Chart of Accounts/ Allocating Indirect Costs

By Cindy Kleger posted 03-07-2014 16:05

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Good Afternoon,

I recently joined this association and am very excited about the resources and contacts available here!!

I am Controller for a small specialty contractor on the East Coast. We specialize in Exterior Renovations. We are migrating to a new software- Foundation.

I need to create a whole new chart of accounts and need guidance on industry standards regarding Cost of Sales versus General and Administrative costs. (I.e; what really is considered a job cost). Also, I want to know how companies in our sector of the industry are allocating indirect costs to jobs. I have read numerous articles on the subject and understand that there is much leeway regarding what constitutes a job cost, as apparently different segments of the industry have different practices than others. I want my chart of accounts and related percentages of COGS, Gross Profit, G and A, and Net Profit to be set up as to be comparable to peers in our segment of the industry. As far as I can tell, our SIC Code is 238190-Other Foundation, Structure, and Building Exterior Contractors.

I would love to see examples of Chart of Accounts for those in this building sector, and also how they allocate their indirect costs to jobs. Any insights you have would be greatly appreciated!

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Cindy Kleger
Controller
All States Construction Co., Inc
Ocean City, MD

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James Jacobs

03-18-2025 09:56

Hey Cindy,

My experience is in Vista, but the theory should be the same. Our COA has different sections for direct, indirect, equipment, and G&A. We allocate indirect to active jobs at the end of each month and we run our equipment as an internal rental company with expenses charged to the equipment section and job billable rates setup so that the equipment section nets as close to zero as possible (if we've evaluated our rates correctly). I'd love to discuss further if you'd like. Email me at kevin.jacobs@HORNE.com is you'd like to talk.

Thank you.

Paul Zapf

03-18-2014 10:20

Cindy,
I am an exterior subcontractor specializing in exterior finishes. We use Foundation for Windows for accounting, job costing and project management. I break my costs into three categories; direct construction costs; indirect and G and A. My indirect costs are allocated to jobs on a monthly basis based on labor dollars per job. I’ve included all vehicle and equipment costs as indirect; tools, safety supplies, insurance on equipment and our general liability as indirect; yard rent and yard maintenance to store our equipment as indirect and construction equipment depreciation. All of these are allocated to jobs in progress. I would be happy to send you a copy of my chart of accounts if would like. My email address is zapf@mirageplastering.com.
Paul Zapf, Controller

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