$6,300
in missed input tax credits recovered on materials and equipment across Q1-Q2
Case Study · Construction & Trades
How a Local Contractor Found Out Which Jobs Actually Made Money
A growing contractor was winning plenty of work but never sure which jobs were profitable, while cash was always tight and CRA paperwork piled up. Invisor set up proper job costing, sorted out subs, holdbacks and HST, and gave the owner numbers to bid and build with confidence.
12 hrs
of the owner's time back every month, off truck-cab paperwork
0
missed T5018, WSIB or HST deadlines since onboarding
The Challenge
The contractor was busy, but profit per job was a mystery
The owner was great on the tools and great at winning work, but the business had outgrown shoebox bookkeeping. Invoices went out late, subs and suppliers needed paying now, and nobody could say which jobs were actually making money.
- No job costing meant labour, materials and subcontractors all landed in one bucket, so profit per project was a mystery.
- Cash was always tight because money sat in receivables and 10% holdbacks while payroll and material suppliers came due.
- Subcontractor records were scattered, and T5018 slips became a year-end scramble.
- Payroll and WSIB never quite tied out, raising the risk of over- or under-paying premiums.
- Materials receipts from multiple suppliers piled up, and input tax credits were slipping through the cracks.
- Invoicing and paperwork happened at night from the truck cab or the kitchen table.
The Solution
Books rebuilt around how contractors actually work
Invisor rebuilt the books around job costing first, then locked down subcontractor records, payroll, WSIB, HST and cash-flow reporting.
- Set up job costing in QuickBooks Online so labour, materials, equipment and subcontractors are tracked against each project.
- Put progress billing and holdbacks on a clear schedule so invoices go out on time and nothing gets left on the table.
- Organized subcontractor records and took over T5018 filing so it is handled year-round instead of during a year-end panic.
- Reconciled payroll to WSIB and kept remittances on track.
- Captured supplier receipts and claimed the input tax credits that had been slipping away.
- Delivered monthly financials plus a per-job profitability report, including profit-and-loss, balance sheet and cash-flow snapshot.
- Added project-wise analysis to support profit forecasting and cost management.
The Results
Job-by-job margin clarity and cleaner cash flow
Within a couple of months, the owner had a clear read on the business and started making decisions with numbers instead of instinct.
- Every job finally showed its true margin, and light-commercial work turned out to run about 9 points higher than residential.
- The owner rebalanced the pipeline toward higher-margin light-commercial work.
- Tighter progress billing and holdback tracking pulled invoicing forward and eased the monthly cash crunch.
- $6,300 in missed input tax credits was recovered across the first two quarters on materials and equipment.
- T5018, WSIB and HST have all been filed on time since onboarding, with no more year-end scramble, penalties or interest.
- About 12 hours a month went back to the owner once truck-cab paperwork stopped driving the evenings.
- The owner now bids new work with real cost data and knows mid-project whether a job is on track.
“I always figured we were doing fine. I just couldn't prove it. Now I know exactly which jobs make money and which ones to walk away from, and I'm not doing invoices at 11 at night anymore. Should have done this years ago.”
From Busy to Profitable
The owner finally knew which jobs to chase, price and walk away from.
Clean job costing made labour, materials, equipment, subcontractors, holdbacks and tax filings visible. That gave the owner better bids, faster invoicing and mid-project warning signs before profit slipped away.
QuickBooks Online job costing setup
Progress billing and holdback tracking
Subcontractor T5018 records and filings
Payroll, WSIB, HST, T4 and T4A compliance
