CONTRACTOR GLOSSARY · MATERIALS & PURCHASING
What is a Job account (sub-account)?
A job account is a sub-account under your supply-house account opened for one project — so every ticket and invoice for that job prints the job's name on its face.
Most supply houses will split your house account into sub-accounts per project — say the job name at the counter and the ticket, the invoice, and the statement line all carry it. It's the cheapest job-costing infrastructure in existence: the paper identifies its own project, so nobody reconstructs from memory which of forty invoices belongs to which job.
The habit is opening the job account when you open the job — same phone call that sets up the first material order — and telling the crew the account name so counter runs land on the right one. At statement time, purchases group by job on their own, and the stray ticket rung on the wrong job stands out instead of hiding.
Job accounts earn their keep hardest at closeout and in disputes: a clean sub-account history is the fastest honest answer to "what did materials actually run on this job" — for your own margin math, for a T&M bill, or for backup when a number gets challenged.
Common questions
Does it cost anything to set up job accounts at a supply house?
Typically no — it's an account structure, not a service. Ask the counter or the credit desk to add a job (sub-account) under your house account, and use the job name consistently.
What if a purchase gets rung on the wrong job's account?
It happens — a counter run in a hurry lands on whatever account comes up. Catch it when you reconcile the statement and have the supply house reassign the invoice, so both jobs' costs stay true.
RevnuPros tracks the thing, not just the word
Permits to sign-off, T&M tags to signature, materials to billed through, retainage to released — built for subcontractors. Browse the full contractor glossary or the Massachusetts permit guide.
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