(650) 332-86237 Best Apps for Construction Expense Tracking and Profit Management on Jobs in 2026
We tested 7 construction expense tracking apps for job costing, receipt capture, and QuickBooks sync. See which one fits your crew and budget.
Quick Answer
The best construction expense tracking app overall is Workyard, starting at $6/user/month, for its job-costed Visa spend card and real-time cost visibility. Knowify is ideal for QuickBooks-first back offices. Expensify is a good fit for solo operators and small crews who just need fast receipt capture.
Disclosure: Workyard is included in this comparison. This article is published by Workyard and reflects our honest assessment of each product based on hands-on testing and current vendor documentation.
“It’s not translating from QuickBooks to the field, so they’re not adding categories. Some of them don’t upload receipts,” one admin/bookkeeper at a 51- to 200-person underground utility contractor told us. “We want something that’s user-friendly, and what we’re kind of missing right now is the expense tracker. It’s not very straightforward.”
Manual time tracking apps and generic expense apps collect receipts and hope the categories are right. Workyard’s Field Expenses ties every dollar to a job and cost code the moment it’s spent.
We tested and researched seven apps against that standard for job costing, receipt capture, and pricing, evaluated as part of our broader construction expense management coverage.
7 best construction expense tracking apps compared
Here’s how the seven apps stack up on job costing, receipt capture, and pricing before you read the full breakdowns below.
| Brand | Non-labor cost tracking | Real-time job/profit visibility | Spend controls | Use case | Starting price |
| Workyard | Yes, cost-code tagged | Yes, live dashboard | Yes, Visa debit card | Crews wanting labor + expenses on one job cost report | $6/user/mo (billed annually) |
| QuickBooks Online | Partial, manual categories | Partial, Plus and Advanced only | No | Back offices already on QuickBooks | $38/mo (Simple Start) |
| BuilderTrend | Yes, budget line items | Yes, budget vs. actual | No | Residential builders running full PM in one tool | Custom quote |
| Expensify | Partial, tagging only | No | Yes, Visa commercial card | Solo operators and light crews | Free; Collect Plan at $5/user/mo |
| Dext | No | No | No | QuickBooks/Xero-native back offices | $20.80/user/mo |
| Knowify | Yes, phase-level | Yes, real-time WIP | No | Trade contractors billing by phase | $99/mo for 1 user (billed annually) |
| Connecteam | No | No | No, reimbursement only | Teams that only need reimbursement, not cards | Free for up to 10 users; $29/first 30 users /mo (billed annually) |
How we chose these construction expense tracking apps
We evaluated seven tools contractors compare most often for field expenses and job costs. This list sits alongside broader construction cost management software, but narrows in on expense capture and spend cards specifically.
We weighed real-time cost visibility, receipt and mileage capture, accounting integration, and pricing transparency for a construction crew, not a generic small-business use case. See our full scoring methodology.
1. Workyard: Best overall construction expense tracking app
Workyard’s Field Expenses product exists for one reason: real-time job costs, not end-of-month surprises. I tested it specifically for that promise, and it’s the only tool on this list built to tie labor and non-labor costs to the same job in one place.
Key features
- Workyard Visa Debit Card: Per-worker spend limits and merchant category blocking; no credit check to issue and no monthly or annual card fees.
- Automatic receipt prompts: Every card purchase triggers an immediate upload request.
- Cost-code tagging: Ties expenses and labor hours to the same job automatically
- Real-time job cost dashboards: Desktop and mobile views updated as spend happens
- Accounting sync: Two-way integration with QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop, Sage 100/300 CRE, Foundation, ADP, and Gusto
Workyard expense management
I set up the Workyard Visa Debit Card for a test crew and set per-worker spend limits before a dollar went out. There was no credit check or personal guarantee required to get one, so I could hand a card to a foreman the same day.
When I made a test purchase, it triggered an instant receipt prompt, coded to the job and cost code automatically. If a worker forgets to upload a receipt on the spot, Workyard reminds them again at clock-out, so it doesn’t just rely on the purchase moment to catch it.
