payment amount
The deductible on its own invoice line
The homeowner's deductible is invoiced and receipted separately from the carrier's money. In Texas it has been a crime since September 2019 for a contractor to waive, absorb or rebate it, and an insurer may hold back the final payment until it sees proof the deductible was paid, so the receipt matters.
Source: Texas House Research Organization, bill analysis of HB 2102 (2019)
Deposits held as a liability until they are earned
A deposit is not income until the work is done. We set up a deposits liability account and a retainer item in QuickBooks Online, the method Intuit describes, and apply the deposit on the final invoice. Stage billing for a deposit, a dry-in draw and the final payment runs through progress invoices on one estimate, so revenue is never counted twice.
Source: Intuit, Record a retainer or deposit in QuickBooks Online
Crews paid by the square, overtime still counted
Paying by the square does not remove overtime. Under federal rules a pieceworker's regular rate is the week's earnings divided by all hours worked, and hours over 40 earn an extra half of that rate; the regulation's own example is $523 over 50 hours, a $10.46 regular rate. Payroll needs daily hours per roofer for that math to work.
Source: 29 CFR 778.111, Pieceworker
Storm season and slow months
Federal payroll figures for roofing contractors ran 240,100 in January 2025 and 263,600 in July 2025, a swing of almost 10 percent inside one year. Payroll, payroll tax and workers comp follow that curve, so we budget them by month, and your dashboard shows cash and receivables every morning ahead of the winter months.
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment at roofing contractors
Four plans for roofing companies
Every plan side by side, with what each one includes, is on the bookkeeping pricing page. Run more than one trade? We also keep books for general contractors and HVAC shops.
Three steps, and the first two are free
- 1
A free look at your books
With read-only access, we show you where your books are behind or do not match, within three business days. No charge, no obligation.
- 2
A short call
You tell us how the shop runs today: which software, how many trucks, how far behind the books are. We tell you plainly whether we are a fit and agree the fee in writing.
- 3
Handover in 30 days
We take over from your current setup, clean up all your past books at no charge, and your dashboard is live by the end of the first month.
After that, the month runs the same way every time. We categorize every transaction, reconcile every bank and card account, and file sales tax for the states you work in. Then you get thirty minutes with your accountant on what the numbers say and what to do about them.
We work inside the software you already use
QuickBooks Online
We work inside your own QuickBooks Online file as an accountant user. You keep ownership and full access, and Intuit does not count an invited accountant toward your user limit.
Source: Intuit, Invite accountant users
ServiceTitan
ServiceTitan sends invoices, payments, expenses and sales tax to QuickBooks Online through its own integration. Every month we check that what arrived in QuickBooks matches ServiceTitan, including merchant fees and financing deposits.
Payroll
Roofers, crew leads and office staff, including overtime and spiffs, on Gusto, QuickBooks Payroll, ADP or Paychex.
Your dashboard
The X INFIN portal, which we build and run, puts revenue, cash and receivables on one screen. On the QuickBooks and Jobber plans it reads QuickBooks. On the ServiceTitan plan it reads both systems.
What you see every morning
These figures are from the live portal of our HVAC client, a company on ServiceTitan and QuickBooks Online. Roofing companies get the same dashboard, built from their own books. Read their story
Not ready for a call? Get a free look at your books.
Leave your details and we email you within one business day. You give us read-only access, and within three business days you see what is behind and what it would take to fix.
Free guides
Reference pages for trade shop owners
- Contractor sales tax by stateIs labor on HVAC, plumbing and electrical work taxed, and who pays tax on materials? Every state, linked to the state's own guidance.Open the guide
- Chart of accounts for trade shops75 accounts for QuickBooks Online with the right types and detail types, ready to import, plus what ServiceTitan needs mapped.Open the guide
- ServiceTitan to QuickBooks export errorsWhat the common ServiceTitan to QuickBooks Online export errors mean and how to fix them, plus refunds, sales tax and moving from Desktop.Open the guide
- Why Jobber payouts don't match bank depositsHow Jobber Payments payouts, fees, tips and refunds land in QuickBooks Online, the five usual causes of a mismatch, and a monthly checklist.Open the guide
- Jobber to QuickBooks sync errorsWhat the common Jobber to QuickBooks Online sync errors mean and how to fix each one, in the order the sync runs, plus legacy errors.Open the guide
- Jobber Bookkeeping or an outside bookkeeper?What Jobber's own bookkeeping add-on covers, which shops it suits, and when an outside bookkeeper on QuickBooks Online fits better.Open the guide
- How much does a bookkeeper cost for a trade shop?Hourly, in-house, flat monthly firms, Jobber Bookkeeping, QuickBooks Live and six trade specialists, side by side, each price linked to its source.Open the guide
- Housecall Pro to QuickBooks Online: what syncs and how to clear the alertsWhat the one-way sync sends and leaves out, the settings to check first, and the nine sync alerts with the fix for each, from Housecall Pro's own help pages.Open the guide
- Job costing in QuickBooks Online for contractorsThe plan you need, how Projects, labor cost rates, billable expenses and progress invoicing work, and the six things QuickBooks cannot do, from Intuit's own pages.Open the guide
- QuickBooks for plumbers: how to set it upThe plan, a class and income account for each kind of plumbing work, parts and truck stock, deposits, backflow tests, subcontractor 1099s and the monthly close.Open the guide
Sales tax by state
Is your labor taxed? It depends on the state.
