Accounting Built For Solar’s Cash Flow.
Bookkeeping and job costing for solar installers and EPCs — built around progress billing, rebate timing, and the capital-heavy pace of solar projects.
Built for how solar projects actually get paid.
Job costing is the baseline. Here’s what comes with it.
Monthly Bookkeeping
Full reconciliations across every account, every month, in QuickBooks Online — no backlog, no guesswork.
Project & Install Costing
Track equipment, permitting, labor, and install costs by project — so you know true margin per system, not just top-line revenue.
Progress Billing & Draws
Invoicing tied to install milestones, so cash comes in as the work gets done — not weeks behind it.
Rebate & Incentive Tracking
Keep tax credits, utility rebates, and financing draws straight, so nothing gets lost between approval and payout.
Follow the money through every installation.
Solar projects rarely have perfectly matched cash inflows and outflows. Equipment, labor, subcontractors, permitting, and other costs may be paid well before the final customer payment is collected. Ample(x) Consultants helps connect those costs to the projects generating them.
Profitable project. Tight cash.
A solar project can be profitable on paper while still creating short-term cash pressure. Equipment may need to be purchased, crews paid, subcontractors funded, and permits covered before all customer payments are received.
Timing Matters.
Cash Out
- Equipment
- Materials
- Payroll
- Subcontractors
- Permitting
Cash In
- Deposits
- Progress Payments
- Final Payments
- Applicable Incentive/Rebate Receipts
Solar projects may involve incentives, rebates, credits, or other program-related amounts that affect project accounting or cash timing. Ample(x) Consultants can help keep applicable amounts organized and properly reflected in the accounting records based on the scope of the engagement.
Revenue doesn't tell you whether an install made money.
Company-wide financial statements can show whether the business is profitable overall. Project-level accounting helps show which installations are actually producing the margins you expected.
Did the project hit its expected margin?
Were equipment costs higher than estimated?
Did labor hours run over budget?
Did subcontractor costs change?
Where did we gain or lose margin?
The estimate is only the beginning.
Tracking estimated costs against actual project costs helps identify where margins are changing — while there is still time to improve future pricing and operations.
More installs can create more financial pressure.
Growth in a solar business often requires spending money before collecting it. More projects can mean more equipment purchases, larger payroll, additional crews, subcontractor costs, vehicles, and working-capital needs.
How much cash do upcoming installs require?
When will customer payments arrive?
How many projects can we fund at once?
Accurate project accounting and cash-flow visibility can help leadership understand how growth affects the company's financial position.
Explore Fractional CFO & Controller Services →Solar installers who’ve outgrown spreadsheets.
Built for residential and commercial solar installers and EPCs doing $1M–$10M in revenue — where financing draws, rebate timing, and equipment costs make cash flow hard to track by hand.
Project Costs Are Spread Across Systems
Equipment, payroll, subcontractors, credit cards, and other project costs aren't consistently tied back to individual installations.
You Know Revenue — But Not Project Margin
Sales are growing, but it is difficult to determine which installs are producing the expected profit.
Cash Gets Tight Between Install and Payment
Costs are being paid before customer payments or other expected project receipts arrive.
Estimates and Actual Costs Don't Match
Projects look profitable when sold, but actual labor, equipment, or subcontractor costs are reducing margin.
The Spreadsheet Has Become the Accounting System
Critical project information lives outside the books, creating duplicated work and making reporting harder to trust.
Growth Is Getting Harder to Fund
The pipeline looks strong, but leadership needs better visibility into how much working capital upcoming projects will require.
Also Doing General Contracting?
Explore Contractor Accounting →Ready to Go Beyond Bookkeeping?
Explore Fractional CFO & Controller →Have an Install Crew on Payroll?
Explore Payroll →Solar Accounting Questions
What is solar accounting?
Solar accounting applies bookkeeping and financial reporting to the specific needs of solar businesses, including project costing, equipment and material costs, labor, subcontractors, billing, cash flow, and project profitability.
Can Ample(x) Consultants track costs by solar project?
Yes. Project-level accounting can be used to track applicable equipment, materials, labor, subcontractor, permitting, and other direct costs by installation.
Can you help us understand profit by installation?
Yes. Accurate project costing can provide better visibility into revenue, direct costs, gross profit, and margin by project.
Can you compare estimated costs to actual project costs?
Yes. Depending on the accounting setup and scope of the engagement, project reporting can help compare estimated or budgeted costs with actual results.
Can Ample(x) Consultants help with solar payroll?
Yes. Ample(x) Consultants provides payroll services that can be coordinated with accounting and project costing.
Can you help with cash-flow forecasting?
Yes. Ample(x) Consultants provides Fractional CFO and Controller services that can include cash-flow forecasting, budgeting, and financial planning.
Do you work with QuickBooks Online?
Yes. Ample(x) Consultants primarily works with QuickBooks Online for many accounting engagements.
Can you clean up our existing solar accounting?
Yes. Ample(x) Consultants can review existing accounting and project-costing records and scope cleanup work when historical records need correction or restructuring.
Let’s look at your project costs.
Two ways to start — pick whichever fits where you're at.
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