A drywall and plaster bookkeeper posts builder payments that cover dozens of lots at once and checks hangers' and finishers' piece tickets against the board each lot received. They also log each house's last work date, so no lien deadline slips by unnoticed.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, drywall and insulation contractors · BLS, May 2025
Annual pay: 10th percentile $37,530, middle half $47,120 to $65,020, 90th percentile $78,740. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
Reports to
Chief Financial Officer
Department
Operations
Schedule
Mon to Fri, 8 to 5, longer at close · Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with overtime at month-end and audits, and occasional on-call for urgent issues
Also called
Full-charge bookkeeper · Construction bookkeeper · Payroll and AR clerk · Accounting clerk
Drywall and plaster bookkeeper job description template
This is our Role Blueprint, word for word. Replace the highlighted fields and adjust the example targets and pay to fit your company.
Responsible for managing the organization's financial transactions including processing transactions, reconciling accounts, and overseeing accounts payable and receivable to maintain fiscal integrity within the drywall and plaster home services industry. Plays a critical role in supporting operational efficiency and ensuring that all financial records are accurate, timely, and compliant with company policies.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Process daily financial transactions including invoices, payments, and receipts accurately.
Reconcile bank accounts and prepare periodic financial reports.
Manage accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR) with timely processing of vendor invoices and customer billing.
Maintain organized financial records and documentation.
Assist in preparing for audits by ensuring all records meet regulatory standards.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Enter and update financial transactions in the accounting system.
Review and verify invoices and payment requests from vendors and customers.
Follow up on outstanding receivables to ensure timely collections.
Perform daily reconciliation of bank accounts and cash records.
Communicate with the operations team to resolve any discrepancies in financial records.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Transaction Accuracy Rate: 99% accuracy in processing financial transactions.
Accounts Reconciliation Completion: 100% reconciliation of accounts by month-end.
Invoice Processing Time: Average processing time under 48 hours.
AR Collection Efficiency: Achieve a receivables turnover ratio of 85% on a quarterly basis.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field.
Minimum of 2 years of bookkeeping or accounting experience.
Proficiency in accounting software and Microsoft Office Suite.
Strong attention to detail and excellent organizational skills.
Excellent communication and basic analytical skills.
6. Preferred Experience
Experience working within the drywall or plaster home services industry.
Familiarity with QuickBooks or similar accounting software.
History of ensuring compliance with industry-specific financial regulations.
Experience in handling AP/AR in a fast-paced environment.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to sit for extended periods while working on a computer.
Occasionally required to lift and move files or documents up to 20 lbs.
Work environment primarily in an office setting with minimal exposure to adverse conditions.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Standard office hours (Monday-Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM).
Minimal travel required.
Occasional overtime during month-end or audit periods.
Occasional on-call duties for time-sensitive financial issues.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Salary range: $45,000 - $55,000 USD per annum based on experience.
Eligible for performance-based bonuses.
Health, Dental, and Vision insurance coverage.
401(k) plan with company match.
Additional fringe benefits including paid time off and professional development opportunities.
10. Company Culture and Overview
We are a dynamic company committed to growth, innovation, and excellence.
Our team is dedicated to fostering an inclusive and supportive work environment where every employee is encouraged to excel and contribute to our collective success.
We believe in investing in our employees’ professional development and celebrating accomplishments at every level.
Join us to grow your skills in a collaborative and forward-thinking atmosphere.
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
Hangers and finishers are often paid by the piece, builders pay for a whole street in one payment, and every house has its own lien clock. The books have to tie all three back to the lot.
Piece counts meet the delivery ticket
If you pay hangers by the board or the square foot, and finishers by the square foot, piece tickets need checking. Before payroll, the bookkeeper sets each crew's count for a lot beside the board the supplier delivered there, less any returns. A count well over the delivery, or two crews claiming the same house, goes to the field supervisor before anyone is paid. A piece ticket is far easier to fix before payday than after.
Waiting time still counts as work
A hanger paid by the board still logs hours that hang nothing: waiting for a house to open, stocking a floor, driving between communities. Federal wage rules say those hours must be counted and paid. The pay plan can pay them at a set hourly rate, no lower than minimum wage, or state that the piece rates cover all hours. Either way, they count toward the week's 40 hours and go into its overtime math. Source: 29 CFR 778.318: Productive and nonproductive hours of work (eCFR).
One builder payment, dozens of lots
A production builder that pays on a set schedule may send one deposit with a long list of every lot and phase it approved since the last run. The bookkeeper posts each line to its own lot invoice, not to the builder's balance as a whole. A short line is a question: a back-charge, a price the builder never loaded, or a phase it hasn't approved yet. It stays open on that lot until someone explains it, and nobody writes it off quietly.
Each house has its own lien clock
In Kentucky, for example, a sub hired by a general contractor, not the owner, must give the owner written notice within 120 days of its last labor or materials. It's 75 days for a claim under one thousand dollars or for an owner-occupied one- or two-family home. Any lien also needs a statement filed with the county clerk within six months, and a copy mailed to the owner within seven days of filing. So the bookkeeper logs each lot's last work date from crew reports. Source: Kentucky KRS 376.010: Mechanics' liens and notice to owner (example).