I watched that purchase land on the same job cost dashboard Workyard builds from GPS-verified labor hours, removing the guessing that comes with waiting for a credit card statement.
The QuickBooks, Sage, Foundation, and Gusto integrations moved the data to payroll without double entry, and there’s no monthly card fee or annual fee on top of it.
One contractor’s experience shows what that adds up to at scale. This commercial and industrial general contractor ran roughly 30 clients on Outlook, spreadsheets, and paperwork for jobs and expenses.
After switching to Workyard, hours, expenses, and mileage landed in one system, coded to the client automatically, and the owner reclaimed a full day per week.
For me, investing in technology was never about micromanaging my team. It was always about understanding how and where time was being spent.
Workyard positions the card to run alongside an existing corporate credit card, not replace it: the corporate card stays for centralized procurement, while Workyard Cards handle decentralized field spending like fuel, materials, rentals, and per diem.
The Workyard Card is a debit card, not a credit line, so spend is capped by whatever’s funded to the account, not a revolving limit.
This construction expense tracking feature is included at no extra cost to eligible Workyard subscribers, rather than sold as a separate line item, which matters given how many tools on this list charge extra for a company card.
Workyard Time Assistant
On the payroll side, I also tried Workyard’s Time Assistant, available on Autopilot plans. I typed a plain-language request to add a break to a batch of time cards, and it found the matching cards and proposed a fix on each one before I approved anything.
It’s a time card tool, not an expense one, but it points at the same idea driving Field Expenses: clean, coded data reaching payroll without hours of manual review.
Pricing
| Plan | Price | What’s included |
| Starter | $6/user/mo | Field expense tracking, time tracking, location and mileage tracking, payroll integrations, and more |
| Pro | Custom quote | Everything in Starter + scheduling and tasks, labor cost reporting, clock-in photo verification, accounting integrations, and more |
| Autopilot | Custom quote | Everything in Pro + ERP integrations, API access, and more |
Free trial: 14 days
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Company card and labor cost tracking in one system | Base fee applies regardless of crew size |
| Receipts and construction cost codes attach automatically to purchases | Workyard Card is a debit card, not a revolving credit line |
| Native integrations with major construction payroll systems | Best value shows up once you’re past a handful of workers |
Ratings
App Store: 4.1/5
Google Play Store: 3.7/5
Capterra: 4.7/5
G2: 4.8/5
Who should use Workyard?
Workyard is best for:
- Specialty subs and small to mid-size crews of 10 to 50 workers
- Contractors who want labor hours and field expenses tied to the same job cost report
- Back offices running QuickBooks, Sage, Foundation, ADP, or Gusto that want a native sync
2. QuickBooks Online: Cost accounting software most contractors already run
QuickBooks Online is the accounting platform most contractors already run, and it’s usually the first stop when a back office starts looking for better expense visibility. As cost accounting software, it handles the books well but wasn’t built around jobsite spend cards.
Its native expense tracking imports and categorizes purchases from linked bank accounts and cards, and the mobile app matches photographed receipts to transactions. Job costing lives in the Projects feature, available on Plus and Advanced, which groups income, costs, and profitability by project.
It’s useful, but it’s a bolt-on to the accounting workflow rather than a field-first tool, and there’s no cost-code enforcement at the point of purchase the way a construction-native app applies one automatically.
QuickBooks Online is full accounting software first, with no job-costed spend card and no way to stop a purchase from landing in the wrong project before someone catches it in review.
Key features
- Automated expense categorization: Imports and sorts purchases from linked banks and cards
- Mobile receipt capture: Photographs a receipt and matches it to a transaction
- Project profitability tracking: Available on Plus and Advanced plans
- App marketplace: Large library of third-party apps, including construction add-ons
Pricing
| Plan | Price | What’s included |
| Simple Start | $38/mo (1 user) | Smart expense organization, Intuit intelligence chat, cash flow planning, automated bookkeeping, etc. |
| Plus | $115/mo (5 users) | Everything in Simple Start + reports, budget plans, project profitability tracking, inventory tracking and management, etc. |
| Advanced | $275 (25 users) | Everything in Plus + custom reports, automated workflows, data sync with Excel, cash flow and profit forecast, etc. |
Free trial: 30 days
Pricing verified as of July 2026. Rates subject to change. Verify current pricing at QuickBooks’s website before purchasing. Essentials, Plus, and Advanced are scheduled to increase August 1, 2026.
