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QuickBooks Online for drywall contractors: setting up the office

QuickBooks Online works well for a small drywall sub's office when each job is a project, your hang, finish and materials are set up as items, every bill and crew payment is tagged to a job, and estimates turn into progress invoices. Retainage and change orders take a little extra setup. Here is each step, with Intuit's own help pages linked.

By James Grokman, CEO, TapeAndFloat · Published · Updated

Not tax, legal or accounting advice. This is a practical setup guide for drywall office staff. QuickBooks plan names, features and menus vary by plan and change over time, so check your own subscription. Talk to your accountant or bookkeeper before you change your chart of accounts, retainage, 1099 or closing setup.

Before you start: plans and menus vary

QuickBooks Online comes in several plans, and Intuit ties some features to specific ones. These are the plan notes Intuit's own help pages gave when we checked them on October 28, 2026:

Intuit changes plans, names and menus. Its help pages note the design has been updated and suggest using the in-app Search bar if a screen doesn't match. Check your own subscription before you count on a feature. This guide gives no QuickBooks prices.

Step 1: one project per job

For a drywall sub, the "customer" is usually the GC or builder and the "job" is one address or one phase. In QuickBooks Online, make the GC the customer and each job a project under that customer.

  1. Turn Projects on: Account & settings, then Advanced, then turn on Organize all job-related activity in one place.
  2. Create the job: All apps, then Projects, then Projects, then New project. Enter the project name, pick the customer (the GC), and add start and end dates and notes if you want. New projects start as In progress.
  3. When a job is done, mark the project Completed so the list stays short. You can still find it under the Completed status.

Source: Intuit: set up and create projects.

Office tip (ours, not Intuit's): pick one naming pattern and stick to it, for example GC short name – street address – phase ("Hill Country Homes – 412 Oak – Hang"). The office, the crew lead and the GC's pay app should all use the same job name.

Already using sub-customers for jobs? Intuit has steps to change sub-customers into projects. Two warnings from that page: creating a new project from a sub-customer starts clean and the sub-customer's existing transactions don't transfer; merging a sub-customer into an existing project (by matching the display name exactly) does move them. Addresses, tax code and billing info don't transfer either (Intuit: change sub-customers into projects). Ask your bookkeeper before you convert old jobs.

Step 2: products and services for hang, finish, materials and extras

Items are what show up as lines on your estimates and invoices. Set them up once at All apps, then Sales & Get Paid, then Products & services, then New, and pick Service or Non-inventory item. Each item has a name, an optional SKU and category, a description that your customer sees, a default sales price or rate (optional), and an income account (Intuit: add product and service items).

Intuit describes the types this way: a service is work you provide; a non-inventory item is something you buy or sell without tracking quantities; inventory items track quantities and are a Plus and Advanced feature. A starter list for a drywall sub might look like this (our suggestion; your bookkeeper should pick the income and expense accounts):

ItemTypeUsed for
Hang – board laborServiceHanging by the sheet, square foot or lump sum
Finish – tape and floatServiceTaping and finishing; put the finish level in the line description
TextureServiceKnockdown, orange peel, skim
Patch and repairServicePunch list and small repair work
Materials – boardNon-inventoryBoard bought for a job
Materials – mud, tape, beadNon-inventoryFinishing supplies bought for a job
Extra work – T&MServiceSigned time-and-materials tickets
Change order workServiceApproved change orders (put the CO number in the description)

If you also buy an item from a vendor, edit it and check I purchase this product/service from a vendor, then add a cost, an expense account and a preferred vendor. If you have a long list, Intuit lets you import items from a spreadsheet. When you stop using an item, Make inactive hides it without deleting it (Intuit: add product and service items).

Step 3: put every cost on the job

A project only shows real profit if the costs are on it. When you enter a bill, check or expense, pick the project in the Customer/Project field. You can also start the transaction from the project itself with the Add to project dropdown, which offers invoices, estimates, timesheets and bills. Tagging a transaction to a project doesn't change your accounts (Intuit: add transactions to a project).

If you pass some costs on to the GC (for example, extra material on a T&M ticket), turn on billable expenses: Settings, Account and settings, Expenses, then in Bills and expenses turn on Track expenses and items by customer and Make expenses and items billable. You can also set a default markup rate there. Then check Billable on the expense line and pick the customer or project (Intuit: enter billable expenses). Billable project expenses and timesheets can then be put on the project's invoice (Intuit: invoice customers for project expenses).