Union fund reports follow the agreement
If the company signs a union agreement, the agreement and the funds' rules set when each covered worker's hours get reported and paid. Federal law says the employer must pay on the plan's and the agreement's terms. When a fund wins a suit over late money, the court must award the unpaid amount, interest, the fund's legal fees, and a second round of interest or the plan's liquidated damages, whichever is larger. The bookkeeper ties each report to payroll hours before it goes. Source: 29 U.S.C. 1132(g)(2): Judgments for unpaid plan contributions (Cornell LII).
How much drywall and plaster bookkeepers make
The closest BLS group for drywall and plaster bookkeepers is bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks who work for drywall and insulation contractors earned a median of $26.41 an hour ($54,940 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 2,730 of the 1,373,680 bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks in that survey work for drywall and insulation contractors.
Salary and performance bonuses come with this template. For drywall and insulation contractors, BLS puts the median right at its top figure, so someone who has run piece-rate payroll and builder accounts can fairly ask for the top. Base the bonus on clean month-end closes and on lots billed and collected on time.
Drywall and insulation contractors
$54,940$54,940 median Middle half $47,120–$65,020 10th–90th $37,530–$78,740
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
Drywall and insulation contractors
$37,530
$47,120
$54,940
$65,020
$78,740
All industries
$36,000
$43,520
$50,670
$61,470
$74,550
BLS reports drywall and insulation contractors together. 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 done the books at a sub that bills home builders lot by lot
Runs or checks piece-rate payroll and can figure overtime on it
Matches long builder payment lists to open lot invoices
Keeps a calendar of lien deadlines by property
Asks the field before changing a piece ticket or a lot invoice
Teach these on the job
Your piece rates by board size, ceiling height and finish level
How each builder lays out its payment list and marks a short-paid lot
Lien notice rules where your jobs are
The benefit funds' report forms, for union work
How returned board gets credited, and to which lot
The work runs through job-cost accounting software, a payroll service set up for piece rates and hourly pay in the same week, and the builders' online portals, where approved lots and payment lists appear. Lien dates can live in a shared calendar or a lien-tracking tool, as long as every lot is on it.
Drywall and plaster 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 · Disputed supplier charges
The board supplier bills a stocking charge for a delivery the project manager says was cancelled. What do you do?
A strong answer: Checks the delivery tickets, confirms with the project manager, disputes that line with the supplier in writing, and pays the rest on time.
Behavioral · Releasing held payments
Tell me about a time a general contractor held a payment over missing paperwork. How did you get it released?
A strong answer: Found exactly what was missing, such as a lien waiver or signed change order, got it sent fast, and followed up until paid.
The template's targets assume a steady month. Lot releases swing a drywall company's volume, so set each target from a few of your own closes, busy and slow.
Transaction Accuracy Rate
Count errors found in a monthly spot check: piece tickets that didn't match the board delivered, supplier bills on the wrong job, and builder payments posted to the wrong lot. Divide by the items checked.
Accounts Reconciliation Completion
Share of accounts reconciled before the close deadline. Builder accounts are the slow ones: match the builder's open-lot report to yours, lot by lot, and list any lot that shows on one side only.
Invoice Processing Time
Two clocks: a board supplier's bill from arrival to approved for payment, and a phase approved in a builder's portal to the lot invoice going in. The second one decides when the builder pays.
AR Collection Efficiency
Builder balances collected within terms each quarter, read builder by builder. Track disputed short lines on their own list, so one stubborn back-charge doesn't hide a slow payer.
Career path
Payroll clerkEnters piece tickets and hourly time for hangers and finishers.
BookkeeperTies piece pay, builder payments and lien dates back to each lot.
ControllerOwns the close and tells the CFO which builders pay slowly.
Should a drywall bookkeeper run payroll for piece-rate crews?
Often, since the bookkeeper already sees board deliveries and builder approvals. They can catch a ticket for a lot that was never stocked, or a phase the builder hasn't released. Have a second person, such as the production manager, approve each crew's totals, so nobody both enters and approves the same pay.
How much does a drywall and plaster bookkeeper make?
Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks who work for drywall and insulation contractors earned a median of $26.41 an hour ($54,940 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $47,120 and $65,020 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
Do warranty and punch visits restart a lien deadline?
Don't count on it. Ask your attorney how your state treats small trips after the main work. Until you know, treat the last day of production work on a lot as the date that starts the clock. Have crews log warranty visits apart from production work, so the bookkeeper can tell the two dates apart for every house.
Who calls a builder about a missing payment, the bookkeeper or the general manager?
Split it by the kind of problem. The bookkeeper calls the builder's accounts payable desk about lots that were approved but not paid, or paid to the wrong invoice. Arguments over a back-charge or a price belong with the general manager or project manager, who knows the superintendent and the work. Keep both on one aging list, so nothing falls between them.
Which hiring test suits a drywall bookkeeper?
Hand them one builder's payment list for ten lots and your open invoices for that builder, and ask them to post it. Watch whether they post line by line or drop the whole deposit on the builder's balance. Include a lot paid short and a payment for a lot you never billed. A strong candidate keeps the short lot open and writes down a question for the builder instead of guessing.
