The 5 QuickBooks Reports Every Contractor Should Run Weekly

Most contractors open QuickBooks to do one thing: check their bank balance. That's like checking your car's fuel gauge and ignoring the engine temperature, oil pressure, and speedometer. You might not run out of gas today, but you could still blow the engine.

Here are the five reports that give you a complete picture of your business health — and they take less than 30 minutes to review each week.

Report #1: Profit & Loss by Project

What it tells you: Which jobs are making money and which are bleeding.

How to run it: Reports → Business Overview → Profit and Loss → Customize → Rows: Group by Project

What to look for:

• Any job with gross margin below your target (typically 25-35% for subs)
• Jobs where costs are climbing faster than billings
• Completed jobs that haven't been closed out (still accumulating costs)

Action items:

• Investigate any job below 20% margin — is it a cost issue or a billing issue?
• Close out completed jobs so they stop polluting your active job reports
• Compare margins across similar job types — are certain project types consistently less profitable?

Report #2: Accounts Receivable Aging

What it tells you: Who owes you money and how long they've owed it.

How to run it: Reports → Who Owes You → Accounts Receivable Aging Summary

What to look for:

• Anything over 60 days — this needs immediate attention
• Patterns: Is the same GC always slow? That's a relationship issue to address.
• Retention amounts — are they properly tracked and aged?

Action items:

• Call on anything over 45 days (don't email — call)
• For chronic slow-payers, adjust your billing terms or add late fees to future contracts
• Track retention separately — it shouldn't be in your "past due" bucket because it's not due yet

The rule: Your average collection period should be under 45 days. If it's over 60, you have a collections problem that's eating your cash flow.

Report #3: Accounts Payable Aging

What it tells you: What you owe and when it's due.

How to run it: Reports → What You Owe → Accounts Payable Aging Summary

What to look for:

• Bills approaching due date (pay on time to maintain vendor relationships and credit terms)
• Anything past due (why? Cash flow issue or just missed?)
• Large upcoming payments that need cash flow planning

Action items:

• Pay critical vendors on time (your supply house, your sub-subs)
• If cash is tight, communicate with vendors BEFORE you're late
• Use vendor terms strategically — if you have Net 30, don't pay on Day 5 unless there's a discount

Report #4: Cash Flow Forecast (or Bank Balance Trend)

What it tells you: Where your cash is headed in the next 30-60 days.

How to run it: In QBO, use the Cash Flow Planner (if available) or manually: Current bank balance + Expected AR collections - Expected AP payments - Upcoming payroll = Projected cash position

What to look for:

• Any week where projected cash drops below 2x weekly payroll
• Large outflows coming (quarterly taxes, insurance renewals, equipment payments)
• Timing mismatches between when you'll collect and when you need to pay

Action items:

• If you see a shortfall in 3-4 weeks, act NOW (accelerate billing, draw on LOC, delay non-critical payments)
• Build a 13-week cash flow forecast [blocked] for more detailed planning

Report #5: Unbilled Time & Expenses

What it tells you: Work you've done (costs you've incurred) that you haven't billed for yet.

How to run it: Reports → Projects → Unbilled Time and Expenses (or run a custom report comparing costs to date vs. billings to date by project)

What to look for:

• Jobs where you've incurred significant costs but haven't billed — you're financing the GC's project
• Time entries that haven't been invoiced (especially on T&M work)
• Material purchases assigned to jobs but not yet billed

Action items:

• Bill immediately for any completed work that hasn't been invoiced
• For progress billing jobs, make sure your billing keeps pace with your costs
• For T&M work, bill weekly or biweekly — don't let unbilled time accumulate

The Weekly Routine

Here's my recommended 30-minute weekly financial review:

Do this every Monday morning before you head to the field. It takes less time than your morning coffee run and gives you complete visibility into your financial health.

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Need Help Reading Your Numbers?

Reports are only useful if you know what to do with them. A fractional controller [blocked] reviews these reports (and more) every week, flags issues, and tells you exactly what action to take.

Learn about our fractional controller services → [blocked]

Related reading:

• QuickBooks Cleanup for Contractors → [blocked]
• Job Costing in QuickBooks Online → [blocked]
• Cash Flow Forecasting for Contractors → [blocked]
• Schedule a free Books Health Check →