Each guide covers labor, materials, filing and the common mistakes for contractors in that state, with every rule linked to the state's own source.
Straight answers before you book
Do you offer a bookkeeping service for roofing contractors?
Yes. Books and Trucks offers monthly bookkeeping for roofing contractors in QuickBooks Online, from $599 a month, or $995 a month with ServiceTitan, with insurance claim payments matched to jobs and all past books cleaned up free when you start.
What does bookkeeping cost for a roofing company?
Our fee is fixed each month and agreed in writing before we start. On QuickBooks Online only, it starts at $599 a month. With ServiceTitan it starts at $995 a month, which covers the books, the monthly ServiceTitan to QuickBooks reconciliation, the dashboard and the monthly call for a company of about five trucks. More crews, more transactions, or adding payroll and bill pay move the fee up. Month to month, cancel any time.
Do you work with roofing companies today?
Our trades client today is an HVAC company in the US, on ServiceTitan and QuickBooks Online. A roofing company's books are set up the same way in QuickBooks: jobs, materials, sales tax and payroll. You start with a free look at your books, so you can judge our work before you pay anything.
Do we need ServiceTitan to work with you?
No. If you run on QuickBooks Online alone, the QuickBooks plan from $599 a month covers monthly books, bank and card reconciliation, reports, sales tax filings, a dashboard and a monthly call. If you already use ServiceTitan, the ServiceTitan plan from $995 a month adds the monthly ServiceTitan to QuickBooks reconciliation and job costing on every job.
How do you handle insurance claim jobs?
Insurance money often comes in pieces: a first check from the carrier, the homeowner's deductible, and a second check after the roof is done. We match each payment to the right job when it lands, so your dashboard shows which claim jobs are still waiting on money and how much.
How do you handle shingles and supplier bills?
Supplier bills are entered and matched to the right expense accounts every month, so your margin is not guessed. On the ServiceTitan plan, material costs are also tied to each job, so job costing shows what each roof really made.
Do you file sales tax on roofing jobs?
Yes. We file sales tax for the states you work in. How roofing materials and labor are taxed differs from state to state, and some states treat a repair differently from a full reroof. We set up QuickBooks to follow the rules where you work.
Our income swings with the weather.
Your dashboard shows cash and what customers and carriers owe you every morning. On the monthly call we go through what is due to come in, so a slow stretch after storm season does not catch you short.
Our books are months behind.
Most new clients start that way. The free look shows how far behind things are. When you start with us, we clean up all your past books in QuickBooks at no charge, however far back they go.
Who actually does the work?
A named bookkeeper on our team handles your account every month, and a senior accountant reviews the numbers before your monthly call.
How do you get access?
You invite us as an accountant user in QuickBooks Online, under Settings and Manage users. Intuit does not count accountant users toward your plan's user limit. If you run ServiceTitan, you also add us as a user with reporting access there. You can remove either at any time.
Can you run payroll too?
On the ServiceTitan plan, yes: roofers, crew leads and office staff, including overtime and spiffs, on Gusto, QuickBooks Payroll, ADP or Paychex. The QuickBooks plan covers the books, reports, sales tax filings and the dashboard, without payroll or bill pay.
I already have a CPA.
Good. We do the monthly books, your CPA does the tax return, and we send them clean, reconciled books at year-end.
What if it does not work out?
Month to month, cancel any time. You keep your QuickBooks file and your data.
What happens to the money on an actual cash value policy?
Less of it comes from the carrier, and the rest is the homeowner's to pay. The Texas Department of Insurance's own example: on a $10,000 roof with a $4,000 deductible, a replacement cost policy pays $6,000 whatever the roof's age, while an actual cash value policy pays $4,500 on a 5-year-old roof, $3,000 on a 10-year-old roof and nothing on a 20-year-old roof. We split each invoice into the carrier's share, the deductible and any shortfall, so your receivables show who actually owes what.
Shingle prices keep moving. How do the books show it?
By pricing jobs from current invoices, not last season's. The federal producer price index for asphalt roofing products stood at 248.0 in January 2020 and 366.4 in September 2026, up almost half. Supplier bills are tied to the job, so job costing shows the margin you really made on each roof, and supplements are priced from the latest invoice.
Can we write off a new crew truck or dump trailer this year?
Usually, but your CPA makes the election and we keep the books ready for it. For 2026 the Section 179 limit is $2,560,000, with a $32,000 cap on SUVs, and property acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025 qualifies for 100 percent bonus depreciation. We record each truck, trailer and lift with its purchase date, in-service date and loan, so the asset register, the loan balance and the tax return agree.
Talk to us about your roofing books
No obligation.
Booked calls: weekdays, 9am to 5pm Eastern. By phone, or 30 minutes on Teams.