QuickBooks and AIA® Billing Software: Why Subcontractors Use Both

Lots of commercial subcontractors use QuickBooks Online as their accounting solution. It’s straightforward, easy-to-use, and it satisfies standard accounting requirements—especially for newer or smaller trade contracting businesses. But there’s a pickle.

If you’re submitting monthly AIA®-style payment applications (e.g., G702® and G703® forms), then you’ve most likely hit a wall with QuickBooks Online. It’s not built for subcontractor billing, meaning that AIA®-formatted pay apps, retention tracking, lien waivers, and GC-specific compliance requirements all happen outside of the software, managed and tracked across spreadsheets, email threads, and manually edited PDFs. 

So, what can QuickBooks actually do for construction billing, and how can you address its capability gaps? 

What is AIA® billing?

AIA® billing refers to the standardized payment application format developed by the American Institute of Architects, most commonly the G702® (Application and Certificate for Payment) and G703® (Continuation Sheet) forms. General contractors (GCs) and owners use this format to review and approve subcontractor billing on commercial projects. 

For a full breakdown of how AIA billing works, see our AIA® billing guide.

Does QuickBooks support AIA billing?

Not natively. Neither QuickBooks Online nor QuickBooks Enterprise Contractor includes a built-in AIA® G702®/G703® format, retention calculations, waiver tracking, or GC-specific pay app requirements. QuickBooks is designed to manage your general ledger: invoices, expenses, and financial reporting.

To bill in AIA® format from QuickBooks, most subcontractors end up building their own workarounds, which looks like:

• Turning on progress invoicing so they can bill a percentage of an estimate over multiple invoices instead of one lump sum.
• Setting up a “Customer: Job” for each project rather than billing everything under one customer record, so job-level totals stay clean.
• Using subtotal items to group line items by trade or division, which can approximate the layout of a G703® continuation sheet.
• Tracking retention as its own line item, so it doesn't get buried in the total and forgotten until closeout.
• Creating an Excel or Word template that mimics the G702®/G703® layout, then manually updating it every billing cycle and re-entering the same numbers into QuickBooks.

What’s the problem with manual workarounds?

Building AIA®-style pay apps by hand outside of QuickBooks creates a familiar set of headaches:

• Accounts receivable (A/R) ages while pay apps get kicked back for missing lien waivers, expired certificates of insurance, or incorrect math.
• Working capital tightens as payment gets delayed.
• Project managers spend time marking up spreadsheets instead of managing jobs.
• Accounting scrambles to correct and resubmit invoices or collect and submit missing waivers and compliance documentation.
• Double entry between the template and QuickBooks introduces errors that are easy to miss.

None of this is a flaw in QuickBooks. It's designed to be a general accounting platform, not a construction billing tool. As a result, subcontractors are left filling the gaps with spreadsheets, templates, and manual processes. For many, those workarounds eventually become painful enough that they look for software built specifically for construction billing.

How does AIA® billing software complement QuickBooks?

AIA® billing software fills the exact gap QuickBooks leaves open. It handles the G702®/G703®-style formatting, retention tracking, lien waivers, and compliance documents QuickBooks wasn’t built for, then syncs the finalized numbers back so the general ledger stays accurate. 

This is the exact gap Siteline was built to close. Siteline sits on top of QuickBooks Online (and QuickBooks Enterprise Contractor) and takes over everything AIA®-style billing touches:

• generating G702®/G703®-style pay apps (as well as any custom pay app forms), 
• tracking retention automatically, managing lien waivers and compliance documents,
• handling change orders, and 
• automating collections. 

Once a pay app is approved, Siteline syncs the finalized, pretax invoice amount back to QuickBooks Online automatically, so accounting never has to re-enters a number.

The result: PMs and accounting stop maintaining a parallel system of spreadsheets and email threads, while QuickBooks remains the system of record for accounting.

How does Siteline's QuickBooks online integration work?

Siteline connects directly to QuickBooks Online (QBO) through a secure API, so each system does what it's best at: QBO stays your accounting system of record, and Siteline becomes your dedicated AIA® billing and compliance tool. There's no data migration and no chart-of-accounts overhaul.

Here's the flow:

1. Projects and estimates originate in QuickBooks Online. Customers, sub-customers, or projects, along with any estimates, are created and maintained in QBO like normal.
2. Siteline imports the project. If an estimate exists in QBO, Siteline imports those estimate lines as your schedule of values (SOV).
3. You manage billing entirely in Siteline. This includes progress billing, stored materials, change orders (via additional estimates), retention tracking, pay app generation, lien waivers, compliance document management, and submitting to GC portals when needed.
4. Siteline generates the invoice. Line-item invoices are created when a QBO estimate exists; total-only invoices are created when it doesn't.
5. The invoice syncs back to QuickBooks Online. Siteline sends the pretax amount, and QBO applies tax automatically, so your books stay accurate without manual re-entry.

Retention is handled entirely inside Siteline and applied using a deduct-retention toggle when the invoice syncs, so you don't have to track it separately.

Note: Siteline also supports QuickBooks Enterprise Contractor (EC). That integration works a bit differently than the QuickBooks Online API sync described above.

What This Integration Solves

• Collaborative billing. Accounting, PMs, and project admins work together inside Siteline using comments, pay app history, checklists, and compliance workflows, all without touching QuickBooks. Siteline does not charge for users, so everyone’s able to log in and collaborate.
• Fast revisions. When a GC requests a change, update the billed amount and regenerate the full pay app package in seconds, with the math and taxes handled automatically.
• Real-time visibility. See which GCs pay fastest, the status of every pay app, how your A/R is aging, and retention tracked at the project and portfolio level, all in one place.
• A fast learning curve. If your team knows how to bill one project in Siteline, they know how to bill all of them. Most teams are comfortable using the product within 30 minutes and are able to bill within the same month of purchasing the software.
• Access from anywhere. Siteline is web-based and works well on tablets, so PMs and field teams can review or enter billing details on the go.

Subcontractors using Siteline see billing move about 6x faster and get paid 44% faster than the national average DSO for construction. Want to see how our QuickBooks integration works and how we can solve your AIA® billing headaches? Book a personalized meeting here.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Does QuickBooks Online do AIA® billing? 

No. QuickBooks Online doesn't include a built-in AIA® G702®/G703® format, retention tracking, or lien waiver management. Subcontractors typically use a separate tool, like Siteline, alongside QuickBooks Online to handle AIA®-style billing.

Why can't I find an AIA® billing template in QuickBooks? 

Because there isn't one built in. This is one of the most common questions on QuickBooks' own support forum, and Intuit's answer is consistent: QuickBooks Online can track work in progress through a manually managed asset account, but AIA®-style pay apps require a separate app or tool.

Can I create an AIA® pay app in QuickBooks Online? 

Not directly. You'd need to build your own template outside of QuickBooks (QBO), then manually enter the finalized invoice back into QBO. Siteline automates both steps and syncs the invoice back for you.

What's the best AIA® billing software for QuickBooks users? 

Look for a tool built specifically for subcontractor billing that integrates directly with QuickBooks Online (QBO), rather than a generic invoicing add-on. Siteline generates AIA®-style pay apps, tracks retention and lien waivers, and syncs finalized invoices back to QBO automatically.

Does Siteline replace QuickBooks? 

No. QuickBooks Online stays your general ledger and system of record for accounting. Siteline adds a billing layer to it, so nothing changes with how your accounting team runs day-to-day.