You Have Ultimate Control On Who Has Or Receives

Information About Your Contracting Company

Financials statements are based on the information you provided. I know this is not a statement that any contractor wants to hear about their bookkeeping. It is easier to blame the bookkeeper for missing information. The primary keeper of all the documents is you, your spouse, your employees, your suppliers, your bank, your credit card company. The Key work is done by you, or whoever assists you have the power to give information to outsiders about your Construction Company.

Who wants details about your business?

Internal Revenue Service
State Revenue Agencies
State Payroll Agencies
Other State Agencies
Worker’s Compensation Provider
General Liability Insurance Provider

Depending on the report it may be monthly (sales tax, business excise tax, other state business tax reports) Quarterly reports include all payroll related forms to State and Federal (Internal Revenue). Personal story. If you have any data that you can include relating to your list, include that in your introduction, too.

Some states require Contactors to take a test before receiving Contractors License

Depending on your state a Contractor may have to be licensed which can require a Bond and General Liability Insurance. Because the General Liability Insurance is made up of a group of numbers to make up the coverage and premium, there is usually an annual General Liability Insurance Audit and are date specific based on when the coverage was taken out. Your Construction Company Structure determines how simple or how complicated the annual insurance audit it. We can help you with this. Call Sharie 206-361-3950 or email her sharie@fasteasyaccounting.com

Insurance Audit Questions May Include:

Annual sales
Owners wages
List of employees
Employee wages
Copies of 941 Quarterly Reports
Copies of State Unemployment Reports
List of subcontractors
Total paid to subcontractor
Copies of Subcontractor’s Certificate of Insurance
List of names of casual labor
Total paid to each casual labor
The total amount of Leased or Rented Equipment.

Periodically Your State Unemployment Agency will want details on individual employee’s hours. Form to be filled out is date and period specific and will want the total per week (regular time and overtime) then broken down by day and a weekly total of wages earned, and date wages were paid. In other words; the State Agency is asking for more in more detail to be sure they get the same grand total as other reports and did you pay the proper amount in the time frame required.

Some states and cities have different minimum wage requirements this adds to the tracking required.
In Washington State, we have a state minimum wage, and then several individual cities have an increased minimum wage. In addition to new rules about Family Leave, Sick Leave, and Personal Time Off. Many of these rules are based on the number of employees you have.

Internal Revenue Service Requires You File Annual 1040 Tax Return. Most contractors file their taxes on a calendar year. S-Corps and LLC’s treated as S-Corps annual tax return is due on March 15th with a six-month extension allowed to September 15th.

Numbers From Your Contracting Company Return Move To Your Personal 1040 Tax Return. Personal tax returns with or without Schedule C (additional pages for Sole Prop’s and LLC’s treated as a Sole Prop) are due on April 15th with a six-month extension allowed to October 15th. Reminder the tax return is due in a couple of weeks.

There are many reasons why taxes are not ready for the tax accountant to do the annual taxes. Contractors may feel that they can do it themselves using tax software. My recommendation is to use a Tax Accountant. Laws change all of the time.

Assume that every time Congress meets they have done something. Since the average person is too busy and has no way of knowing what amendments are added to any given bill may impact the tax code having a tax accountant is a cost and time effective solution.

Tax Accountants Are “Generalists.” What do I mean by “Generalist”? To stay in business, tax accountants have more clients than just contractors. Tax Accountants have to keep on top of all the tax changes that impact all of their clients. Reality is, the tax accountant is more concerned about your bottom line and how it impacts the rest of your life and taxes, not your job costing reports.

Does your spouse work, what and where are all the W-2, interest income, dividend income, health insurance, children, your house, mortgage, property taxes and what other misc. Expenses that might be deductible? Many tax accountants send a packet for their clients to fill out and bring with documents.

When a Construction Contractor drops off a box of receipts and bank statements to the tax accountant the Construction Contractor asks:

How am I doing?
What about [fill in the blank]?
Did I make any money on “xyz job”?
Tell me about how to improve my business?

The tax accountant is going to roll their eyes and seems less than helpful or incompetent. They are not! Knowing about the individual details of Construction Accounting and Job Costing is not a normal skillset of the tax accountant. Depending on the size of the pile to manage whether a tax accountant will use Excel and a Workaround to file the Construction Contractor’s taxes or send you to a bookkeeper to do it.

Our focus is on helping you survive and thrive. When we ask you for documents, it is part of our Contractors Bookkeeping Services System. We have a process where we will do a gentle follow-up. Sometimes the greatest most effective follow-up is done by the State Agencies who want specific reports which when they are not filed promptly will incur late fees and penalties or cancellations.

They will call, send certified letters, issue Warrants on Bank Accounts and file Tax Liens all to receive money owed to a government agency. Not someone you want to have your number on speed dial. It is one thing if the over site is lack of money, and another if it is bad paperwork.

Job Costing Is Only Possible when you, the Contractor have put the job name on the receipts, checks and other paperwork directly related to each job. It is unreasonable to expect any bookkeeper to guess which job the costs should be assigned to or interrupt your already busy day with several phone calls to ask for information about a receipt, bill or other paperwork.

One Process In Our Bookkeeping System Is "OHIO" Only Handle It Once

Proactively writing on the receipt, giving the customer name and address in the Purchase Order field at the supplier will make the bookkeeping process easier on everyone and more importantly it will be the foundation to providing you with Job Costing Reports to help you identify the 20% of jobs and customers that generate 80% of your Cash Flow and Profit.

