Looking for a construction profit and loss template Excel you can download and customize? Contractors use a construction P&L (also called a cost-accounting statement) to see monthly or quarterly earnings by project cost—not just a generic income statement.
A solid construction P&L helps you forecast income and expenses, support financing conversations, and connect company results to job costing and WIP. Below you’ll find what belongs on the statement, how to use a template for contractor reporting, and a free downloadable sample from LiveFlow.
What is a construction profit and loss statement?
A construction profit and loss (P&L) statement is a financial document that details the income and expenses of a construction business. It forecasts the total construction revenue and all of the company’s expenses based on the cost of any projects and tasks that have been completed over a certain period of time.
Construction profit and loss statements help construction companies forecast future income and expenses, which is essential for budgeting and planning. They can also be a useful tool for securing financing, particularly if you’re a startup company or in the process of securing capital.
Construction P&L statements are also sometimes referred to as cost-accounting statements or construction accounting statements. This is because they account for the cost of various construction activities, including the cost of materials, labor, subcontractors, financing costs, and overhead expenses. Choosing the right stack matters too — start with the best contractor accounting software in 2026 by contractor type, then compare construction accounting software by growth stage.
How to use a construction P&L template for job costing
Construction profit and loss templates can help simplify and comply with strict accounting protocols. They also help ensure that all project data is recorded and monitored, which is essential for generating accurate financial statements. Some construction profit and loss templates are designed with a specific industry in mind, while others are more general.
That said, when downloading a template, make sure you choose one that aligns with your business model. For example, if you’re a general contractor, you’ll want to use a construction P&L statement that includes subcontractor cost data — and multi-entity GCs often pair that with consolidation tools for QuickBooks Online for general contractors. Residential builders can look at consolidation tools for residential contractors. On the other hand, if you’re in management consulting, you’ll need a different construction P&L statement as you don’t typically use subcontractors.
Is there a construction profit and loss template for Excel?
Yes! Construction profit and loss templates for Excel are quite common. These templates include standard headings and fields, making them easy to use and customize. You can also find construction Excel templates that include sample data, which can be helpful if you’re new to construction accounting and P&Ls.
Using a construction profit and loss template Excel helps ensure that your data is recorded and monitored correctly. This is crucial for generating accurate financial statements and reports. When it comes to downloading a construction profit and loss template, you have a few choices. You can create one yourself, or you can download one below from LiveFlow.
Save hours formatting your next financial spreadsheet!
100+ templates, all free to use.
Free Spreadsheet Templates
How do I make my own profit and loss statement?
You can make your own profit and loss statement in Microsoft Excel quite easily. All you need to do is follow a few simple steps and you can create your very own construction P&L template in just a few minutes.
Follow these steps to create a construction profit and loss statement in Excel:
1. First, open Excel and select the option “Create New Spreadsheet”
2. Next, select the number of columns. In this case, three will work just fine.
3. Now, you need to name your columns. The first column should be for your revenue, the second column is for your expenses, and the third column is the difference between the first two columns.
All you need to do now is select how many rows of data you want. For a monthly P&L statement, four rows should be enough. That's one row for each week. For a quarterly P&L statement, go with twelve rows: one for each week. Finally, for an annual P&L statement, you can also use twelve rows: one for each month.
You can then choose to export the file as a spreadsheet or a PDF. Make sure that you leave it blank as this is only your template. You can then open that template every time you need to calculate P&L and fill in the numeric values to determine your net income for that period.
How do you calculate construction profit and loss (without an accounting degree)?
The easiest way to calculate profit and loss is by starting with your construction income. From there, you can subtract your construction expenses to determine your net profit. For example, let’s say you’ve completed five projects in a given month and they earned a combined total of $200,000. Meanwhile, your direct construction expenses totaled $130,000. In this scenario, your construction profit is $70,000 ($200,000 - $130,000).
You can also use the following profit and loss formula:
Profit = (Revenue - Expenses)
This simple formula can help you calculate your net income over a given period of time. Most companies prepare profit and loss statements using this formula either monthly, quarterly or annually. However, if you are just getting started, then you may want to calculate your P&L more frequently, such as on a weekly basis. This can help you ensure that you are staying profitable, which is the key to growing your construction business. For longer jobs, pair the company P&L with job-level costing and a WIP view so percent-complete revenue stays aligned with costs.
Summary
Construction profit and loss statements are financial statements that detail the “income” and “expenses” of a construction company. They forecast total construction revenue and expenses based on the cost of projects and tasks completed.
Construction profit and loss statements help construction companies forecast future income and expenses, which is essential for budgeting and planning. They can also be a useful tool for securing financing, particularly if you’re a startup company or in the process of securing capital.
Remember, you can create your own profit and loss statement in Excel easily, or alternatively, you can download one from a site like LiveFlow. When in doubt, you can also ask a professional accountant to prepare a P&L statement for your company, just keep in mind that they will likely charge you for this service.
Related reading
Go deeper on contractor job costing, WIP, and software stack choices:
Recommendation
LiveFlow is a valuable platform built for QuickBooks, which is designed to make it easy to create an integrated, real time connection between your QuickBooks data and customized reports and dashboards in Google Sheets.
This means that you don’t have to give anyone access to QuickBooks simply to review reports – you can use pre-built templates or bring live data to any customized report you already have. This way, you only share what departments need to see. The live connection between QuickBooks and Google Sheets means that your reports will always be up to date – without any manual exports, data formatting or hands-on effort.
You can explore all of the best features that LiveFlow has to offer with a free 30-minute demo, so if you want to take the stress out of managing your small business accounting, then be sure to try LiveFlow today.
The world's top businesses trust LiveFlow to automate their financial reporting
We turn Quickbooks Online data into a live FP&A dashboard in Sheets FAST!
Book a Demo
