Yes, QuickBooks Online supports progress billing through its Progress Invoicing feature. You create an estimate for the full project, then invoice portions of it as work gets completed. It tracks how much has been billed, how much remains, and ties everything back to the original estimate. For most contractors running projects in the Long Beach and Greater LA area, it handles the basics well.

Here is how it works in practice. You build out an estimate with line items for each phase or scope of work. Say you have a $120,000 remodel broken into demolition, framing, mechanical, finish, and final. When you complete demolition, you create an invoice from that estimate and bill just the demolition portion. QuickBooks marks that line as billed and shows the remaining balance. Next month you invoice framing. The estimate keeps a running total of what’s been billed versus what’s outstanding.

You can bill by percentage or by dollar amount on each line item. If a phase is 70% done and you want to bill accordingly, you enter 70% on that line and QuickBooks calculates the amount. This flexibility covers most progress billing scenarios contractors actually encounter.

Where QuickBooks falls short is on more formal AIA-style billing. If you’re doing commercial work that requires G702 and G703 continuation sheets with retention tracking, QBO doesn’t produce those documents natively. There are third-party apps that integrate with QuickBooks to generate AIA pay applications, but the built-in functionality won’t get you there on its own. For residential remodels and smaller commercial jobs where you’re billing against a contract in stages without formal AIA requirements, QBO handles it fine.

Retention is another area that needs a workaround. If an owner holds back 10% until project completion, you’ll want to set up a retention line item or account to track what’s been earned but not yet collectible. It’s doable but requires intentional setup so your receivables reflect reality.

The accuracy of progress billing depends on how your QuickBooks file is configured. Your chart of accounts, service items, and customer/project structure all need to be set up correctly from the start. If the estimate line items don’t match how you actually build and bill, the progress tracking becomes unreliable. Getting QuickBooks set up properly before you start using progress invoicing saves a lot of cleanup later.

One thing to watch is the revenue recognition side. Progress billing creates invoices, but your books also need to reflect the cost side accurately. If you’ve billed 60% of a project but only spent 30% of the estimated costs, your financials could look misleading. This is where bookkeeping for trades businesses gets important. Someone needs to make sure the income and expenses line up by job so your profit numbers are real, not just a timing distortion.

For most contractors doing residential and light commercial work, QuickBooks Online handles progress billing without needing specialized construction software. The key is setting it up right and staying disciplined about invoicing from the estimate every time instead of creating standalone invoices that bypass the tracking.