CONTRACTOR GLOSSARY · MONEY & BILLING
What is a Supply house?
A supply house is a trade wholesale distributor — where contractors buy materials on account, generating the invoices and monthly statements that drive job costing.
Electricians buy from electrical distributors — supply houses — usually on a house account with net terms rather than retail. The account structure matters: many supply houses set up job accounts or sub-accounts per project, printing the job name or number on each invoice, which is what makes per-job material costing possible at all.
The paper flow is the operational challenge: a busy sub generates dozens of supply-house invoices a month across several jobs, then a monthly statement listing them all. Reconciling statements against captured invoices — catching the invoice that never got filed to a job, or billed to the wrong one — is where material money stops leaking.
Common questions
Why do supply house invoices print a job name or sub-account?
Contractors ask the counter to tag purchases to a job account so every invoice self-identifies its project — the foundation of accurate per-job material costing and billing.
Related terms
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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