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Nearly every bookkeeper and accountant already knows it | No construction-native cost codes without an add-on |
| Deep bank feed and reconciliation tools | Job costing requires the Plus tier or higher |
| Massive app marketplace for construction add-ons | Prices have risen sharply in the last two years |
Ratings
App Store: 4.7/5
Google Play Store: 4.7/5
Capterra: 4.3/5
G2: 4.5/5
Who should use QuickBooks Online?
QuickBooks Online is built for:
- Back offices that want accounting and expense tracking in one system
- Teams willing to pair it with a construction-specific add-on for job costing
- Contractors already committed to QuickBooks for their accounting
3. Buildertrend: All-in-one project management with financial tracking
Buildertrend is a project management platform for residential builders, with budgeting, bidding, and financial tracking built alongside scheduling. Its financial tools cover budgets, change orders, and invoicing, tied to the same project record your team already uses for scheduling, so a change order updates the budget without a separate reconciliation step.
The client portal handles payments and material or finish selections directly, which is a genuine strength for residential builders managing client-facing costs.
Expense capture itself is thinner than the project management side. There’s no jobsite spend card and no cost-code tagging on individual field purchases, so non-labor costs still route through the budget and change-order tools rather than a dedicated expense workflow.
Key features
- Budget tracking: Tied to project schedules and change orders
- Client portal: Handles payments and material or finish selections
- Accounting sync: QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, and Xero integration
Pricing
Buildertrend quotes custom pricing based on annual construction volume rather than publishing flat tiers. Visit Buildertrend’s website for quote requests and plan details.
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Unlimited users included at every tier | No public pricing, quotes by request |
| Financials live alongside scheduling and client communication | Payment processing fees run close to 3% per transaction |
| Strong fit for residential builders managing selections | Not built around field-level expense cards or receipts |
Ratings
App Store: 4.5/5
Google Play Store: 4.4/5
Capterra: 4.5/5
G2: 4.3/5
Who should use Buildertrend?
Buildertrend is designed for:
- Residential builders who want project management, client communication, and budgeting in one platform
- Teams that can absorb a custom quote instead of published pricing
- Builders managing selections and change orders alongside expenses
4. Expensify: Fast receipt capture for solo operators and light crews
Expensify is a general expense management app (not construction-specific), but it’s a real comparison point for contractors who mainly need fast, accurate receipt capture without a construction-native platform.
Its SmartScan feature reads a photographed receipt and matches it to a transaction, and Expensify lets you tag each expense by job, phase, or crew, which covers basic categorization even without formal cost codes.
The Expensify Visa Commercial Card adds spend controls on top of that, so a solo operator or small crew can get card-level limits without a construction-specific platform. It’s one of the few tools on this list with a real card option, alongside Workyard.
Expensify has no cost-code enforcement or job-level budget tracking. A job’s true profitability still has to be calculated in a separate system. That’s the tradeoff against a construction-native platform.
Key features
- SmartScan receipt capture: Photo receipts auto-categorized with high accuracy
- Expensify Visa Commercial Card: Spend controls tied to company cards
- Flexible tagging: Sort expenses by job, phase, department, or crew
- Accounting sync: Integrations with QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite, and Sage Intacct
Pricing
| Plan | Price | What’s included |
| Collect | $5/user/mo | Receipt scanning, reimbursements, corporate card management, custom expense rules, etc. |
| Control | Starts at $9/user/mo | Everything in Collect + multiple approval flows, custom expense rules, budgeting, custom insights, etc. |
Free trial: None, but free plan available
Pricing verified as of July 2026. Rates subject to change. Visit Expensify’s website for current pricing and plan details.
