Lost Receipts, Lost Profits: How General Contractors Can Finally Get a Grip on Expenses

How Do I Keep Track of All My Expenses Without Losing Receipts?

If you’re a general contractor running a business, this is for you.

Whether you’re managing small remodels or overseeing multiple crews on large-scale builds, your days are packed—job walks, subs calling, material runs, change orders, client meetings. The last thing on your mind is keeping track of every fuel stop, supply purchase, or lunch with a subcontractor. But guess what? The IRS doesn’t care how hectic your schedule is. If you’re writing off business expenses, you need clean records to back them up.

This matters whether you’re a solo operator juggling everything yourself or a growing firm with office staff, field crews, and multiple projects on the go. The more moving parts in your business, the easier it is for receipts to get lost, miscategorized, or forgotten altogether.

And here’s the thing: the kind of expenses general contractors deal with aren’t always straightforward. You might buy tools one day, dump fees the next, pay a subcontractor out of pocket in a pinch, or cover a client lunch that turns into a site meeting. If you’re not documenting that stuff in real time—or at least in a system that works for your team—you’re missing deductions and losing visibility into your true job costs.

Even if you have a bookkeeper (or someone in the office trying to keep things organized), if the field and the back office aren’t working from the same playbook, it creates confusion. A receipt left in a truck or a supply run on a personal card can throw off your financials—and cost you time and money.

Bottom line? If you’re serious about knowing your numbers, protecting your margins, and growing your business, you need a reliable expense tracking system that works with the way you operate—not just what looks good on paper.

What’s the real problem with tracking expenses?

Reality is, the problem isn’t just losing receipts. It’s not having a reliable, real-world system for capturing and tracking your expenses in the first place.

If your current “system” is a plastic bag in the center console, a stack of receipts in the office you’ll “deal with later,” or relying on memory at tax time—you’re not just behind, you’re gambling. And the stakes? Your profit, your taxes, your peace of mind.

As a general contractor, your business isn’t predictable. One day you’re picking up materials, the next you’re paying a dump fee, then buying lunch for a client and grabbing extra hardware before a site meeting. Multiply that by every crew lead, superintendent, or project manager who spends money on your behalf—and suddenly, the mess adds up fast.

When there’s no system, here’s what actually happens:

• Receipts go missing or fade beyond recognition. Especially the thermal ones (looking at you, Home Depot).
• Expenses get forgotten entirely. If it’s not logged immediately, odds are it won’t be remembered accurately later.
• Personal and business charges get mixed up. One charge slips through on the wrong card, and now your books are muddy.
• Your job cost reports aren’t accurate. Without clean expense data, your profit margin reports lie. You think a job made money, but those extra runs to the supply house told a different story.
• You miss legitimate tax deductions. And when that happens, you overpay. Plain and simple.
• In the case of an audit, you’re in trouble. If you can’t prove an expense with a clean trail—receipt, date, business purpose—it could be disallowed. That means penalties, stress, and time wasted digging through old emails and bank statements.

The kicker? This isn’t just about compliance. It’s about clarity and control. When you don’t know exactly where your money is going, you can’t make smart business decisions—whether that’s quoting accurately, scaling your crew, or deciding if it’s time to invest in new equipment.

Without a system, your financials are built on guesswork. And you didn’t get into this business to guess.

When does EXPENSE TRACKING become a problem?

It becomes a problem the moment you start spending money for your business—and don’t have a system to track it.

That quick stop for gas before heading to a job site? That counts.
The supply run your foreman made to pick up extra drywall? Yep.
The $12 parking receipt from the city inspector visit? That too.

The truth is, expense tracking doesn’t just become an issue at tax time—it’s already an issue long before then. You just don’t feel the impact until:

• You’re scrambling in January trying to piece together last year’s spending.
• Your bookkeeper is chasing down receipts you can’t find.
• Your CPA gives you a tax bill that’s higher than it should be.
• You’re wondering why your profit looks great on paper but your cash flow tells a different story.

For general contractors, this can creep in quietly. You’re focused on the job at hand—and rightly so. But the more jobs you manage, the more money that moves in and out, the harder it becomes to track where it all went after the fact. And that’s where your profit margins start slipping through the cracks.

Let’s not forget change orders, client add-ons, supply chain delays, or sudden weather damage—you already deal with enough variables you can’t control. Expense tracking? That’s something you can control.

So the real answer to “When does this become a problem?” is simple:

The moment you don’t document an expense, it’s already a problem—whether you realize it today, next month, or at tax time.it sets clear boundaries, keeps the chaos out, and lets everything behind those walls operate smoothly.

Where does this happen?

Everywhere.

If you’re running a contracting business, expenses don’t just happen behind a desk—they happen in the field, in real-time, at full speed.

• At the supply yard when your project manager grabs emergency materials to keep a job moving.
• In your truck when you fuel up on the way to a site visit.
• At the dump after a debris run that nobody planned for.
• At the hardware store for that last-minute tool or missing part.
• At lunch when you meet with a new subcontractor or bid a project over coffee.
• At the rental counter when you pick up equipment for a weekend job.
• Even in your own garage when you use personal supplies or tools and forget to account for it.

