Which QuickBooks Online plan you need
Intuit lists job costing and Projects in QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced. Plus includes project profitability and up to 40 classes and locations; Advanced adds project estimates, estimates-vs-actuals, unlimited classes, and — since August 2026 — construction financials. Simple Start and Essentials do not include Projects.
The QuickBooks Online building blocks for job costing
QuickBooks Online job costing is built from four things: customers or projects (the job), products and services (cost codes), classes (divisions), and accounts (cost type at the GL level).
| Construction concept | QuickBooks Online feature | Plan | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job | Customer → Project, chosen in the Customer/Project column on each bill line | Plus, Advanced | Without Projects, use a sub-customer per job |
| Cost code | Products and services (items) on the Items table of bills | All plans; reporting by project needs Plus+ | Set “I purchase this from a vendor” and an expense/COGS account |
| Cost type | Separate accounts (e.g. Subcontract, Materials) or cost groups | Cost groups: Advanced with construction features | Intuit’s cost groups default to Labor, Material, Equipment, Subcontractor, Miscellaneous |
| Division / branch | Classes (and locations) | Plus (40), Advanced (unlimited) | Not a substitute for jobs |
| Budget | Project estimate | Advanced | Compared via estimates vs actuals |
| Phase | No native equivalent | — | Workarounds: sub-projects, item naming, or a separate system |
| Committed cost | No native equivalent | — | Purchase orders exist, but subcontract commitments are not tracked as job cost |
Step-by-step setup for construction AP bills
Turn on Projects, set up items as cost codes, then tag every bill line to a project.
- 1Turn on Projects (QuickBooks Online Plus or Advanced) and create one project per job under the customer.
- 2Decide your cost-code structure: products and services (items) for cost codes, and — in Advanced with construction features — cost groups for cost type.
- 3If you report by division or branch, turn on class tracking in Settings → Advanced → Categories.
- 4For item-based job costing, turn on the Items table on expense and purchase forms and set each cost-code item as purchased from a vendor with a job-cost expense or cost-of-goods-sold account.
- 5Enter each vendor or subcontractor bill with one line per cost code, choosing the job in the Customer/Project column on every line.
- 6Mark lines billable if you pass the cost through to the customer (time-and-materials or cost-plus work).
- 7Run Project profitability (and, in Advanced, estimates vs actuals) each month to compare cost by job against the estimate.
Coding an AP bill to a project
Every line of a bill needs a customer/project, otherwise that cost does not appear in the project’s profitability — the most common job-costing error in QuickBooks Online.
| Line | Product/service (cost code) | Customer/project | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 09-2900 Drywall — subcontract | Riverside Medical Office | $18,000 |
| 2 | 09-9100 Painting — subcontract | Riverside Medical Office | $6,500 |
| 3 | 01-5000 Dumpster rental | Riverside Medical Office | $750 |
- Split bills that cover more than one cost code or job into separate lines — never one lump line.
- Use the Category details section only for overhead; job costs belong on the Items table if you report by cost code.
- If retainage is withheld, add a negative Retainage Payable line tagged to the same project — see retainage in QuickBooks Online.
Billable expenses (cost-plus and T&M jobs)
Marking a bill line billable to a customer puts it in the customer’s unbilled charges so you can add it to the next invoice — useful for cost-plus and time-and-materials work, not needed for lump-sum contracts.
Turn on billable expenses in the Expenses section of Settings, then tick Billable on the bill line. For fixed-price contracts, leave lines non-billable and bill with progress invoices from the estimate instead.
Reports to run
Project profitability by job each month; estimates vs actuals in Advanced; and an unbilled charges report for pass-through costs.
| Report | What it answers | Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Project profitability | Income, costs, and profit per project | Plus, Advanced |
| Project estimates vs actuals | Cost by item against the project estimate | Advanced |
| Time cost by employee or supplier | Labor and supplier cost by project | Plus, Advanced |
| Unbilled time and expenses | Billable costs not yet invoiced | Plus, Advanced |
Where QuickBooks Online job costing runs out
The gaps are phases, committed cost, cost-to-complete forecasting, and AP controls such as retainage, lien waivers, and subcontractor compliance — QuickBooks Online records the bill but does not enforce construction rules before payment.
- No phase dimension, so “Level 2 rough-in” must be faked with sub-projects or item names.
- No committed cost: a signed subcontract is invisible until its first bill.
- No retainage calculation on vendor bills (see the retainage workaround).
- No lien-waiver or insurance gate before a bill is paid.
- No WIP schedule in older editions; Advanced added WIP reporting in 2026.
Whether to add tools around QuickBooks Online or move off it is covered in construction accounting software for QuickBooks users.
Aequo Build
Where Aequo Build fits
Aequo Build is an AP layer on top of QuickBooks Online. It captures subcontractor and supplier invoices, codes each line to job, phase, cost code, and cost type, matches them to subcontracts and purchase orders (committed cost), routes approvals, withholds retainage, and checks lien-waiver, insurance, and W-9 requirements before payment.
Approved bills sync to QuickBooks Online with their GL accounts and, where you map one, a class. Today the job, phase, and cost-code detail stays in Aequo Build; bills are not yet tagged to QuickBooks Online projects, so keep using Project profitability in QuickBooks only if you tag projects there yourself.
Frequently asked questions
Can you do job costing in QuickBooks Online?
Yes, in Plus and Advanced. Create a project per job and choose it in the Customer/Project column on every bill and expense line, then run Project profitability. Advanced adds project estimates and estimates vs actuals.
Which QuickBooks Online plan has job costing?
Intuit lists job costing and Projects in QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced.
How do I set up cost codes in QuickBooks Online?
Most contractors use products and services as cost codes, each set as purchased from a vendor with a job-cost account, and enter bills on the Items table. QuickBooks Online Advanced with construction features also offers cost groups (Labor, Material, Equipment, Subcontractor, Miscellaneous).
Should I use classes or projects for jobs?
Projects (or customers) for jobs; classes for divisions, branches, or departments. Using classes for jobs runs into the 40-class limit on Plus and loses the project reports.
Does QuickBooks Online track committed costs?
No. Purchase orders exist, but there is no committed-cost view per job that includes subcontracts and change orders. Contractors track commitments in a spreadsheet or a construction tool.
Related guides and tools
Sources
QuickBooks Online features and plan availability change; this guide reflects Intuit’s pages as of the date above. Check your own subscription’s settings.
- Intuit QuickBooks — Job costing (available in Plus and Advanced)
- Intuit QuickBooks — Projects FAQ (US)
- Intuit QuickBooks — Plans and pricing
- Intuit QuickBooks — Track income, costs, and profitability by project
- Intuit QuickBooks — Compare project cost estimates vs actuals
- Intuit QuickBooks — Track project costs with cost groups
- Intuit — What’s new in QuickBooks Online Advanced, August 2026
Part of the Construction AP Knowledge Centre.