How to Read a Construction WIP Report: Why a Cash-Rich Month Can Mean You Are Overbilled
A full bank account after a big billing month does not prove the month was good. If the customer has paid billings that run ahead of…
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FL Bookkeeping Guide
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15 articles totalFlorida Contractor Sales Tax: Real Property Improvement vs. Tangible Personal Property
Under Florida sales tax rules, a contractor who improves real property is the consumer of the materials: it pays tax to its suppliers and charges no…
Section 179 Makes Buying Equipment Look Smart. Here Is When It Drains Your Cash Instead.
Section 179 lets a business deduct the cost of qualifying equipment in the year it is placed in service, and for taxable years beginning in 2026…
Construction Change Orders: Why the Work Is Not the Problem, the Paperwork Is
You are on site, the owner points at something that is not in the drawings, and the crew is ready to do it. Whether that work…
1099 vs W-2 in Construction: The Control Test That Decides It, and What to Do If You Got It Wrong
If you direct how and when someone works, supply the tools, and keep them on indefinitely doing the core work of your business, the IRS will…
Plumbing Bookkeeping: Why a Profitable Month Can Turn on Three Callbacks
Take a hypothetical plumbing company billing $200,000 of service work in February and again in March, with the same prices, crew, and mix of jobs. February…
Construction Retainage in Florida: The Money You Earned but Cannot Spend Yet
On a $200,000 job with 5% retainage, $10,000 of earned money stays with the owner until the job, or a defined part of it, is finished.…
AIA Progress Billing: Why the Schedule of Values Decides Whether You Get Paid on Time
On an AIA-format pay application, every dollar you request is measured against one document agreed before the first bill: the schedule of values. AIA Document G703,…
The 13-Week Cash Flow Forecast: Why Profitable Contractors Still Run Out of Money
Imagine a contractor whose jobs are all profitable on paper, who still spends a Friday deciding which supplier to pay late so payroll clears. Nothing is…
Roofing Company Bookkeeping: Why Your Money Comes From the Insurance Company, Not the Customer
Florida law now decides how insurance money reaches a roofer, and the change reaches into how a claim job should be recorded. For residential and commercial…
Electrical Contractor Bookkeeping: Why One Set of Books Hides Three Different Businesses
Florida has no statewide prevailing wage law; the U.S. Department of Labor's table of state prevailing wage laws lists Florida as "repealed in 1979." For a…
Florida’s “Retail Sale Plus Installation” Contract: The Sales Tax Rule Most Contractors Get Wrong
A retail sale plus installation contract is the one real property contract under Florida sales tax rules in which the contractor sells the materials to the…
Construction Job Costing: Why Your Company Made Money and You Still Cannot Tell Which Jobs Did
Company-level books answer whether the business made money. Job costing answers which work made it, by charging every cost to the job that caused it. Take…
Franchise Bookkeeping: Why the Fees You Pay Are Three Different Things on Your Books
The initial franchise fee, the ongoing royalty, and the advertising-fund contribution all go to the same franchisor, but federal tax law treats them on different clocks.…
HVAC Bookkeeping: The Three Things That Make It Different From Every Other Trade
A record month of maintenance-plan sales is not a record month of revenue. When a customer prepays for a year of tune-ups and priority service, the…