The nature of construction means your team is mobile. Your purchases are happening out in the field, on the fly, and often under pressure. That’s why relying on old-school methods—like saving paper receipts for later or jotting down totals in a notebook—doesn’t work anymore.

If there’s no immediate system to capture the expense where it happens, it usually doesn’t get recorded at all. And by the time you’re back at the office trying to remember what that $67 charge at Lowe’s was for, it’s already too late. The trail has gone cold.

Bottom line: If your expense tracking only exists at your desk, it’s already missing half the picture.

Why does it matter?

Because poor expense tracking costs you—a lot more than you think.

Let’s break it down:

• You’re leaving money on the table. Every time an expense doesn’t get recorded, that’s a deduction you can’t claim. Multiply that by hundreds of little charges over the course of the year—materials, mileage, meals, dump fees—and you could be overpaying thousands in taxes.
• You don’t really know your numbers. If your books are missing expenses—or miscategorizing them—you’re getting a false picture of how your jobs are performing. You might think a project was profitable, but without the full expense story, it’s just guesswork.
• You can’t make confident business decisions. Should you hire another crew? Can you afford a new work truck? Should you bid that next big project? If your financials are a mess, you’re flying blind—and that’s dangerous for any business, especially one built on tight margins.
• You’re exposed in an audit. If the IRS knocks and you can’t back up your deductions with proper documentation, they won’t just deny those write-offs—they might tack on penalties and interest. You’ll end up spending way more in time, money, and stress trying to clean it up after the fact.
• You’re wasting time. If you (or your bookkeeper) are constantly chasing down missing receipts, reconciling vague charges, or manually sorting through expenses at tax time, that’s time you’re not spending running your jobs or building your business.

And here’s the part that stings the most:

All of this is preventable.

With a solid expense tracking system—built for how you actually operate—you can stop the leaks, take control of your numbers, and keep more of what you earn.

How do I fix it?

You don’t need a complicated accounting degree or a fancy software suite to get this right. What you need is a simple system that works in the real world—on job sites, in your truck, and in between calls. Here’s how to fix it:

1. Go digital—ditch the shoebox.

Paper receipts are a liability. They fade, get lost, or end up crumpled under the seat. Use an app like QuickBooks Online, Dext, or Keeper that lets you snap a photo of your receipt right after the purchase. Most of these apps will auto-log the date, vendor, and amount. That’s half the battle.

2. Separate your business and personal spending.

Not mixing business with pleasure seems obvious, but it’s one of the most common issues I see. If you’re still using your personal debit or credit card for business stuff, stop. Open a dedicated business account and card—preferably one with solid reporting tools or integrations with your bookkeeping software. Relay is a good option to research.

3. Track it at the point of purchase.

Don’t wait until “later”—because let’s be honest, later doesn’t happen. Take 30 seconds to snap the receipt, tag the job name or cost category, and move on. Train your team to do the same. Make it part of your process just like logging hours or filling out a timesheet.

4. Use classes or job codes.

If you want to know what each job is really costing you, start tagging your expenses by project. Most accounting systems let you do this. When you code expenses properly, you get accurate job cost reports that actually help you make smarter bids and control your margins.

5. Create a weekly check-in habit.

Whether it’s you or your bookkeeper, set aside 30 minutes every week to review new expenses, match receipts, and clean up anything that slipped through the cracks. It’s way easier to fix issues weekly than to clean up 6 months of chaos.

6. Make it easy for your team.

If your crew leads or project managers spend company money, give them tools that make it simple. That might mean company cards with limits, or a shared app where they upload receipts right after a purchase. The easier it is, the more likely they’ll actually do it.

7. Get help if it’s too much.

If this is the kind of stuff you’ve been avoiding (or half-doing), you don’t have to go it alone. A bookkeeper who understands the trades can help you build a system that fits how you work—not just what looks good on a spreadsheet.

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Fixing your expense tracking doesn’t have to be complicated—but it does have to be intentional. And once it’s in place? You’ll wonder how you ever ran your business without it.

-Jamee

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If this is you…

If this whole post feels a little too familiar—missing receipts, mystery expenses, job costs that don’t line up with what’s in the bank—you’re not alone. Most general contractors I work with didn’t start their business because they love spreadsheets. You’re here to build things, lead crews, and keep projects moving—not get buried in paperwork.

But ignoring the financial side? That’s where good businesses stall out.

The good news? You don’t have to overhaul everything overnight.
You just need a system that works for you—something simple, reliable, and built for how your business actually runs in the field.

So if you’re:

• Tired of the paper pile in your truck,
• Sick of feeling behind or unsure at tax time,
• Or ready to stop losing money to disorganization—

Then it’s time to fix the foundation of your finances.

Start by tightening up your expense tracking. It’s one of the fastest, easiest ways to stop leaks in your business and keep more of what you earn.

And if you want help getting that system in place—or you’re done trying to DIY it and want a pro to make sense of the mess—I’m here for that.

If you’re ready to take control of your financial records and set your trade service business up for success, our team is here to help. Contact us today to schedule your Blueprint to Bottomline Diagnostic Review and start your journey toward financial clarity and confidence.