When a project is done, the project page shows its total income, expenses and profit margin (Intuit: set up projects). Background on the idea: job costing.

Step 4: estimates, then progress invoices

Most drywall jobs bill in pieces: board hung, then taped, then finished. QuickBooks Online handles this with progress invoicing from an estimate.

  1. Create the estimate: + Create, then Estimate. Pick the customer (or the project), add your items, and send it. A new estimate starts as Pending. If the GC accepts from the email, QuickBooks updates the status; if they say yes by phone, you can mark it Accepted yourself. Estimates don't affect your books until they become invoices (Intuit: create and send estimates).
  2. Turn on progress invoicing: Settings, Account and settings, Sales, then in Progress Invoicing turn on Create multiple partial invoices from a single estimate.
  3. Bill a stage: the estimate must be Accepted. Convert it to an invoice and choose to bill the whole estimate, a percentage, or by line item. You can do this as many times as you need, but you can't invoice more than 100% of the estimate. When it is fully billed, the estimate shows Converted.
  4. Check what's left to bill: run the Estimates & Progress Invoicing Summary by Customer report.

Source: Intuit: set up and send progress invoices. Many GCs want their own pay application form (often AIA G702/G703); keep your QuickBooks invoice total matched to it. Background: progress billing and AIA G702/G703.

Step 5: retainage

Plainly: none of the Intuit help articles we checked describe a built-in retainage field on QuickBooks Online invoices. What Intuit offers instead is a workaround posted by an Intuit moderator in the QuickBooks Community (QuickBooks Community: how do I account for retention on customer payments?):

  1. In the chart of accounts, add a new account: type Other Current Asset, detail type Retainage, named something like Retainage Receivable.
  2. In Products and Services, add a Service or Non-inventory item called Retainage, check I sell this product/service to my customers, and set its income account to the Retainage Receivable account. (A QuickBooks team reply in the same thread notes you can point non-inventory and service items to an asset account this way, but not inventory items.)
  3. On each invoice, add a Retainage line with a negative amount. You work out the percentage yourself; it isn't calculated for you.

That way the invoice shows the net the GC will pay now, and the held amount sits in Retainage Receivable until it's released. That thread doesn't cover how to bill the release at the end of the job, so ask your bookkeeper how they want it entered. Talk to your accountant or bookkeeper before you set this up, especially if your books are kept on a cash basis.

Don't mix this up with Intuit's "retainer or deposit" setup. That is for money a customer pays you up front and uses a liability account (Intuit: record a retainer or deposit). Retainage is money the GC holds back from you. Background: retainage and retainage release.

Step 6: change orders as their own estimates or lines

Intuit's change order transaction is documented for Intuit Enterprise Suite: from a project you pick Add to project, then Change order and choose the project estimate it changes. The change order's total must be positive, the estimate updates when the change order is accepted, and a Change log tab shows the history (Intuit: create and send change orders for projects).

If you aren't on that plan, keep change orders visible with a simple office habit (ours, not an Intuit feature):

For a change that takes money off the job, ask your bookkeeper how to enter it. For the paperwork side, see our drywall change order template.

Step 7: crew and sub payments, W-9s and 1099s

If you pay crews or other subs as contractors, add each one in QuickBooks Online at All apps, then Expenses & Bills, then Contractors, then Add a contractor. You can check Email this contractor so they enter their own details, or enter them yourself. Intuit recommends getting a W-9 from each contractor, and says QuickBooks then tracks their payments for 1099s in the background (Intuit: set up contractors for 1099s).

Two office habits: get the W-9 before the first payment, and tag every crew payment to the job's project so labor shows up in job costs. For the W-9 and 1099-NEC routine through the year, read our W-9 and 1099-NEC guide for subs. Who needs a 1099, and which form, is a question for your accountant.

Weekly office checklist (15 minutes)

Printable version: our weekly office checklist.

