For general contractors and trade contractors doing tenant finish, commercial and residential work in Alpharetta. Job costing that catches change orders, WIP schedules, bonding support and tax planning from a licensed CPA firm.
Free 30-Minute ConsultationAlpharetta's population has barely moved since 2020: about 66,900 people in the Census Bureau's 2025 estimate. In a city that settled, a lot of the construction is interior build-outs, renovation and redevelopment, where margins are won or lost on change orders and schedule. We set up job costing and WIP reporting built for that kind of work, and as a licensed CPA firm we prepare statements that banks and sureties take at face value.
With a population that's barely moved, less of it is new subdivisions. The Census Bureau's estimates have Alpharetta at 65,810 residents at the 2020 base and 66,921 in July 2025, growth of under 2% in five years. That's a mature market, and mature markets build differently.
You can see it in the city's own rulebook. Alpharetta's Commercial Permitting Procedures, revised in 2026 by the Inspection & Code Enforcement division of Community Development, set out separate permits for foundations, shell buildings, first-generation tenant finish and second-generation tenant finish. The guide even explains that retail and office buildings are often built as shells for future tenants to finish, and it values the shell at 80% and the interior finish at 20% of a new building. That's the vocabulary of a city where build-outs are everyday work.
Public projects keep coming too. In August 2026 the City Council approved a $15.9 million, 18.5-month design-build contract for about a mile of the Alpha Loop trail, from Encore Parkway to Morrison Lake at Haynes Bridge Road, according to Appen Media.
For second-generation tenant finish, demolition, retaining walls and other work the standard valuation tables don't cover, Alpharetta requires a notarized construction cost letter that comes from the building or property owner. The city's guide says it has to cover every cost of making the space ready to move in, including improvements the owner and the tenant provide, not just your contract.
That puts three numbers side by side: your contract, the cost letter on the permit, and your job cost report. When they don't line up, questions follow. We make sure your side of it is clean, with costs coded by job and change orders tracked the day they happen.
Here's a second-generation office build-out bid at $400,000. Approved change orders add $60,000 of contract and $54,000 of cost. Then the crew does another $25,000 of extra work the owner hasn't signed off on.
| Line | As bid | With approved change orders | Plus $25,000 unapproved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract value | $400,000 | $460,000 | $460,000 |
| Estimated total cost | $340,000 | $394,000 | $419,000 |
| Gross profit | $60,000 | $66,000 | $41,000 |
| Gross margin | 15.0% | 14.3% | 8.9% |
That last column usually doesn't show up until the job closes, unless your job costing tracks pending change orders as they happen. Ours does, and it feeds straight into the monthly WIP schedule. If you're setting this up for the first time, start with our job costing guide.
Approved, pending and rejected change orders tracked by job, with the cost coded the day the work happens, so margin fade shows up while you can still do something about it.
Revenue recognized on the cost-to-cost method and reconciled every month. Here's a plain walk-through of percentage of completion.
CPA-prepared statements and a WIP schedule underwriters trust. Get a rough range with our bonding capacity calculator.
Retainage tracked as its own receivable by job, with release dates in the cash forecast. More in our retainage accounting guide.
Budgets, bank relationships and growth planning for owners who've outgrown bookkeeping alone. See fractional CFO for construction.
Contabilidad, costos por obra e impuestos en español para constructoras y subcontratistas que trabajan en Alpharetta y el norte de Fulton.
Our office is at 1775 The Exchange SE, Suite 520, in the Cumberland area. Alpharetta clients usually split it: monthly closes and reviews by video and secure portal, and in-person meetings for the conversations that matter, like budgeting, bank renewals or a surety review. We're a licensed CPA firm, a member of the Associated General Contractors of America, and construction has been our main specialty for a decade.
We also work with contractors in Roswell, Fulton County, Forsyth County and Cherokee County. See the full range of our construction CPA services.
Free 30-minute consultation, in English or Spanish. Bring a recent job cost report and we'll show you what we'd look at first.
Schedule Your Consultation