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Fast, accurate receipt scanning | Not built for construction job costing |
| Simple flat per-member pricing on Collect | No cost-code structure tied to jobs or phases |
| Works with almost any bank-issued card | Control plan pricing gets more complex at scale |
Ratings
App Store: 4.8/5
Google Play Store: 4.4/5
Capterra: 4.5/5
G2: 4.5/5
Who should use Expensify?
Expensify is ideal for:
- Solo operators and light crews who mainly need fast receipt capture
- Teams that want simple reimbursement without full job costing
- Businesses already using QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite, or Sage Intacct
5. Dext: Bookkeeping automation for QuickBooks and Xero
Dext automates bookkeeping by extracting data from receipts and invoices with AI, syncing it straight to your cost accounting software. That protects cash flow by cutting the lag between a purchase and when your books reflect it.
Dext’s OCR reads supplier, amount, and tax details from a receipt, then publishes the transaction into QuickBooks, Xero, or Sage, matching it against the bank feed and flagging duplicates before they hit the books twice.
It accepts documents through several channels, a forwarded email, the mobile app, or a bank feed, which suits a back office juggling paper receipts, PDF invoices from suppliers, and card statements all at once.
Dext is a bookkeeping add-on, not a job costing software, with no jobsite spend card and no crew-facing expense app. A worker still needs somewhere else to submit a receipt in the first place; Dext just processes it faster once it arrives.
Key features
- AI document extraction: Pulls supplier, amount, and tax data from receipts and invoices
- Direct publishing: Sends verified transactions to QuickBooks, Xero, and Sage
- Bank feed matching: Flags duplicates and reconciles against bank transactions
- Multi-channel submission: Capture by email, mobile app, or bank feed
Pricing
| Plan | Price | What’s included |
| Essentials | From $20.80/user/mo (10 users, minimum) | Data capture and management tools, data automation, Dext AI Assist, |
| Advanced | From $22.30/user/mo (10 users, minimum) | Everything in Essentials + client deadline dashboard, smart practice workflows, team and location management, etc. |
Free trial: 14 days
Pricing verified as of July 2026. Rates subject to change. Visit Dext’s website for current pricing and plan details.
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Strong QuickBooks and Xero publishing accuracy | No construction job costing on its own |
| Handles high receipt volume well | Steep for a sole proprietor’s volume |
| Publishes directly to QuickBooks, Xero, and Sage | Doesn’t include a company card or crew-facing app |
Ratings
App Store: 4.8/5
Google Play Store: 4.6/5
Capterra: 4.3/5
G2: 4.6/5
Who should use Dext?
Dext is built for:
- Back offices already committed to QuickBooks or Xero
- Teams that mainly need faster, more accurate document capture
- Businesses handling high receipt and invoice volume
6. Knowify: Phase-level job costing for trade contractors
Knowify is a job costing and billing platform built for trade contractors, with a deep two-way QuickBooks Online integration. It assigns work and expenses to a project, phase, and cost category automatically, whether the transaction started as a purchase order in Knowify or a bill in QuickBooks. Labor, materials, and subcontractor costs land in the same phase-level breakdown.
Its work-in-progress calculations update in real time as costs and billing move, which is useful for a commercial contractor tracking earned value against a contract rather than just a flat budget. Knowify also supports AIA-style pay applications, a specific billing format larger commercial general contractors and their lenders often require, which most of the other tools on this list don’t handle natively.
Key features
- Phase-level job costing: Tracks labor, materials, equipment, and subcontractor cost by phase
- Work-in-progress calculations: Updated in real time as costs and billing move
- AIA-style billing: Built for commercial general contractor pay applications
- QuickBooks Online sync: Two-way, including Projects on Plus and Advanced
Pricing
| Plan | Price | What’s included |
| Core | $99/mo (1 user, billed annually) | Bids, invoices, AIA jobs, etc. |
| Advanced | $329/mo (10 users, billed annually) | Everything in Core + project management and job costing tools |
| Enterprise | Quote-based | Everything in Advanced + inventory, unlimited users, etc. |
Free trial: 14 days
Pricing verified as of July 2026. Rates subject to change. Visit Knowify’s website for current pricing and plan details.
