A design-build bookkeeper records the money on every job, from the first design invoice to the last build payment. They code each cost to the right project and phase, track what clients spend against allowances, and apply sales tax the way your state treats home remodeling.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Responsible for accurately handling all financial transactions, reconciling accounts, and managing payables and receivables to support the financial health of our design-build projects. Plays a key role in ensuring that our financial records are maintained in a precise and timely manner, contributing directly to operational efficiency and project success.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Process daily financial transactions, including invoicing, payments, and expense reports.
Reconcile bank statements and company records to ensure accuracy.
Manage accounts receivable and accounts payable in accordance with company policy.
Prepare periodic financial reports and assist with budgeting and forecasting.
Maintain and update the general ledger and accounting records.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Review and verify incoming invoices and payment requests on a daily basis.
Monitor cash flow and update daily transaction logs to maintain accurate financial records.
Communicate with vendors and contractors regarding payment discrepancies or queries.
Perform regular account reconciliations to ensure consistency between internal records and bank statements.
Collaborate with the finance team to support month-end and year-end closing processes.
Timeliness of Account Reconciliation: 95% of accounts reconciled within established deadlines.
Invoice Processing Time: Average processing time of less than 48 hours per invoice.
Reduction in Payment Discrepancies: Achieve less than 2% discrepancy rate in accounts.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Associate's degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field.
Minimum of 2 years of bookkeeping experience in a related industry.
Proficiency in accounting software such as QuickBooks, Xero, or similar platforms.
Strong analytical skills and attention to detail.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
6. Preferred Experience
Experience within the design-build or construction industry.
Familiarity with project-based accounting and cost tracking.
Prior exposure to handling subcontractor payments and vendor relations.
Demonstrated ability to work independently while collaborating within a team environment.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to remain seated for extended periods while working at a computer.
Manual dexterity sufficient to operate standard office equipment.
Occasional lifting of files or documents up to 15 lbs.
Work performed primarily in a standard office environment with minimal physical strain.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Standard office hours (Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM).
Occasional extended hours during month-end and year-end closing periods.
Minimal travel required within the local area for team meetings and vendor visits.
On-call duties may be required during critical financial reporting periods.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Hourly rate between $22 and $28 per hour or salary range of $45,000 to $55,000 per year, depending on experience.
Performance-based bonuses awarded quarterly.
Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.
401(k) plan with company match and other fringe benefits.
10. Company Culture and Overview
We are a growth-oriented company committed to excellence and innovation in the design-build sector.
Our inclusive culture fosters professional development and collaboration across all teams.
We value the contributions of each team member and offer a nurturing environment to help you level up and succeed.
Join us and experience a workplace where your skills are recognized, and your career advancement is supported.
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
One client can sign for design, then for the build, then for a dozen changes over a year or more. Each brings its own bills, and the books have to show which costs the client pays for and which ones the firm absorbs.
Design costs need a project number early
Designers' hours, the land survey, the structural engineer and the energy report all come in before there's a build contract. Open the project number when the design agreement is signed and code those costs to it from the first day. Then the CFO can compare what design cost with what the client was charged for it, including for clients who never build.
Allowances get settled line by line
A build contract often holds allowances for tile, lighting, fixtures or appliances that the client picks later. The bookkeeper codes each allowance purchase to its own line, never to general materials. When the last item on a line is bought, they show the project manager the total against the allowance. Then the overage or credit goes on the next bill, the way the contract says.
Cost-plus jobs open the books to the client
Some custom homes and large remodels are built for cost plus a fee. The client then sees the bills, so each one needs its receipt, its project code and the right cost category. Costs the contract doesn't let you bill, such as rework, go on a separate code. A client who finds another job's lumber or a crew lunch in the packet starts doubting the rest of it.
Home labor may be untaxed, but not all of it
In Kansas, for example, labor to remodel, repair or add on to a home is exempt from sales tax. The contractor pays tax on its materials when it buys them. Labor isn't exempt just because it happens in a house, though: installing appliances or draperies sold at retail is taxable. A home business open to walk-in customers has its labor split by floor area, but a home office counts as part of the home. Other states differ, so ask your CPA how each job type is taxed where you build. Source: Kansas Department of Revenue: Business taxes for contractors, subcontractors and repairmen (Pub KS-1525, rev. July 2025).
Sub bills match the work in place
A plumber's or electrician's bill should match its contract, any signed change orders and what the project manager says is done. The bookkeeper sends each bill to the PM before it's paid and holds any amount billed ahead of the work. Paying a sub early on a long addition leaves the firm exposed if that sub stops showing up before the job ends.
How much design-build bookkeepers make
The closest BLS group for design-build bookkeepers is bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks who work for building contractors earned a median of $27.00 an hour ($56,160 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 30,720 of the 1,373,680 bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks in that survey work for building contractors.
The template lets you pay by the hour or by salary, with quarterly bonuses either way. The BLS median for bookkeepers at building contractors sits right around the template's top figure. Pay toward that end for someone who has billed cost-plus jobs and settled allowances, and base the bonus on clean reconciliations and on-time sub payments.
Building contractors
$56,160$56,160 median Middle half $45,180–$66,010 10th–90th $36,140–$78,410
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
Building contractors
$36,140
$45,180
$56,160
$66,010
$78,410
All industries
$36,000
$43,520
$50,670
$61,470
$74,550
BLS doesn’t publish pay for design-build firms on their own. These figures cover construction of buildings, 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 kept job costs by project and phase for a remodeler, home builder or design-build firm
Keeps allowance purchases on their own lines and totals them for the project manager
Prepares cost-plus billing packets with every receipt attached
Sorts work by how your state taxes it, such as home remodels versus mixed-use buildings, and asks the CPA about odd cases
Routes every sub bill to the project manager before it's paid
Teach these on the job
Your cost codes and project phases
Your design agreement and build contract terms
Which suppliers and subs bill by project number
Purchase orders and bills in your project management software
How your CPA wants home, mixed-use and retail work coded
The template names QuickBooks and Xero. Here the accounting file often syncs with a job management system like Buildertrend or JobTread, where purchase orders, sub bills and client invoices start. Ask candidates how they'd post a cost-plus job's receipts so the client's packet and the books show the same totals.
Design-build 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 · Design retainer refunds
A client paid a design retainer, then cancels after the first design meeting and asks for a refund. What do you do?
A strong answer: Checks the design agreement's refund and earned-fee terms, gets the designer's hours or phase status, has a manager decide, records it correctly and confirms in writing.
Behavioral · Explaining bills to clients
Tell me about a time you explained a billing question to an upset client, such as a draw, a change order charge or a design fee credit.
A strong answer: Pulled the contract's draw schedule and signed change orders, walked through each line in plain words, fixed any error quickly, and followed up in writing.
Track these by project as well as by month, since one cost-plus job with hundreds of receipts can hide a lot of small misses. Revisit the targets with the CFO after your first year-end close.
Transaction Processing Accuracy
Once a month, the CFO or controller pulls a handful of posted items from two or three open jobs and traces each to its receipt and cost code. An allowance purchase posted to general materials counts as a miss.
Timeliness of Account Reconciliation
Note which accounts were reconciled by the close deadline, counting each open job's cost report, matched to the project management system, as an account. A job whose costs differ between the two systems stays open until they agree.
Invoice Processing Time
Days a supplier or sub bill sits before it's coded, approved by the project manager and ready to pay, from your software's dates. Each week, list the bills still waiting on a PM by name.
Reduction in Payment Discrepancies
Count duplicate payments, short payments, supplier statement differences and client bills reissued for errors each month. Tag each cause, such as a bill with no PO or a change order nobody entered.
Career path
Project accounting assistantCodes receipts and builds cost-plus billing packets for the bookkeeper.
BookkeeperCodes every project's costs and settles allowances with the project managers.
ControllerSigns off each month's books and job margin reports before they reach the CFO.
Should the bookkeeper or the office manager send client bills?
Both templates here mention billing, so split it in writing by type of bill. One split that works: the office manager sends every bill, since design invoices, progress bills and change orders follow contract stages the office tracks. The bookkeeper works out allowance overages and cost-plus totals from the cost records, then posts each payment to its project. Keeping the sending and the recording apart makes a missing payment harder to hide.
How much does a design-build bookkeeper make?
Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks who work for building contractors earned a median of $27.00 an hour ($56,160 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $45,180 and $66,010 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
What goes in a cost-plus billing packet?
A cover sheet with costs to date by category, the fee for the period figured the way the contract says, a copy of every bill and receipt behind those costs, and timesheets for your own crew's hours. Send it on the same date each month. Clients who can follow the packet ask fewer questions and settle it sooner.
Who decides whether a cost belongs to the client or the firm?
The project manager decides under the contract, and the CFO settles disputes. The bookkeeper's part is to ask. When a bill comes in for work that looks like a fix, such as a second drywall patch or cabinets reordered after a measuring mistake, they code it to rework and check with the PM before it goes on any client bill.
How can you check a bookkeeper's job cost skills before hiring?
Give them a small made-up job: a build contract with a tile allowance, three tile receipts, a plumber's bill for a change the client hasn't signed, and a designer's timesheet from before the build contract. Ask where each one posts, what they would bill the client and what they would hold. Listen for questions about the contract before they touch the books.
