MikeBuildsBooks
All-in-one business management platform built for construction contractors — from first bid to final tax export.
Role
Founder / Full-Stack Developer
Key Skills Used
Full-stack product development • ConstructionTech • AI integration • SaaS monetization • Financial systems
The Problem
Construction contractors run multi-six-figure businesses out of spreadsheets, paper documents, and a dozen disconnected apps. Bids live in one place, contracts in another, subcontractor W-9s in a folder somewhere, and the bank account in a completely separate tool. Tax season becomes a scramble. Profit margins erode silently because there's no real-time visibility into job costs vs. contract amounts. Most contractors either overpay for enterprise tools designed for large firms or undermanage their business entirely — leaving money on the table every single job.
The Solution
MikeBuildsBooks is a full-stack, all-in-one business management platform purpose-built for construction contractors. It replaces every spreadsheet, paper document, and disconnected tool with a single secure web application — covering the entire business lifecycle from winning bids to signing contracts, managing jobs, paying subcontractors, tracking every dollar, and generating year-end tax exports. With 28 integrated modules, AI-powered insights, Plaid bank integration, and Stripe subscription billing, it's a professional-grade back-office for the trades.
Business Management
Scattered spreadsheets & paper
28 integrated modules in one app
Financial Visibility
Monthly surprise at tax time
Real-time P&L and job margins
Compliance
W-9s in a folder, 1099s a mess
Automated subcontractor compliance
Product Strategy
- Built around the real-world contractor workflow: win bid → sign contract → manage job → pay subs → close out → tax export
- AI Daily Assistant provides proactive business health alerts and action recommendations every day
- Plaid API integration for automatic bank transaction sync — eliminates manual bookkeeping
- Automated payout engine distributes profit across tax reserve, owner, operating reserve, and retained earnings on job close
- Subcontractor W-9 compliance portal — contractors submit their own W-9s digitally, reducing owner burden
- Permit Drawing Wizard generates permit-ready drawings for decks and roofs with AI municipality lookup
- Financial Scenario Simulator lets contractors model "what if" pricing and hiring decisions before committing
- 3-tier Stripe subscription ($49/$79/$499/yr) to serve solo operators through established firms
- 20+ entity relational data model ensuring every dollar, document, and contact is linked and traceable
My Role
As founder and full-stack developer, I:
- Designed the complete 28-module product architecture from scratch based on contractor workflow research
- Built the entire application: 20+ custom entities, 100+ React components, Deno edge functions
- Integrated Plaid API for real-time bank transaction sync with duplicate detection and categorization
- Designed and built the Bid Builder with AI validation, market comparison, and one-click contract conversion
- Created the Payout Engine — automated profit distribution with configurable percentage splits
- Built the W-9 compliance portal with digital signature, PDF generation, and contractor self-service portal
- Designed the Permit Drawing Wizard with AI municipality lookup and permit packet assembly
- Implemented Stripe 3-tier subscription with admin financial dashboard and live revenue stats
- Built the AI Daily Assistant powered by GPT-4o-mini for proactive business health recommendations
Product Decisions
Why build all 28 modules instead of starting narrow?
Contractors don't want another point solution. The value of MikeBuildsBooks is that every piece of data is connected — a bid converts to a contract, which links to a job, which syncs to the bank, which feeds the tax export. Starting narrow would have broken that chain and delivered a product that required the same context-switching contractors are already suffering from.
Why Plaid for banking instead of manual entry only?
Manual bookkeeping is the number one thing contractors abandon. Automatic transaction sync removes the discipline requirement entirely — the books stay current whether or not the contractor thinks to update them. That's the difference between a tool people use daily and one they open quarterly.
Why build a W-9 contractor portal?
Chasing subcontractors for W-9s is one of the most painful administrative tasks in construction. A self-service portal where subs submit their own W-9 digitally — with digital signature and automatic PDF storage — shifts the work to the party who benefits from getting paid.
Why include a Permit Drawing Wizard?
Permit drawings are a hidden bottleneck on every deck and roofing job. Contractors either pay an engineer, delay the job, or skip the permit. An AI-assisted wizard that generates permit-ready drawings and looks up local fee schedules removes that bottleneck entirely and turns a pain point into a competitive advantage.
Screenshots & UI
🏗️
Visit mikebuildsbooks.base44.app to try it live
Additional UI screenshots coming soon.
What I Would Improve Next
Future improvements for MikeBuildsBooks:
- Native iOS and Android apps for field crew time tracking and photo documentation on the job site
- QuickBooks and Xero integration for contractors already locked into those ecosystems
- AI-powered change order generator — detect scope creep from job notes and draft a change order automatically
- Crew management module — track labor hours, certifications, and payroll per crew member
- Material supplier integrations — pull real-time pricing from Home Depot Pro and Builders FirstSource
- Client-facing project portal — let homeowners track job progress, approve change orders, and pay invoices directly
- Offline mode for job sites with poor connectivity — sync when back online