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Strong QuickBooks Online sync for job costing | Mobile app reviews are mixed on speed |
| Phase-level cost categories match trade contractor billing | Per-user pricing adds up fast for larger crews |
| Built specifically for construction, not adapted from generic PSA software |
Ratings
App Store: 2.8/5
Google Play Store: 2.8/5
Capterra: 4.5/5
G2: 4.5/5
Who should use Knowify?
Knowify is designed for:
- Trade contractors who bill by phase or contract type
- Teams wanting tight QuickBooks Online job costing without switching platforms
- Commercial contractors needing AIA-style billing
7. Connecteam: Deskless team scheduling and communication
Connecteam is a deskless workforce app built for scheduling, communication, and time tracking across more than a dozen industries, from restaurants to construction.
Its scheduling and messaging tools are genuinely strong for a crew that needs shift assignments and updates in one place, and GPS breadcrumbs during clocked-in hours give a basic location record without the construction-specific job costing layered on top.
Connecteam supports out-of-pocket expense reimbursement submissions, letting a worker log a purchase and photo for office approval, which covers the minimum a small crew needs for reimbursement.
Connecteam has no company card, no spend limits, and no cost-code tagging on those expenses, so there’s nothing tying a purchase to a job the way a construction-native tool does.
Its accounting connections also run through Zapier rather than a native integration, which adds an extra setup step most other tools on this list don’t require.
Key features
- Scheduling and messaging: Shift management across deskless teams
- Expense reimbursement submissions: Out-of-pocket purchases with a photo attached
- Time tracking: GPS breadcrumbs captured during clocked-in hours
- Accounting connections: Zapier-based, not a native construction sync
Pricing
| Plan | Price | What’s included |
| Basic | $29/mo base (first 30 users, 1 hub) | GPS clock-in/out, payroll integration, unlimited checklists, and core scheduling |
| Advanced | $49/mo base (first 30 users, 1 hub) | Everything in Basic, plus full time clock customization, auto clock-out, and up to 10 geofence locations |
| Expert | $99/mo base (first 30 users, 1 hub) | Everything in Advanced, plus unlimited sub-jobs, multiple schedule types, and API access |
| Enterprise | Quote-based | Operations Expert plus unlimited time clocks and schedules, biometric app lock, and more |
Free trial: 14 days; free Small Business Plan for up to 10 users
Pricing verified as of July 2026. Rates subject to change. Visit Connecteam’s website for current pricing and plan details.
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Affordable for basic scheduling and communication | No company card or field spend controls |
| Easy for deskless crews to adopt | Zapier-only accounting connections instead of native sync |
| Works across many industries beyond construction | No cost codes or job costing built in |
Ratings
App Store: 4.9/5
Google Play: 4.8/5
Capterra: 4.6/5
G2: 4.6/5
Who should use Connecteam?
Connecteam is ideal for:
- Teams that only need scheduling and reimbursement submissions
- Businesses that don’t need a company card or job-costed expenses
- Deskless teams outside construction as well as within it
How to choose the best construction expense tracking app
A construction expense tracking app ties a purchase to a job and cost code the moment it happens, not after a monthly export. If you’re comparing this against wider construction cost management software, most of those platforms still treat expenses as an afterthought.
What to look for in a construction expense tracking app
Seven criteria decide whether a tool earns its place on a jobsite: non-labor cost tracking, real-time job visibility, mobile receipt capture, accounting integration, spend controls, field-crew adoption, and pricing transparency.
1. Non-labor cost tracking
Materials, equipment, fuel, and subcontractor costs are where construction job costing usually breaks down first, since most tools track labor closely and let everything else slip through.
Construction input prices rose 6.6% year-over-year as of April 2026 [AGC, 2026], so look for cost codes that apply to materials and equipment, not just labor.
