A demolition bookkeeper records the money behind each strip-out and teardown: crew time, machine fuel, haul bills and the checks that come back from scrap yards. They invoice contractors and owners, sort out whose share each scrap check is, and file certified payroll on public teardowns.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, other specialty trade contractors · BLS, May 2025
Serve as the primary bookkeeping resource for our demolition projects by recording and reconciling financial transactions. Ensure meticulous management of accounts receivable and payable to maintain financial integrity. Contribute to strategic decision-making through accurate, timely financial reporting.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Process all financial transactions with precision and in accordance with company procedures.
Reconcile daily, weekly, and monthly accounts to ensure ledger accuracy.
Manage accounts receivable and accounts payable to support operational budgeting and cash flow management.
Maintain organized records of financial documents, including invoices, receipts, and expense reports.
Collaborate with management to generate and analyze financial reports for decision-making.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Record and review daily financial transactions and update accounting systems.
Process and track incoming invoices and outgoing payments, ensuring timely settlement.
Reconcile bank statements and internal ledgers to verify transaction accuracy.
Communicate with vendors and subcontractors regarding billing and payment issues.
Monitor project expenses related to demolition activities and report discrepancies.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Transaction Accuracy Rate: >98% accuracy in processing financial entries.
On-Time Reconciliation: 100% of accounts reconciled on a monthly basis.
Outstanding Receivables: Maintain less than 5% overdue AR balance.
Cost Reporting Efficiency: Deliver financial reports within 5 business days after month-end closing.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
Minimum of 2 years’ bookkeeping experience, preferably in a related industry.
Proficient in accounting software and Microsoft Office Suite.
Excellent attention to detail and strong organizational skills.
Effective communication skills with the ability to work both independently and as part of a team.
6. Preferred Experience
Experience within the home services, demolition, or construction industry.
Familiarity with industry-specific financial practices and compliance requirements.
Hands-on experience in cost tracking and job order accounting.
Previous exposure to project-based financial management in a fast-paced environment.
7. Physical Requirements
Primarily an office-based role requiring prolonged periods of sitting and computer work.
Occasional site visits with an ability to lift up to 15 lbs for transporting documents.
Work conducted in environments with standard office conditions.
Routine use of standard office equipment and technology.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Standard business hours scheduled Monday through Friday.
Occasional extended hours required during month-end or project closeout periods.
Minimal travel required, typically limited to local site visits.
Comfortable office-based environment with necessary resources provided.
Flexible work practices may be available based on project needs.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Salary range: $45,000 - $55,000 USD per year.
Opportunity for an annual performance-based bonus.
Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance plans.
Participation in a 401k plan with company match.
Additional benefits include paid time off and professional development opportunities.
10. Company Culture and Overview
We are a forward-thinking company with a strong commitment to excellence in the demolition industry.
Our culture celebrates innovation, teamwork, and continuous improvement.
We invest in our team’s growth and provide ample opportunities for professional advancement.
Our inclusive environment values transparency, collaboration, and mutual respect.
We are dedicated to delivering outstanding customer satisfaction while supporting our employees’ career development.
11. How to Apply
If you meet the above criteria and want to be part of a growth-oriented company focused on customer satisfaction, please send your resume to [INSERT EMAIL HERE] or apply online at [INSERT WEBSITE LINK HERE].
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
Demolition jobs are short, and money moves in odd directions on them: scrap checks coming in, fuel for machines that never touch a road, and public jobs with payroll filings of their own.
Public teardowns come with monthly payroll filings
Illinois, as one example, counts any fixed work a public body tears down, or pays for in whole or in part, as public works under its prevailing wage law. So a teardown a city pays for is covered. For each month with work, the contractor and every sub file a certified payroll by the 15th of the next month. It lists each worker's class, daily hours, and pay and fringe rates, and the records are kept five years from the last payment. Source: Illinois Prevailing Wage Act, 820 ILCS 130/5: Certified payroll (example).
Salvage terms decide whose scrap money it is
Read the contract before posting a scrap check. Some jobs let the company keep the steel, copper and aluminum. Others credit salvage against the price or split it with the owner, and then part of the check belongs to the client. The bookkeeper notes each job's salvage terms when the contract is signed, posts each yard's settlement to its job, and flags checks that show up after the final bill went out.
Dyed diesel stays in the machines
Fuel for excavators, skid steers and generators can be bought dyed, without the federal diesel tax apart from a tiny charge for leaking-tank cleanup. IRS Publication 510 describes a penalty for using dyed fuel, or holding it for use, in a taxed way, such as in a road truck. When the yard tank holds dyed fuel and trucks fill up on cards, the bookkeeper ties tank gallons to machines and flags any truck charged from the tank. Source: IRS Publication 510 (12/2025): Excise taxes, including dyed diesel and off-highway business use.
Pass-through costs need their own lines
Demolition contracts often let the company bill back costs it pays for the client, such as permit fees, utility disconnect charges, asbestos surveys, air monitoring and special waste fees. Posted to overhead, those costs never reach an invoice. The bookkeeper codes each one to a billable line on its job with the receipt attached, and hands the office manager the list before the final bill goes out.
Workers' comp audits read job classes
Workers' comp is priced by job class, so the yearly audit looks at who did what. Ask your agent which classes cover your demolition crews, drivers, mechanics and office staff. Ask too what time records an auditor accepts to split one person's hours between classes, and set up payroll to capture them. Then ask how the audit treats haulers and subs who can't show coverage of their own.
