Job Costing Made Simple
Convert construction company bank statements to Excel in seconds. Track project expenses, subcontractor payments, and material costs with 99.6% accuracy. Export directly to Sage 100 Contractor, QuickBooks, or any construction software.
In this guide
Construction Accounting Challenges
Job costing requires transaction-level detail that's tedious to extract manually. Here's what construction companies face:
Complex job costing
Tracking expenses across multiple projects requires separating transactions by job, making manual entry extremely time-consuming.
Multiple cost categories
Materials, labor, equipment, subcontractors—each project has numerous expense types that need proper categorization.
Progress billing complexity
Reconciling draw payments, retainage, and progress billing against actual expenses is error-prone manually.
Cash flow visibility
With large projects and delayed payments, understanding true project profitability requires accurate real-time data.
How Zera Books Helps Construction Companies
Zera Books is the all-in-one platform that transforms bank statements into job cost data. Our Zera AI recognizes construction-specific transactions—material suppliers, subcontractor payments, equipment rentals—automatically.
Upload any bank statement
Operating accounts, payroll, equipment loans—we handle them all
AI extracts and categorizes
Transactions identified and ready for job code assignment
Export for job costing
Files formatted for Sage, QuickBooks, or your construction software
Time savings for job costing
Perfect for Every Construction Business
From general contractors to specialty trades, Zera Books adapts to your job costing needs.
General Contractors
Manage multiple projects, subcontractor payments, and material costs. Track profitability by job with automatic categorization.
- Multi-project tracking
- Subcontractor payment management
- Material cost analysis
- Progress billing reconciliation
Specialty Trades
Electricians, plumbers, HVAC contractors—track equipment purchases, labor costs, and supplier payments per project.
- Equipment expense tracking
- Labor cost allocation
- Supplier payment reconciliation
- Service call profitability
Home Builders
Monitor construction loans, development costs, and spec home expenses. Track costs from land acquisition through certificate of occupancy.
- Construction loan tracking
- Development cost analysis
- Spec home cost management
- Lot cost allocation
Key Features for Contractors
Every feature designed to streamline construction accounting workflows.
Zera AI Recognition
Our AI recognizes construction-specific transactions—material suppliers, equipment rentals, subcontractor payments—automatically.
Learn moreJob Cost Categorization
Automatically categorize expenses by job, cost code, and expense type. Match your existing chart of accounts.
Learn moreMulti-Account Support
Process operating accounts, payroll accounts, and project-specific accounts in a single batch upload.
Learn moreZera OCR Technology
Extract data from scanned statements—even those job site-worn bank statements from years ago.
Learn moreCustom Export Templates
Create export templates matching Sage 100 Contractor, QuickBooks, Buildertrend, and other construction software.
Learn moreProject Organization
Organize conversions by project, client, or time period. Track processing history for audits and reviews.
Learn moreYour Job Costing Workflow
From bank statement to job cost report in five simple steps.
Upload bank statements
Drop multiple months of operating account statements. We process all statements in seconds.
AI extracts transactions
Zera AI extracts every transaction with 99.6% accuracy—material purchases, subcontractor payments, equipment rentals.
Add job codes
Our interface lets you quickly assign project codes and cost categories to each transaction.
Review and verify
Check categorizations, split transactions across projects, and add notes for project managers.
Export to accounting
Download formatted files for Sage, QuickBooks, or your construction management software.
Works With Your Construction Software
Export perfectly formatted files for direct import into any construction accounting platform.
Construction-ready exports include:
Manual Entry vs. Zera Books
See how automation transforms construction job costing.
| Feature | Manual Entry | Zera Books |
|---|---|---|
| Process monthly statements | 4-8 hours | 5 minutes |
| Job code assignment | Manual lookup | Smart suggestions |
| Multi-project statements | Complex sorting | Auto-detection |
| Subcontractor tracking | Separate spreadsheet | Integrated |
| Error rate | 3-5% typical | 0.4% average |
| Cost per project | $50-100 in labor | Unlimited for $79/mo |
| Historical analysis | Tedious re-entry | Batch processing |
| Audit trail | Paper files | Digital records |
Real Results from Real Contractors
“I've been doing accounting for 12 years, and manual bank statement processing has always been the worst part of the job. It's tedious, it's time-consuming, and one small mistake can throw everything off. When I found Zera Books, I was honestly skeptical—I've tried other tools that promised automation and they were either too expensive or didn't actually work. But this one just works. It handles whatever format you throw at it, the AI is surprisingly accurate, and it's actually affordable. The time I save goes straight into growing my firm's capacity and actually helping my clients with strategy instead of just data entry. Honestly, if you're a bookkeeper or accountant still doing this manually, you're leaving money on the table.”
Ashish Josan
Manager, CPA at Manning Elliott
See how other industries use Zera Books:
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything construction companies need to know about Zera Books.
How does this help with construction job costing?
Zera Books extracts all transactions from your bank statements, then lets you assign job codes, cost categories, and project identifiers to each transaction. Export directly to your accounting software with proper job cost allocations, eliminating hours of manual data entry.
Does it work with construction-specific accounting software?
Yes. We generate export files compatible with Sage 100 Contractor, QuickBooks for Contractors, Buildertrend, CoConstruct, and other construction management platforms. Files include proper formatting for job costing imports.
Can I process statements from multiple bank accounts?
Absolutely. Upload operating accounts, payroll accounts, equipment loan accounts, and project-specific accounts all at once. Our system handles them as a batch, organizing by account for easy processing.
How do I handle subcontractor payments?
When you process statements, subcontractor payments are automatically identified. You can then assign them to specific projects and cost codes. This makes 1099 reporting and job cost analysis much simpler.
What about material purchases from suppliers?
Our AI recognizes common construction suppliers—lumber yards, electrical suppliers, plumbing wholesalers. Transactions are automatically tagged for easy categorization by project and cost code.
Can I track equipment expenses by project?
Yes. Whether it's equipment rentals, fuel purchases, or equipment loan payments, you can assign each expense to specific projects for accurate job costing.
How far back can I process statements?
Our system handles statements from any time period. Many contractors process several years of historical data for project profitability analysis or IRS inquiries. Both native PDFs and scanned documents work.
Is my financial data secure?
Yes. Bank-level 256-bit encryption protects all uploads. We process statements instantly and don't retain financial data after conversion. Many CPA firms trust us with their construction client data.
What about progress billing and draw payments?
When you receive draw payments, our system helps you match them against project expenses for accurate progress billing reconciliation. Track actual costs against contracted amounts.
How does pricing work for construction companies?
One simple plan: $79/month for unlimited conversions. Process all your projects, all your accounts, all your statements. No per-page or per-project fees. Start with a one-week trial.
Solutions for Every Industry
Zera Books serves businesses across many sectors.
Ready to Streamline Your Job Costing?
Join hundreds of construction companies using Zera Books for faster, more accurate job costing. Process statements in seconds, not hours.
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