Small construction and civil-engineering groups

Group finance for construction companies that have outgrown QuickBooks.

Meridian Ledger is for small construction and civil-engineering groups that have already grown, and are still stitching the books together with QuickBooks and spreadsheets. Several companies sit under the group, sometimes a few dozen. Each company has multiple projects. Finance teams are small.

You want to see an individual project and the whole group. You also want to tell whether a job is truly making money, or whether the profit is on paper while cash is tied up in retentions or unbilled work. You cannot afford, and do not want, a heavy-implementation enterprise system or a specialized construction ERP.

Today: QuickBooks and spreadsheets
The group: Several to a few dozen companies, each with multiple projects
The question: Is the job making money, or is the cash tied up?

01 — Solutions

Two ways to set up the books

One finance system. Two parallel ways to structure it. Read them side by side and use the one that matches how you already look at the work.

Independent books per company, plus a combined group view

A small multi-company group keeps each company’s books and reports separate in one finance system, and can also combine selected companies to see group results.

Each company’s books and reports stay with that company.
The group works in one system instead of a separate finance file for every company.
Combine the companies you select when you want group results.
A small finance team can do this without rebuilding the group in a spreadsheet.

One set of books per project, with the three financial statements

Projects that need their own profit and loss get their own books. Entries posted to a project are inquired in that project’s books. Each project can produce an income statement, a balance sheet, and a cash flow statement, and several projects can be combined for statements and account balances.

Use this where a job has to stand on its own numbers, not only as a column on a job report.
Inquire the entries in that project’s books.
Produce an income statement, a balance sheet, and a cash flow statement for the project.
Combine several projects for statements and account balances.

02 — How it works

How it works

One finance system. Each company keeps its own books. You configure it and go live yourselves.

Each company keeps its own books

One finance system holds them. The books and the reports for a company stay with that company.
Choose the company and the project

When you enter or import journal entries, you choose the correct company and the correct project.
Leave field systems where they are

Field, procurement, and work-order systems can stay in place. Finance runs the books and the reports here.
Go live yourselves

Your own people configure the system and start using it. A heavy implementation project is not part of the product.

03 — Comparison

What buyers are actually weighing

The real alternative is staying on QuickBooks plus spreadsheets, or taking on a more expensive, heavier-implementation construction ERP.

QuickBooks and spreadsheets, Meridian Ledger, and a heavier construction ERP
What you are comparing	QuickBooks and spreadsheets	Meridian Ledger	Heavier construction ERP
Where the books live	QuickBooks and spreadsheetsOften one file per company, with spreadsheets kept beside the files.	Meridian LedgerEach company keeps its own books and reports in one finance system.	Heavier construction ERPSeparate entities are possible, inside a system built to run operations as well as finance.
Seeing the group	QuickBooks and spreadsheetsSomeone assembles a group view by hand.	Meridian LedgerCombine the companies you select and read group results.	Heavier construction ERPGroup reporting is usually available, along with a great deal a small finance team did not ask for.
A project’s own statements	QuickBooks and spreadsheetsJob reports and exports. Not an income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow for the project.	Meridian LedgerA project that needs its own books can produce all three. Entries posted to the project are inquired in that project’s books. Several projects can be combined for statements and account balances.	Heavier construction ERPProject cost is often deep, and tied to billing, payroll, and field modules.
Profit, and the cash behind it	QuickBooks and spreadsheetsRetentions and unbilled work tend to live in a side spreadsheet. Profit on a job report can look better than the cash.	Meridian LedgerThe project has a balance sheet and a cash flow statement next to the income statement, so profit is not the only page in front of you. Retention workflows themselves are not in this product.	Heavier construction ERPYou can get to project financials, usually by implementing the operational suite around them.
Who puts it in	QuickBooks and spreadsheetsYou already did.	Meridian LedgerYou configure it and go live yourselves.	Heavier construction ERPA heavier implementation, sized for a broader system.
What else you take on	QuickBooks and spreadsheetsFamiliar tools that get brittle as the companies and projects multiply.	Meridian LedgerThe books and the financial reports. Not construction operations.	Heavier construction ERPProgress billing, field, payroll, and finance as one program of work.

Scroll sideways to see all three columns. Combining selected companies or projects is a reporting view. It is not a statutory consolidation. That limit is stated in full below.

04 — Boundaries

What this is not

Two limits. They are part of the offer, not a footnote.

This is not a construction operations system.

It does not include progress billing, retention workflows, certified payroll, or field management. Field, procurement, and work-order systems can stay in place. Finance runs the books and the reports here.

A combined view is not a statutory consolidation.

Combining selected projects, or selected companies, for reporting is not the same as statutory consolidated financial statements. You get a combined view of what you selected. That step does not produce a statutory consolidation.

05 — License

Authorization baseline

What a quote starts from. No fee is published on this site.

Finance users: 3
Companies, at most: 50
Functional currency: One
Billing: Annual

Billed annually, not monthly. Three finance users, up to 50 companies, a single functional currency. Anything past this baseline is discussed on a quote. It is not listed here as a price.

06 — Quote

Contact us for a quote

Tell us how the group is structured: how many companies, how projects are run, and which of the two setups you want to talk about.

Email: sales@example.com
Phone: +1 (555) 010-0142

These contact details are placeholders from the site config. Replace the brand, logo, email, phone, and domain before you publish. The form does not send a message.

Name (required)

Work email (required)

Company (required)

Phone

Role

What do you want to discuss? (required)

Independent books per company, and a group view A set of books for each project Both. I want to talk it through

How the group is set up (required)

Companies, projects, and what you close the books in today.

Submitting confirms on this page only. Nothing is emailed.