Verus Tax Service › Construction & Trades
Contractor books that hold up
Construction has the messiest paperwork of any trade I work with, and the highest cost when it goes wrong. Subcontractors, materials, deposits, retainage and jobs that span two tax years all fight each other.
What I watch for
Subcontractors and 1099s
If you pay subs, you generally have information reporting obligations, and the penalties for missed filings stack per form. Collecting a W-9 before the first check is the single cheapest habit you can adopt.
Worker classification
The line between a subcontractor and an employee is not yours to define by preference. Getting it wrong exposes you to back payroll taxes, penalties and interest — and in this trade it is examined more often than in most.
Job costing
Without costs assigned to jobs, you cannot tell a profitable job from one that quietly lost money. Books structured by job turn your accounting from a compliance chore into something you can actually price from.
Deposits and work in progress
Money collected up front for work not yet performed is not simply revenue in the month received. How this is handled affects which tax year the income lands in, and that can move your bill significantly.
Tools, trucks and equipment
Small tools, large equipment and vehicles follow different rules. Treating them all the same is how deductions get lost or overstated.
Bring your last return and your current job list. The first thing I want to know is whether your subcontractor paperwork is clean, because that is where the real exposure sits.
“Hugo & his team are very professional, caring & very detailed in their work.”Google review
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