Month-end checklist

  1. Enter everything: outstanding invoices, bills, expenses and payments for the month.
  2. Reconcile each bank and credit card account: All apps, Accounting, Reconcile. Pick the account, enter the statement's ending balance and ending date, and check off matching transactions until the Difference is $0.00, then Finish now. Intuit says to talk to your accountant before you finish with a difference, because QuickBooks will post an adjusting entry for it (Intuit: reconcile an account).
  3. Review each open job: are all costs tagged, and is anything accepted but not yet invoiced?
  4. Check retainage: the Retainage Receivable balance should match what your GCs say they're holding.
  5. Send to your bookkeeper and fix anything they flag.
  6. Lock the month (optional): Settings, Account and settings, Advanced, then in Accounting turn on Close the books and set a closing date. You choose whether changes before that date need only a warning or a warning plus a password. Intuit says to reconcile up to the lock date first, and it has to be done by a primary or company admin (Intuit: lock your books).

Common mistakes

Where TapeAndFloat fits

QuickBooks is where your books live. TapeAndFloat is a lighter assistant that works off a Google Sheet for the work that happens before the books: forwarding intake of job texts and emails, a daily catch list of unsigned and unbilled change orders and past-due invoices, and approve-to-send drafts in English or Spanish. No QuickBooks connection during the pilot. It does not collect rent or do accounting.

How the TapeAndFloat.com pilot works

  1. We set up your Sheet and your setup address.
  2. Your office forwards job texts (share-to-email or copy-paste) and emails, in English or Spanish.
  3. Intake fills in the date, address and contact. Gaps are marked “Needs review.”
  4. During the free 60-day pilot, a person checks every entry.
  5. The Sheet flags a crew booked twice (CHECK). A request for extra work is marked as a change order, and a change order not approved in writing shows yellow. An approved change order with no invoice shows red, and past-due invoices show red.
  6. Crew confirmation drafts are written in each crew’s language. You approve each draft and send it from your own phone. Nothing sends automatically.
  7. If you stay on, we agree on the price with you up front. If you stop, the Sheet stays yours.

Try it on your own jobs

Join the free pilot

Sources

All Intuit pages above were checked 2026-10-28. Intuit updates these pages and its plans; if a step doesn't match your screen, follow Intuit's current page. TapeAndFloat is not affiliated with Intuit. QuickBooks is a trademark of Intuit Inc.

Next: read our drywall change order template or the job costing glossary entry.

Not tax, legal or accounting advice. Talk to your accountant or bookkeeper about your own books.

Frequently asked questions

Which QuickBooks Online plan has Projects?

Intuit's help pages checked on October 28, 2026 say Projects is available in QuickBooks Online Plus, QuickBooks Online Advanced and Intuit Enterprise Suite. Plans and features change, so check your own subscription before you count on it.

Does QuickBooks Online have built-in retainage?

None of the Intuit help articles we checked describe a built-in retainage field on QuickBooks Online invoices. An Intuit moderator in the QuickBooks Community suggests a workaround: a Retainage Receivable account (Other Current Asset, detail type Retainage), a Retainage service item, and a negative Retainage line on each invoice, with the amount worked out by hand. Ask your accountant before you set it up.

Can QuickBooks Online do progress invoicing for drywall jobs?

Yes. Turn on Progress Invoicing under Account and settings, Sales. Once an estimate is marked Accepted, you can convert it to invoices for the whole estimate, a percentage, or by line item, more than once, up to 100% of the estimate.

How should I handle change orders in QuickBooks Online?

Intuit's change order transaction is documented for Intuit Enterprise Suite projects. On other plans, a simple office habit is to give each approved change order its own estimate, or its own clearly labeled lines, on the job's project, with the CO number in the description.

Should drywall materials be inventory items?

Intuit describes non-inventory items as things you buy or sell without tracking quantities, and says inventory tracking is a Plus and Advanced feature. Most small drywall subs buy board and mud for a specific job, but ask your bookkeeper which setup fits how you buy.

How do I track crew and sub payments for 1099s in QuickBooks Online?

Add each crew or sub as a contractor under Expenses & Bills, Contractors. Intuit recommends getting a W-9 from each contractor, and QuickBooks then tracks their payments. Tag each payment to the job's project so labor shows in job costs. Who needs a 1099 is a question for your accountant.

Does TapeAndFloat connect to QuickBooks?

No QuickBooks connection during the pilot. TapeAndFloat is a lighter assistant that works off a Google Sheet, and it does not collect rent or do accounting. Your books stay in QuickBooks with your bookkeeper.

What should the office do in QuickBooks every month?

Enter and tag every bill and payment, reconcile every bank and credit card account to its statement, check each open job and the retainage balance, send it to your bookkeeper, and consider locking the books through the last reconciled date.