Construction Project Accountant

Francis Construction Group • Chicago, IL

3d • Onsite

About The Position

Francis Construction Group, LLC is seeking an experienced, detail-oriented Part-Time Construction Project Accountant to manage project billing, payment documentation, accounts receivable, and subcontractor compliance for our active construction projects. This is not an entry-level bookkeeping position. The ideal candidate has direct construction-accounting experience and can independently prepare accurate billing packages, track outstanding payments, manage lien waivers, and coordinate financial documentation with project managers, subcontractors, clients, architects, and accounting personnel.

Requirements

• At least five years of construction-accounting or construction-project-billing experience.
• Direct experience preparing AIA G702/G703 payment applications.
• Strong knowledge of lien waivers, contractor sworn statements, retainage, schedules of values, change orders, and progress billing.
• Experience with QuickBooks Online or comparable construction-accounting software.
• Strong Microsoft Excel skills.
• Ability to reconcile detailed financial information and identify discrepancies.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong organizational skills and careful attention to deadlines.
• Ability to work independently, manage competing priorities, and follow through without constant supervision.
• Ability to communicate professionally with clients, subcontractors, project managers, and company leadership.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with certified payroll, prevailing-wage projects, or union construction.
• Experience billing public, institutional, or grant-funded construction projects.
• Familiarity with MBE/DBE documentation and workforce-compliance reporting.
• Experience working for a general contractor or self-performing construction contractor.
• Familiarity with LCPtracker or similar compliance platforms.
• Experience supporting financial audits and construction closeout documentation.

Responsibilities

• Prepare and submit monthly construction payment applications, including AIA G702 and G703 forms.
• Prepare pencil copies, continuation sheets, schedules of values, contractor sworn statements, and supporting billing documentation.
• Review contract billing requirements and ensure each submission is complete, accurate, and timely.
• Track contract amounts, change orders, retainage, previous billings, stored materials, and remaining balances.
• Maintain accurate accounts receivable and retainage schedules by project.
• Monitor payment status and professionally follow up with owners, general contractors, architects, lenders, and other responsible parties.
• Apply customer payments correctly in QuickBooks and reconcile payments to individual invoices and pay applications.
• Identify billing discrepancies, rejected submissions, short payments, and overdue balances and work toward timely resolution.
• Assist with preparing cash-flow and project receivables reports for management.
• Prepare conditional and unconditional partial and final lien waivers.
• Collect, review, and organize subcontractor and supplier lien waivers.
• Confirm that waiver amounts agree with invoices, payment applications, sworn statements, and payments issued.
• Maintain waiver logs and identify missing, incorrect, or expired documentation.
• Prepare owner and contractor sworn statements when required.
• Maintain complete and organized documentation for each project and billing period.
• Review subcontractor invoices and payment applications for accuracy and required supporting documentation.
• Verify that subcontractor billing aligns with approved contracts, purchase orders, change orders, and schedules of values.
• Track subcontractor contracts, change orders, insurance certificates, W-9 forms, certified payroll reports, and other compliance documents.
• Coordinate with project managers before subcontractor and vendor payments are released.
• Assist with pay-when-paid tracking and maintain documentation connecting customer receipts to subcontractor payments.
• Help ensure that required closeout documents and final waivers are received before final payment.
• Maintain accurate job-cost records in QuickBooks Online.
• Review project expenses for proper job, cost-code, and account classification.
• Reconcile project billing records with QuickBooks and internal project reports.
• Track commitments, approved change orders, pending change orders, costs to date, billed-to-date amounts, and project balances.
• Assist management with reviewing project profitability, underbillings, overbillings, and cost-to-complete information.
• Work with project managers to resolve missing receipts, unapproved costs, duplicate invoices, and coding errors.
• Support month-end close and provide project documentation to the company’s CPA or outside accounting professionals.
• Maintain organized electronic project-accounting files.
• Assist with certified payroll and prevailing-wage documentation when required.
• Support audits by gathering requested payroll, subcontractor, billing, waiver, and job-cost records.
• Protect confidential company, employee, customer, and financial information.
• Recommend practical improvements to billing, collections, waiver tracking, and project-accounting procedures.

Benefits

• 401(k)
• Flexible schedule
• Opportunity for advancement

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Part-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed