Bookkeeping for
Dayton, OH
Contractors & Trades.
Dayton GCs, framers, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and landscape crews are running flat out — from renovations and infill around Downtown to the new subdivisions and commercial builds pushing through Kettering, Beavercreek, Huber Heights, Centerville, and Miamisburg. We handle job costing, multi-crew payroll, the W2/1099 mix, draws, retainage, materials-and-labor splits, and Ohio's municipal-tax withholding so you can stay on the jobsite instead of buried in QuickBooks.
Flat monthly pricing · Cancel anytime · Dedicated bookkeeper
Contractor Bookkeeping for
Dayton Trades.
Construction across the Dayton region runs on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and an aerospace, defense, and research economy — and the trades economy across Montgomery County is feeling every inch of it. Tides builds books around how Dayton contractors actually operate: by job, by crew, by draw.
The residential side is hard to overstate. Kettering, Beavercreek, Huber Heights, Centerville, and Miamisburg are absorbing new subdivisions, custom builds, renovations of the region's older housing stock, and infill. General contractors and framers here juggle 8-15 active jobs at once — draw schedules, deposit timing, multi-crew scheduling, subcontractor coordination — and without real job costing, profitable jobs and money-losing jobs look identical on the bank statement. We track every project as its own P&L so you know which builders, which neighborhoods, and which scopes are actually paying.
Then there's the commercial and industrial side. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Premier Health, the University of Dayton, and CareSource, plus the warehouse, data-center, and manufacturing build-outs along I-75 and I-70, pull a constant stream of commercial projects. That work comes with grown-up accounting requirements: retainage held for months, change orders that change three more times, AIA-style progress billing, and lien waivers tied to every draw. We set up your books to handle retainage receivable, work-in-progress, and change-order tracking the way commercial GCs actually need them.
And here's the Ohio wrinkle most generalists miss: your crews move between jobsites in different municipalities every week. Dayton runs its own municipal income tax and many Montgomery County suburbs file through RITA, so a business with staff in more than one city is withholding and filing local income tax in each one. We keep labor separated from materials per job, track every truck and tool, keep 1099s clean all year, reconcile mileage, and handle the local withholding so your CPA isn't guessing in April. Serving Dayton and all of Southwest Ohio — we know how Ohio trades businesses actually run.
Built for Every Trade
& Contractor Type
Whether you're a solo tradesperson or running a crew, we build the bookkeeping system around how your business actually operates.
General Contractors
Managing subs, materials, timelines, and client billing all at once means your finances can get out of control fast. We track job-by-job profitability so you always know which contracts are worth taking.
- Job cost tracking per project
- Subcontractor payment & 1099 management
- Draw schedule & progress billing
- Equipment and tool depreciation
- Owner's draw vs. business income separation
- Quarterly estimated tax reminders
Specialty Trades (HVAC / Plumbing / Electrical)
Service calls, parts, warranties, and variable crew sizes create a bookkeeping puzzle most generalists can't solve. We understand how trades businesses operate.
- Parts and inventory expense tracking
- Service call vs. install job costing
- Warranty claim documentation
- Vehicle fleet expenses and mileage
- Seasonal revenue forecasting
- Payroll for hourly and contract workers
Landscaping & Site Services
Mowing, hardscaping, irrigation, tree services — high-volume, recurring contracts with equipment-heavy operations. We keep the numbers straight so you can grow your route.
- Recurring contract income tracking
- Equipment purchase and depreciation
- Crew payroll and subcontractor payments
- Seasonal cash flow management
- Chemical and supply expense categorization
- Fleet maintenance and fuel costs
The Financial Headaches
We Fix
Contractors and trade businesses face financial challenges that general bookkeepers routinely miss. Here's what we hear from nearly every new client.
No Idea Which Jobs Are Profitable
You finish a job and it feels like a win — but after materials, labor, and subs, did you actually make money? Without job costing, you're guessing.
Cash Flow Gaps Between Jobs
Big projects pay on draw schedules. Slow seasons hit hard. Without visibility into your cash position, you can't plan ahead or make smart hiring decisions.
Subcontractor 1099s Are a Mess
Paying subs by check, Venmo, or cash through the year — then scrambling in January to figure out who gets a 1099. We track it all in real time.
Mixing Business and Personal Money
Running to Home Depot on a personal card. Paying subs from a personal account. It feels fine until your CPA tells you it'll cost extra to sort out.
Every Month
Everything You Need,
Nothing You Don't
Every Tides plan includes monthly bookkeeping, reconciliation and reporting from a dedicated bookkeeper. Contractor clients also get specific treatment for job costing, subcontractor tracking, and equipment depreciation.
Monthly Bookkeeping
Every account reconciled, every transaction categorized, every month — without exception. You receive a clean P&L and balance sheet you can actually understand and use to make decisions about your business.
Financial Reporting
Monthly reports that show your income, expenses, and profit by category and by job — so you always know where you stand and can make smarter business decisions.
Bank Reconciliation
Every business account and credit card matched and verified each month. No mystery charges. No unresolved transactions. No surprises.
Accounts Payable & Receivable
We track vendor bills, subcontractor payments, and outstanding invoices so your cash flow stays healthy and nothing gets missed or paid twice.
Catch-Up Bookkeeping
Months or years behind? We clean it all up before we start your regular monthly service — no matter how far back the backlog goes.
Payroll Support
If you have crew members or pay subcontractors, we coordinate payroll processing and keep your tax filings clean and on schedule.
Contractors & Trades
FAQ
Questions we hear from contractors and tradespeople before they sign on with Tides.
Based in Dayton, OH —
Serving Clients Nationwide
100% remote bookkeeping for small businesses across Ohio and throughout the United States.
Beyond Contractors,
We Serve All These Businesses
Tides Bookkeeping specializes in bookkeeping across 12 distinct industries. Industry-specific expertise means fewer errors, better categorization, and a bookkeeper who already understands how your business makes money.
Dayton is one of 749 cities where we handle contractor & trades bookkeeping. See how the whole service works on our contractor & trades bookkeeping page, or browse every Ohio city we cover.
Specialties
Bookkeeping pages written for your exact kind of business.
Stay on the Job.
We'll Handle
The Books.
Schedule a free 15-minute call. We'll review your current setup, answer your questions, and give you a flat monthly quote — no pressure.
No credit card required · No long-term contracts · Cancel anytime
Simple, Flat-Rate Pricing
Flat monthly plans scaled to your business — no hourly billing and no surprise invoices. You always know the price up front.
★★★★★ 5.0 · 8 client reviews on Intuit's ProAdvisor directory
✔ Reviewed by Daniel Cope, Advanced QuickBooks ProAdvisor · Updated August 2026