2. Real-time job and profit visibility
Most contractors don’t find out they’re losing margin on a job until it’s already closed. FMI Corporation puts the industry-wide cost of that blind spot at $30 billion to $40 billion a year in wasted labor productivity, with 6 in 10 contractors estimating at least 11% of field labor costs go to waste [FMI, 2023]. A live dashboard closes that gap while the job is still open, not after.
You need budget-versus-actual data while a job is still running. Look for a live dashboard that updates within minutes of a purchase.
Earned Run Property Management felt this gap directly: billing clients relied on labor and cost records the team couldn’t fully back up after the fact.
We’ve improved leaps and bounds in the accuracy of our job costing analysis. We can present a complete bill to clients at the end of every 30-day period with an audit trail.
3. Receipt and field expense capture
A crew member should be able to photograph a receipt on a jobsite and have it coded to the right job in seconds. The IRS accepts a timestamped digital receipt as documentary evidence [IRS Publication 583], so look for mobile capture with offline support for low-signal jobsites.
4. Accounting integration
Your expense tool should sync with QuickBooks, Sage, or Xero without double entry, since every manual re-entry is a chance for a cost to land on the wrong job. Look for native two-way sync where cost codes transfer with the transaction, not a one-way file export.
5. Company card and spend controls
A job-costed company card beats reimbursement because it controls spending before it happens. Eighty-six percent of small firms already use financing tools like credit cards regularly [Federal Reserve, 2026], so look for per-worker spend limits set before a purchase clears.
6. Ease of adoption for field crews
If logging an expense takes more than a minute, crews will skip it. Look for a simple photo-and-job-selection flow, and a supervisor override for crews who won’t self-report.
This isn’t a bleeding-edge ask. Half of contractors already use mobile software to pull job cost and project reports from the field, and 69% rely on mobile tools for daily field reports [AGC/Sage, 2025]. A tool that fights crew adoption is working against habits that are already standard on most jobsites.
7. Pricing transparency
Published, per-user pricing lets you compare apps honestly before a sales call. Several tools here require a custom quote, which makes comparison shopping harder.
Pricing and integration considerations
Pricing runs from free (Connecteam, Expensify) to several hundred dollars a month (Buildertrend, Knowify at scale), and several vendors add a flat base fee on top of per-user rates.
Watch for company card features gated behind a higher tier, per-user pricing that climbs fast past a small crew, and custom quotes that vary by sales rep rather than a published rate card.
The integration that matters most is accounting, not scheduling. Confirm the sync is native, not a Zapier-style connector, that cost codes transfer with the transaction, and that approved spend flows directly into the books rather than requiring a manual export.
Best construction expense tracking app by use case
Workyard is the best construction expense tracking app for most crews, since it’s the only tool here that puts labor and non-labor costs on the same job cost report. These picks cover where a different tool fits better.
For solo operators and handymen
Top Pick: Expensify
Why: Fast SmartScan receipt capture and simple flat pricing, with no crew or job-costing overhead to manage
Runner-Up: Connecteam
Why: Basic reimbursement on a free or near-free plan
For small crews (10 to 50 workers)
Top Pick: Workyard
Why: Ties labor hours and field expenses to the same job automatically
Runner-Up: Knowify
Why: Ideal for crews already committed to QuickBooks Online
For residential builders
Top Pick: Buildertrend
Why: Budgets, change orders, and client communication live in one system alongside expenses
Runner-Up: Workyard
Why: Provides job-costed expenses without full project management overhead
For commercial general contractors
Top Pick: Knowify
Why: Phase-level cost categories and AIA-style billing match how commercial GCs actually bill
Runner-Up: Workyard
Why: GCs prioritizing field crew adoption and a spend card over AIA billing specifically
Final recommendations
Workyard is the strongest construction expense tracking app for most crews. It combines a job-costed Visa card, automatic receipt capture, cost-code tagging, and real-time job cost visibility in one system. The result is fewer end-of-month surprises and less manual reconciliation.
🥇Best overall: Workyard
Why: Workyard ties labor hours and field expenses to the same job cost report, with a spend card that codes automatically and a dashboard that updates within minutes.