How To Combine The 80/20 Rule With Business Process Management For Your Construction Company

The 80-20 Rule Combined With Business Process Management

Can Improve Your Life In Ways You Never Dreamed Possible!

20% Of The Construction Companies - Share the Top 80% of the profits which the owners and shareholders use to support lavish lifestyles because they know what to do, when to do it and how to do it!
80% Of The Construction Companies - Share the Bottom 20% of the profits which the owners and shareholders use to support just above or just below average lifestyles because they don't know what to do when to do it or how to do it!

Not every Construction Contractor wants to put in the effort for Job Costing, and that is OK. It is Good, Better and Best in all things including Construction Accounting. With processes, every contractor will get value out of their bookkeeping no matter what level of service they require to fit their needs.

The most basic accounting provides a Profit & Loss Statement and Balance Sheet on demand for their Tax Accountant to file the taxes. Add personal documents, and the Tax Accountant knows what to do.

Basic Construction Bookkeeping is more than hooking up your bank feeds to an Accounting Software and let the software decide what to do with the transactions. All good bookkeeping even for the smallest Construction Contractor is more than balancing your checkbook.

Good Construction Accounting provides answers for Construction Contractors from the Brand New Contractor, Handyman, Trade Contractor, General Contractor. Construction Accountants know what to do when they receive the documents. Of course, you need to talk your prospective Construction Accountant and make sure they know Construction Accounting; then decide if it is a good fit for your needs.

One example in Construction Accounting there is a difference between Spec and Custom Home. General Contractors sometimes get confused on which they are building as both are the construction of a new home. Construction Accountants are never confused as the accounting is different.

In Washington State, it is a huge difference because of the rules about sales tax. When a contractor must charge sales tax on their invoice or if they accept a resale certificate. All retail sales to homeowners and Spec Builders are subject to sales tax.

Years Ago My Mentor Told Me: “Little Leaks Sink A Big Ship"

Four Leaks That Bankrupt Construction Contractors

Not charging and collecting Sales Tax is a 10% leak.
Not Charging and collecting for Change Orders could be a bigger leak.
Improperly applying payments (where it appears as a credit in QuickBooks) is another leak.
With enough leaks, there is no money left for the fun stuff you want to do in your life.

Change is easier when doing one little thing, then another, then another. Trying to change everything all at once is overwhelming. Many times change easier for a smaller company because they are small.

Number one question from smaller contractors is “I am just me, or it is just me, and I only have one or two employees” Am I too small to help and use the services of a Contraction Bookkeeper?

My Answer: A Company of One – is not too small!

The Company of One with Dog and Pickup Truck is not too small.
Construction Contractor without any employees is not too small.
Construction Contractor with less than five employees is not too small.
Construction Contractor with more than 15-20 employees may be too big to not have an in-house admin

From Brand New Contractor, Weekend Warrior, Handyman, Trade Contractor to General Contractor with or without employees we are here to help.

Looking forward to being of assistance.

Sharie

About The Author:

Sharie DeHart, QPA is the co-founder of Business Consulting And Accounting in Lynnwood Washington. She is the leading expert in managing outsourced construction bookkeeping and accounting services companies and cash management accounting for small construction companies across the USA. She encourages Contractors and Construction Company Owners to stay current on their tax obligations and offers insights on how to manage the remaining cash flow to operate and grow their construction company sales and profits so they can put more money in the bank. http://www.fasteasyaccounting.com/sharie-dehart/ 206-361-3950 or sharie@fasteasyaccounting.com

When You Become A Client - Then we can tap into our resources of knowledge and strategy banks. We use the reports hidden in your QuickBooks in order to diagnose and understand your construction business and develop plans and help you implement a path to success for you and you alone because every contractor has unique Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (S.W.O.T. Analysis) that when understood can lead to a Strategic Roadmap which cannot help but make a lot of money.

We Remove Contractor's Unique Paperwork Frustrations

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For Construction Company Owners who do not need the full power of a QuickBooks for contractors and want 24/7 online access we offer Xero Accounting Online, and we have a custom setup for construction companies. Click Here For More.

This Is One More Example of how Fast Easy Accounting is helping construction company owners all across the USA including Alaska and Hawaii put more money in the bank to operate and grow your construction company. Construction accounting is not rocket science; it is a lot harder than that, and a lot more valuable to people like you so stop missing out! Call Sharie 206-361-3950 or sharie@fasteasyaccounting.com and schedule your no charge one-hour consultation.

Profitable Contractors and Construction Company owners have known about the value of outsourced bookkeeping services and contractor coaching services like ours for a long time, and now you know about it too!

Thank You For Reading This Far, And I Hope You Understand we really do care about you and all contractors regardless of whether or not you ever hire our services.

We Scan Your Receipts, And Invoices link the appropriate transactions to QuickBooks or Xero Accounting Online depending on the construction accounting service you are using and provide ongoing Cloud Based Contractors Bookkeeping Services by accountants who understand construction.

Our Contractor Bookkeeping Services System Is A System

Thinking About Outsourcing Your Contractors Bookkeeping Services To Save Time And Money?

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Business Process Management (BPM) For Contractors

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We Are Also Xero Accounting Experts Specializing In Construction Bookkeeping Services

PS: For The Do-It-Yourself Construction Bookkeeper Our Store Has Chock-Full Of QuickBooks Setup Templates, QuickBooks Chart of Accounts And More.

Most Contractors Setup QuickBooks Desktop Version In One Of Three Ways:

#1 EZ Step Interview inside QuickBooks Setup
#2 Asked Their Tax Accountant To Setup QuickBooks
#3 They Attended A How To Setup QuickBooks Class Or Seminar