Bank Balance

Most contractors only watch revenue and bank balance.

Here are the 8 numbers that actually predict your year.

Revenue tells you what came in. Bank balance tells you what is sitting there today. Neither one tells you whether your jobs are drifting, cash is tightening, backlog is thinning, AR is aging, or your bonding capacity is getting squeezed.

That is where most construction owners get blindsided.

Toran Accounting built the Construction Owner’s Financial Dashboard for $1M-$20M contractors who need better financial visibility without drowning in reports. It gives you the 8 numbers to check every month, what each one means, where it should be, and what to do when it moves the wrong way.

Accounting

Tax

Advisory

Bookkeeping

Small Business Accounting

Startup Accounting

Tax Preparation

Tax Planning

Small Business Tax

Find Out

The problem is not lack of data. It is lack of signal.

Most construction owners already have numbers in QuickBooks Online.

The issue is that the numbers are scattered across P&L reports, AR aging reports, job cost reports, WIP schedules, bank balances, spreadsheets, and conversations with the office team.

That creates a visibility gap. You may know revenue. You may know cash. But you may not know whether your margin is fading, your backlog is thin, your AR is quietly draining cash, or your WIP position is creating risk.

The dashboard closes that gap by turning financial visibility into one monthly routine.

You should know

The 8 numbers every construction owner should know monthly

Cash on Hand

Shows how many days of operating expenses your current cash balance can cover if work slows, AR slips, or a job goes sideways.

Backlog

Tracks signed work that has not been completed yet, giving you forward visibility into revenue, capacity, hiring, and bonding needs.

Revenue YTD vs Plan

Compares year-to-date revenue against the plan so you can see whether the year is tracking, drifting, or already off course.

Gross Profit %

Measures direct job profitability and helps reveal whether estimating, labor, materials, subs, and equipment costs are staying healthy.

Net Profit %

Shows what actually reaches the bottom line after overhead, G&A, and indirect costs.

AR Over 60 Days

Reveals the percentage of receivables sitting unpaid for more than 60 days, which is often the hidden cash flow drain.

WIP Net Over or Under Billing

Shows whether you are billing ahead of work performed or falling behind, giving you a clearer read on cash flow across active jobs.

Bonding Capacity Used

Shows how much of your bonding program is already spoken for, so you know whether you have room for the next opportunity.

These are the exact metrics listed in the guide, with target ranges such as more than 45 days of cash on hand, more than 3 months of backlog, gross profit above 18 percent for most specialty trades, net profit above 6 percent, AR over 60 days below 15 percent, WIP within 10 percent, and bonding capacity used below 75 percent.

Review

Built for monthly owner review, not accounting clutter

This dashboard is not meant to become another spreadsheet nobody opens.

The process is simple. Pick the same day every month, enter the 8 numbers, check the statuses, and review anything that is off target. If everything is green, move on. If something is not, the guide tells you what to investigate and what action to take.

That is the point: less noise, more decision-making.

Quickbooks

How this works with QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks Online can hold the raw data, but it still has to be structured correctly for construction.

To make the dashboard useful, your QBO setup needs clean job costing, accurate direct cost coding, consistent AR aging, usable revenue tracking, and the right monthly reporting cadence. If labor, materials, subcontractors, equipment, and overhead are not coded cleanly, the dashboard will not tell the truth.

Toran Accounting helps construction owners build the reporting system behind the numbers. That includes cleaning up QBO categories, setting monthly reporting routines, pulling AR aging, reviewing job profitability, supporting WIP visibility, and turning reports into owner-level decisions.

This is where the page should position Toran as the contractor’s QBO expert. Not “we do bookkeeping.” Stronger: we make QuickBooks Online useful for construction decisions.

Dashboard

Get the dashboard and scorecard

Enter your email and Toran Accounting will send the Construction Owner’s Financial Dashboard guide and scorecard.

Use it before your next monthly financial review, banking conversation, bonding discussion, or year-end planning meeting.

Common Queries

Frequently asked Questions

Who is this dashboard for?

It is built for $1M-$20M construction owners who want better monthly visibility into cash, backlog, revenue, profitability, AR, WIP, and bonding capacity.

Is this only for QuickBooks Online users?

The dashboard is especially useful for contractors using QuickBooks Online, but the metrics apply to any construction business that tracks revenue, job costs, receivables, WIP, and bonding capacity.

Does this replace my financial reports?

No. It simplifies monthly review. You still need financial statements, AR aging, job costing, WIP schedules, and clean books. The dashboard helps turn those reports into a short owner-level review.

Will Toran help set this up in QBO?

Yes. That should be the advisory follow-up angle. Toran can help construction owners clean up QBO reporting and make the dashboard easier to maintain monthly.

What format will I receive?

You will receive the dashboard guide and scorecard. Additional setup formats may include Excel, Google Sheets, or QBO custom reporting depending on final setup.

Get Started

Stop running the business from bank balance alone.

Revenue and cash matter, but they do not tell the whole story.

Get the Construction Owner’s Financial Dashboard and start tracking the 8 numbers that show where the year is really heading.