Please see my attachment for Flipping.
COGS is not moved "on" the sale, but as a result Of the sale = for that same date. You don't want it On the Sale, because it is part of Costs, not part of Sales.
You put into WIP what you need to accrue, to move it later. If you incurred it at closing, it is part of Expense and not going to be Held. WIP = holding on the invested values until completion.
"possibly in different sub-categories"
Use Items. Not more Accounts. Plus, using Items allows you to include Quantity, Purchase Orders (to watch for overbilling) and Estimates (to stay in budget). That would be the Best way to do it.
"Regarding general expenses, I have those labeled as a class."
You don't need Class at all. Projects in Desktop are managed by Customer:Job, so the only reason to use Class might be, for instance, State (because you have different tracking and reporting requirements) or Public vs Private Housing (because you use different crews and have subsidized labor or Davis/Bacon Wage and governmental contract considerations). Although, I use Customer Type and Job type, instead of Class. Class shows everywhere once you enable it; so Always assign class to everything, if you use it at all. I find that gets tedious and is overkill for the reporting needs. But Class could = Remodel or Spec, for the types of projects, for separation of the items, the insurance values, etc, that relate to each line of business.
"At the end of the year, I run a report and add up the total so that I can split them equally between the three partners."
Uh, no. The Entity has its own tax form. Then, the results of that tax form get Split. Each partner gets their K-1 from the tax entity tax return.
"How do I do that so it reflects on each partner’s equity account? Do I do it by journal entry?"
Once the taxes are done fro the entity, sure, you can split the Retained earnings per the K-1, so that RE as of the first date of the new year, will show 0, and each Partner has that allocated in their equity breakdown per the K-1.
"Also instead of waiting till the end of the year, can I do the split at time of recording the item, then reflect that to each partners equity account throughout the year?"
Never. And you already learned this: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/community/Reports-and-accounting/How-do-I-post-the-profit-on-a-real-es...
Stop trying to be Three Musketeers as individuals; you need to be As One. You are partners in a business Entity. This Entity has the activities. You benefit from the End of the Year performance of this entity. Not each activity, each date, every dollar.
Make sure you have a CPA to guide you. They will keep you on track and head off this type of concept before it gets you into trouble.
