Bookkeeping for security companies
A security company bills guard hours and monitoring contracts, pays officers on a strict schedule and carries high insurance and licensing costs. Mispar tracks billing by contract, reconciles officer payroll, separates equipment and monitoring revenue, and prepares monthly books in your own QuickBooks Online or Xero file. Plans start at $229/mo.
Best for: Guard and patrol companies, alarm and monitoring providers, and small security installers.
By client
Contract billing
Reconciled
Officer payroll
Recurring
Monitoring
Itemized
Insurance
Where security company books usually go wrong
- Contract billings and guard pay not tied by site.
- Overtime and training costs spread without a site view.
- Vehicles and equipment expensed unevenly.
How Mispar keeps your security company books clean
Industry-specific accounts and categorization, with the reporting scope agreed before work starts.
Guard hours and contract billing
Track billed hours and rates by contract so payroll and revenue can be compared per site.
Monitoring and recurring revenue
Keep monthly monitoring fees apart from one-off installs and guard work.
Officer payroll and overtime
Reconcile weekly officer pay, overtime and employer costs to payroll reports.
Insurance, bonding and licensing
Categorize liability, workers compensation, bonding and state licensing as separate lines.
Uniforms, vehicles and equipment
Separate uniforms, patrol vehicles and installed equipment from operating costs.
Receivables by client
List open invoices by client and age, since slow payers strain payroll cash.
Subcontracted coverage
Record subcontracted guard coverage by contract so outside labor is visible.
Installation and parts
Tie parts and install labor to each installation job.
Client concentration
Show how much of billings comes from each contract, so reliance on a single large site is visible in the monthly statements.
Training and certification costs
Track officer training, licensing renewals and certifications as their own lines, since these recur and differ by state.
Reports a security company can use
- Profit by contract or site.
- Overtime by month.
- Equipment and vehicle cost.
A simple, predictable process
From kickoff to your first clean close, here is exactly what happens.
Map contracts and payroll
We list contracts, pay cycles and recurring monitoring accounts.
Set up contract tracking
Billings and payroll are tagged by client or site.
Reconcile each month
Client payments, payroll, insurance premiums and vendor bills are matched to the bank.
Deliver monthly statements
Monthly statements arrive ready for your CPA with an open-items list.
Illustrative example
A site contract bills 480 hours a month at a fixed rate while officers are paid weekly. Tracking hours billed against payroll by site shows whether the contract still earns its margin. This is an illustration of the method, not a customer case or a guarantee.
Security Companies bookkeeping — your questions
Can you track margin by contract?
When billing and payroll can be tied to a site or client, yes.
Do you run officer payroll?
No. We reconcile the reports from your payroll provider and your bank, including overtime and employer costs.
How do you handle monitoring revenue?
As recurring revenue apart from guard hours and installs.
Can you list open invoices?
Yes, by client and age in the monthly open-items sheet.
Do you work with scheduling software?
We use its billing and hours exports, matched to your bank.
What do you need each month to keep security company books?
Contract and hours exports, payroll reports, insurance and bonding invoices, vendor bills and access to your bank feeds.
Can you help with insurance cost tracking?
Yes, premiums are categorized so changes at renewal are visible. We do not give insurance advice.
Can you track profit by site?
Yes. Billing and labor are tied to each contract.
How do you handle training and licensing costs?
They are categorized on their own lines so renewals are easy to see and plan for.
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Learn more →Customers slow to pay?
Our in-house collections team calls and emails customers who owe your company money, so you can stay focused on the work.