How Construction Businesses Streamline Workflow with Knowify — and How It Integrates Seamlessly with QuickBooks Online

Dany Ortega
Aug 13
4 min read

Construction companies juggle a lot: estimates and SOVs, change orders, field time, subcontractors, POs, progress billing, and—of course—accurate job costing. Knowify is a construction management platform built to organize all of that in one place and push the right accounting data to QuickBooks Online (QBO), so your field and office stay in sync.

What is Knowify (in a nutshell)?

Knowify is project + service management software for the trades that centralizes bids, job execution, scheduling, purchasing, time tracking, and invoicing. It’s designed for both contract work and fast-turn service calls, with plans starting at $99/month.

8 Ways Knowify Streamlines Construction Workflows

1) Estimating & Proposals (with real job-cost structure)

Build estimates that mirror your scope and phases, then convert them into live budgets and production plans—so the cost structure you sell is the cost structure you track.
Phase-by-phase job costing lets you break costs into labor, materials, equipment, and subs for granular visibility.

2) AIA/Progress Billing without the spreadsheet gymnastics

Generate SOVs and pay apps, include approved change orders automatically, handle stored materials, and track retainage—then invoice cleanly.

3) Change Order Control (and faster approvals)

Produce professional change orders in minutes and send for e-signature. Approved COs roll into budgets and billing, reducing revenue leakage.

4) Scheduling & Resource Planning

Assign crews and technicians, push job details to the mobile app, and keep everyone aligned on where to be and what to do.

5) Field Time Tracking (that finance actually trusts)

Field staff clock in/out on a simple mobile app; time syncs back to jobs and phases in real time for progress measurement and payroll. The app is actively maintained.

6) Purchasing, POs & Cost Capture

Create purchase orders tied to jobs and phases; capture field purchases and reimbursements from the app so costs hit the right bucket automatically.

7) Subcontractor Management

Issue subcontracts, track sub COs, and see payments to subs alongside your job budget to prevent surprises.

8) Service Work + Project Work on one platform

Manage reactive service calls and longer contract jobs together, so your ops and reporting aren’t split across tools.

What Syncs Between Knowify and QuickBooks Online?

Knowify was built from the ground up to integrate with QBO. The goal: do operational work in Knowify (estimating, time, POs, progress billing) and let the accounting land correctly in QuickBooks—without duplicate entry. At a high level:

Customers/Jobs/Items/Vendors: Kept in sync so you can work in either system without re-typing.
Invoices & Payments: Generate in Knowify (including AIA/G702-G703 formats) and sync to QBO AR.
Bills/Expenses/Job Costs: Capture in Knowify and push to QBO AP and expense accounts with job/phase coding intact.
Time: Track in Knowify; push to QBO Payroll timesheets if you’re using QuickBooks Payroll.

Knowify emphasizes granular, phase-level job costing and then syncs the accounting entries to QBO, giving you far more detail than QBO’s native project costing alone.

How the Integration Works (Step-By-Step)

Connect Knowify ↔ QBO: In Knowify’s integrations settings, authorize your QuickBooks Online company and select the default accounts (income, COGS, expense, retainage, etc.).
Map Your Structure
Map Items (materials/labor/equipment/subs) to the right Products & Services in QBO.
Align phase codes/cost categories to appropriate accounts/classes for reporting.
Sync Master Data: Bring over customers, vendors, items, and (optionally) classes/locations so both systems speak the same language.
Operationalize in Knowify
Estimate → Budget/Plan → Issue POs and subcontracts → Track time → Approve change orders → Bill progress/AIA.
Let Knowify create the accounting events and push the AR/AP/expenses to QBO.
Close the Loop in QBO
Receive payments, reconcile banks, run financials.
Use Projects or Class/Location if you prefer additional segmentation for reporting.

Accounting Cleanliness: Best Practices

Standardize Items & Cost Codes first. Decide on a clean set of labor, material, equipment, and sub-items and stick to them; consistency is what makes job costing bulletproof.
Use POs for materials/subs. Initiate spend from Knowify so costs land in the right job/phase when the bill hits QBO.
Approve time daily. The fresher the labor data, the more accurate your WIP and progress billing.
Capture every change order. COs approved in Knowify flow through to budgets and SOVs—this is where profit is won or lost.
Reconcile retainage. Track retainage on invoices and ensure the right GL mapping in QBO for clean AR aging.

Who Gets the Most Value from Knowify?

GCs and specialty contractors handling multi-phase projects who need AIA-style billing, retainage, and detailed WIP visibility.
Firms with both project and service work that want one place to manage dispatch plus long-form contracts.
Teams with field crews who must track time, purchases, and job photos from the jobsite.

Pricing Snapshot

Knowify offers multiple tiers (e.g., Core/Advanced/Enterprise), with entry pricing commonly listed from $99/month and options for unlimited users at higher tiers. Always confirm current offers and bundle discounts—Knowify and Intuit periodically promote Knowify + QuickBooks Online bundles.

Bottom Line

If you’re running construction projects in QuickBooks Online and still relying on spreadsheets for SOVs, change orders, and job costing, Knowify gives your operations a dedicated home—and then syncs the accounting back to QBO. The result is fewer manual entries, faster pay apps, tighter cost control, and cleaner financials.

If you need help with implementation, book a free consultation below. We are here for you as a dedicated team of experts in construction bookkeeping and workflows. Looking forward to meeting you. Best regards, and build smart.

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