Management accounts for construction companies

Margin by job needs job costing; the trial balance gives the company-level picture.

Every month: revenue, gross profit and its margin (which is contract margin, with materials, subcontractors, plant, site labour and site overheads placed in direct costs), overheads, debtor days, cash, the current ratio and the board's runway lens. The WIP and retentions balances, and the variations ledger, sit in the detail behind revenue and current assets, one click from any figure.

• WIP and retentions are different assets. Keep amounts recoverable on contracts and retentions receivable apart, and both apart from certified debtors, or debtor days is wrong.
• Retentions payable to subcontractors mirror your own and aren't trade creditors.
• CIS deductions withheld from subcontractors in the UK are owed to HMRC, with the other taxes, not with suppliers.
• Owned and hired plant. Owned plant is depreciated; hired plant is a direct cost; hire purchase repayments aren't expenses.
• Variations claimed but not agreed stay out of revenue until agreed; keep them on their own ledger.

From the company's trial balance over the six months to September 2026, worked by hand:

That £434,800 is more than two-thirds of certified debtors, so the next two applications matter for cash.

The board works debtor days on the last three months too, but it shows 35: the rules placed retentions receivable on trade receivables, beside certified debtors, so its receivables are £798,600. That is the first trap above. Put retentions on other current assets on the ledger map and the board's debtor days come down to the 27 worked here.

In Magic MIS, the same books loaded a month at a time give this board for September 2026:

Enlarge:

Kestrel Build Ltd's board for September 2026, from six months of its books. Example company; figures invented.Close

Magic MIS wrote this commentary for September 2026, word for word. The AI wrote the sentences; the engine filled every figure, and each one opens to its ledgers on the board:

Performance

Revenue from operations for Sep 2026 was £726,352.02, up £103,980.93 or 16.7% on last month. Direct costs were £553,314.43, an increase of £98,845.84 or 21.7%.

EBITDA was £57,799.86, up £2,593.75 or 4.7%. Profit before tax and profit after tax were both £40,344.11, up £2,524.37 or 6.7% on last month.

Margins

Gross profit was £173,037.59, up £5,135.09 or 3.1% on last month. Direct costs grew by 21.7%, faster than revenue at 16.7%, so gross profit grew more slowly than revenue over the month.

Working capital

Trade receivables were £798,600.00, up £85,888.91 or 12.1%. Trade payables were £481,200.00, up £48,436.23 or 11.2%.

Working capital was £577,200.00, an increase of £52,195.31 or 9.9% on last month, as the rise in receivables exceeded the rise in payables.

Enlarge:

The commentary for September 2026 in the product. Example company; figures invented.Close

1. Export the trial balance from Sage, Xero, QuickBooks or your construction system as Excel, CSV or PDF. There is no live connection.
2. Upload it. Each ledger is placed once on a line of the report, by rules first and the AI only for what the rules can't place; check WIP, retentions and CIS on the ledger map.
3. Get a checked Excel workbook with live formulas, a board you change by chatting, and the month written up.
4. Next month, upload the new trial balance: the placing is remembered, so it is a refresh, not a rebuild.

Click any figure on the board to see its working, the month and the ledgers behind it. It is prepaid credits with no subscription, and every action shows its price before it runs; see the credit packs.