Best for: Crews of 10 to 50 workers who want labor and expenses on one report
Pricing: Starts at $6/user/mo (billed annually)
Mainsail Painting saw this firsthand as the crew grew to 15 painters. Paper-based tracking had been producing rounded hours and inaccurate job billing, and switching to Workyard came with a 30% year-over-year increase in client reimbursements once billing matched actual job costs.
When we look at Workyard in our list of expenses, we think that this is something that pays for itself, like really.
🥈Best for QuickBooks-first bookkeeping: Knowify
Why: Deepest two-way QuickBooks Online job costing sync on this list
Best for: Trade contractors billing by phase
Pricing: Starts at $99/mo (1 user, billed annually)
🥉Best for solo or lightweight receipt capture: Expensify
Why: Fast, accurate SmartScan capture with simple flat pricing
Best for: Solo operators and small crews
Pricing: Starts at $5/user/mo
References
- 1
Internal Revenue Service. “IRS sets 2026 business standard mileage rate at 72.5 cents per mile,” Dec. 29, 2025. https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-sets-2026-business-standard-mileage-rate-at-725-cents-per-mile-up-25-cents
- 2
Internal Revenue Service. “Recordkeeping” and Publication 583, Starting a Business and Keeping Records (Rev. 12-2024/2025). https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/recordkeeping
- 3
FMI Corporation. “Construction Labor Productivity: The $30-40 Billion Opportunity,” 2023 Labor Productivity Study. https://fmicorp.com/about/news/construction-labor-productivity-the-20-billion-opportunity
- 4
Associated General Contractors of America and Sage. 2025 Construction Hiring and Business Outlook, via Sage Advice US. https://www.sage.com/en-us/blog/agc-report-major-insights/
- 5
Associated General Contractors of America. “Surging Materials and Energy Costs Drive Construction Input Prices Sharply Higher in April,” May 13, 2026. https://www.agc.org/news/2026/05/13/surging-materials-and-energy-costs-drive-construction-input-prices-sharply-higher-april-forcing
- 6
Federal Reserve Banks. “2026 Report on Employer Firms: Findings from the 2025 Small Business Credit Survey,” March 3, 2026. https://www.fedsmallbusiness.org/reports/survey/2026/2026-report-on-employer-firms
Contractors most often compare Workyard, QuickBooks Online, Buildertrend, Expensify, Dext, Knowify, and Connecteam for this. Each fits a different combination of crew size and accounting setup, covered in the reviews above.
Pricing ranges from free (Connecteam, Expensify) to a few hundred dollars a month (Buildertrend, Knowify at scale). Workyard starts at $6 per user plus a monthly base fee.
Yes, all seven apps integrate with at least one major accounting platform. Workyard, Knowify, and QuickBooks itself connect most deeply with QuickBooks Online for job costing specifically.
Most apps use mobile photo receipt capture. Workyard and Expensify also support offline capture that syncs once you’re back in signal range, plus automatic drive detection for mileage.
Yes. Solo operators lean toward Expensify, small to mid-size crews toward Workyard, and commercial GCs needing AIA billing toward Knowify or Buildertrend. Match the tool to your actual job structure, not just your budget.
Yes, the two aren’t in conflict. The 2026 IRS standard mileage rate is 72.5 cents per mile for business use, and you can use it even if your app also logs fuel purchases separately.
It depends on whether your expense app ties purchases to a job and cost code. Generic tools like Expensify don’t, so you’d still need a construction-native job costing software or platform like Workyard or Knowify for true job costing.
Yes, in most cases. The IRS accepts electronic recordkeeping systems that meet the same substantiation standard as paper receipts, as long as the record is created at or near the time of the purchase.
Some can. Workyard and Expensify both support letting a worker or subcontractor submit a receipt directly, while tools like Connecteam limit this to reimbursement requests without job coding.
A job-costed company card, like Workyard’s or Expensify’s, applies per-worker spend limits and forces a job code before the purchase clears. A standard corporate credit card just centralizes billing, with coding happening after the fact.
