Construction & Trades

Building work rarely runs to a tidy accounting calendar. Payments arrive in stages, retentions sit outstanding for months and the Construction Industry Scheme adds a layer of administration on top of everything else.

We look after builders, groundworkers, electricians, plumbers, roofers and the contractors who employ them. Whether you work as a sole trader with a van or run several teams and a yard, the accounting issues are the same in kind: getting paid, staying on the right side of CIS and knowing whether a job actually made money once the labour and materials were counted.

CIS deductions are the most common source of trouble. Verification, monthly returns and the correct treatment of materials all need handling properly, and subcontractors are frequently owed substantial repayments that are only recovered when the return is prepared on time.

Alongside the compliance we look at job costing, so that pricing on the next contract is based on what the last one really cost rather than what it was expected to cost.

How we can help

• CIS returns, verification and subcontractor statements
• Recovering CIS deductions suffered as a subcontractor
• VAT domestic reverse charge for construction services
• Job and contract costing
• Plant and vehicle purchases and capital allowances
• Cash flow planning around retentions and staged payments