How much demolition bookkeepers make
The closest BLS group for demolition bookkeepers is bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks who work for other specialty trade contractors earned a median of $25.77 an hour ($53,610 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s above the $50,670 median for bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks in all industries. About 12,430 of the 1,373,680 bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks in that survey work for other specialty trade contractors.
A salaried job in the template, with a yearly bonus for performance. BLS puts the typical bookkeeping clerk at other specialty trade contractors close to its upper end. Base the bonus on things the bookkeeper controls, like an on-time month-end or a certified payroll that never needs a fix.
Other specialty trade contractors
$53,610$53,610 median Middle half $43,850–$63,470 10th–90th $35,430–$75,700
All industries
$50,670$50,670 median Middle half $43,520–$61,470 10th–90th $36,000–$74,550
$30k$40k$50k$60k$70k$80k$90k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Other specialty trade contractors
$35,430
$43,850
$53,610
$63,470
$75,700
All industries
$36,000
$43,520
$50,670
$61,470
$74,550
BLS doesn’t publish pay for demolition contractors on their own. These figures cover other specialty trade contractors, which include them. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
The pay line in the template above is an example from our Role Blueprint. Set yours from these figures and what local companies pay.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Has posted scrap, fuel and disposal costs by job at a demolition, excavation or hauling company
Matches a scrap yard's check to its scale tickets, weights and grades
Has filed state or federal certified payrolls that came back clean
Reads a contract for salvage and reimbursable terms before posting
Keeps payroll split by job class for the insurance audit
Teach these on the job
Your scrap yards and how their settlement sheets read
Which tanks and fuel cards feed machines, and which feed trucks
Each public owner's payroll filing steps and dates
How your estimates split strip-outs, teardowns and site clearing
Which permits, surveys and fees each client pays back
Scrap settlement sheets, fuel tank logs and landfill statements arrive on paper and by email, and each has to land on a job in construction accounting software that tracks equipment, such as Sage 100 Contractor or Viewpoint Vista. Tell applicants up front if the bookkeeper also files certified payroll, since many bookkeepers never have.
Demolition bookkeeper interview questions
Two of the 6 questions we'd ask, and what a strong answer sounds like. Ask every candidate the same questions, and rate each answer on your own before you compare notes.
Situational · Cash controls on scrap
A crew lead hands you cash from a scrap yard run with no scale ticket. What do you do?
A strong answer: Counts it with the crew lead, writes a receipt, asks for the scale ticket, records it to the job, and tells the manager so scrap sales follow a set process.
Behavioral · Catching irregular charges
Tell me about a time you found a charge that didn't belong, like a fuel card used on a weekend or a dump fee with no job behind it.
A strong answer: Explains how they spotted it (matching tickets to jobs, card activity to the schedule), checked the facts quietly, who they told, and the outcome.
Demolition jobs often open and close inside a month, so read each measure per closed job as well as per month. A job that closed with fuel or scrap still unposted tells you more than a monthly average does.
Transaction Accuracy Rate
Count the correcting entries made each month, such as a scrap check moved to another job, tank fuel taken off a truck, or a landfill bill given a job number after the fact. Divide by entries posted, and note who caught each one.
On-Time Reconciliation
List every account that should tie out each month, including the fuel supplier, each landfill and each scrap yard, and check off the ones matched to a statement. A yard whose settlement sheets don't match its checks stays open until they do.
Outstanding Receivables
Age client invoices and unpaid scrap yard settlements together, since a yard that pays late is a slow payer too. Keep public jobs on their own line, and check first whether a missing certified payroll explains a late payment.
Cost Reporting Efficiency
Track the working days after month-end until the job cost package goes out. It should hold a final cost for every job that closed that month, with scrap and pass-through costs posted.
Career path
Accounts payable clerkMatches landfill and recycler tickets to each job's loads.
BookkeeperRuns job cost, billing, scrap posting and certified payroll data.
ControllerAdds work-in-progress reports, an audit and the year-end with the CPA.
Should scrap money count as job income or lower the disposal cost?
Pick one rule with your CPA and use it on every job. Booking scrap as job income keeps both numbers in view: what disposal cost and what salvage brought in. Netting the two hides each one. Either way, record the yard, ticket number, weight and grade with every entry, so the CFO can set scrap results beside the bid.
How much does a demolition bookkeeper make?
Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks who work for other specialty trade contractors earned a median of $25.77 an hour ($53,610 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $43,850 and $63,470 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
Who prepares certified payroll, the bookkeeper or HR?
Usually the bookkeeper here, since the hours, rates and fringes all come out of payroll. HR keeps worker classes and apprentice papers current. In Illinois, the person who signs each monthly filing states that the rates meet the law, and knowingly filing a false one is a crime. So have the project manager check the hours against daily reports before it goes in.
How often should job costs be posted on short demolition jobs?
Weekly at least. Many strip-outs start and finish inside two weeks, so a monthly report shows up after the job is billed. Post timecards, haul and landfill bills, fuel and scrap by job every week, and send project managers a short open-job report each Monday. They can still bill a missed extra while the client remembers it.
How do you test a demolition bookkeeper?
Give finalists a contract that splits salvage with the owner, two scrap yard settlement sheets and a page of the yard fuel tank's log. Ask them to post the scrap to the job, work out the owner's share, and point to any tank fill that went into a road truck. Talking it through shows whether they read the contract before the numbers.
