Builders, civil contractors and tradies have accounting problems that most firms only half understand: progress claims, retentions, subcontractor rules, equipment finance and a cash cycle that never lines up with the BAS. We work with construction businesses from Brisbane to the Scenic Rim, and this page covers what matters.
A cafe knows its revenue by closing time.
02Construction carries more compliance than most industries.
03Building is a high-risk trade in the legal sense.
04Cash flow kills more construction businesses than lack of work.
A cafe knows its revenue by closing time. A builder might not know whether a job made money until months after handover. Revenue arrives as progress claims, costs arrive whenever suppliers invoice, retention is held back until defects are cleared, and variations get argued about. The bank balance tells you almost nothing about profit.
That is why job costing matters more than anything else in this industry. Every quote should become a budget, every job should track labour, materials and subcontractors against it, and the owner should be able to see margin by job before the next one is priced. We set this up in Xero with the add-ons that suit the business, and we review it monthly.
Mitch and Kelsey from Lovelock Contracting put it this way: "From day one, Acquire Strategic Accounting have been nothing short of amazing and have greatly surpassed our expectations." The expectation was an accountant who understood the work. That is the bar.
Construction carries more compliance than most industries. The taxable payments annual report means contractor payments must be tracked and reported to the ATO each year. Payroll has award complexities, allowances and superannuation that are easy to get wrong. GST on progress claims and retention has timing rules. Equipment and vehicle deductions are generous but specific.
On top of the ATO, Queensland has its own layer. QBCC licensing comes with minimum financial requirements and annual reporting for licensees above certain turnover levels, and the figures have to be prepared properly. Security of payment legislation affects how and when you can claim. We make sure the numbers you lodge for QBCC and the numbers you lodge for tax tell the same story.
The subcontractor question also needs care. Whether a worker is an employee or a contractor is decided by the facts, not the invoice, and the ATO and Fair Work both look at it. We help owners get the arrangements right before an audit does it for them.
Building is a high-risk trade in the legal sense. Defects, disputes, injuries and insolvent head contractors can all land on the owner. A sole trader with a house in their own name is exposed. As the business grows, the structure needs to grow with it.
We review the set-up and recommend what fits: usually a company for the trading entity, sometimes a trust above it, and often a separate entity for plant and equipment or premises. The goal is to protect what you have built while keeping the tax position sensible and the QBCC licence tidy.
Tayte from Alphaline Projects said: "We have been working with Acquire Strategic Accounting for some time now, and we couldn't be more pleased." Long relationships in this industry usually mean the structure was set up right and then adjusted as the business changed, not torn down and rebuilt every few years.
Cash flow kills more construction businesses than lack of work. Deposits arrive, then wages and materials eat them, then the client disputes a claim and the next progress payment slips thirty days. Meanwhile the BAS and super are due.
We build rolling cash flow forecasts that reflect the real shape of the work: which jobs are claiming when, what retention is outstanding, when the big supplier accounts fall due, and what the tax and super set-asides should be each week. Owners who run on a forecast price jobs better, chase claims sooner and stop financing the client's project with their own overdraft.
For businesses that have outgrown a monthly bank check, our virtual CFO service adds management reporting, budget reviews and a sounding board on the big calls: the next excavator, the next site supervisor, the next tender.
Plenty of trades businesses are worth more than their owners think, and plenty are worth less because everything depends on the owner. Making a business saleable means building systems, contracts and a team that can run without you on site every day.
We help owners think about this well before they want to exit. Valuation, succession to a foreman or family member, merging with a complementary trade, or selling to a larger group are all paths we have walked clients through. Greg Blackaby brings more than twenty years in structuring and business acquisitions to those conversations.
“Working with Acquire Strategic Accounting has been a game-changer for our business.”
The core difference is job costing and cash flow. A trades accountant sets up the books so every job shows its margin, tracks progress claims and retention properly, prepares the taxable payments annual report and QBCC financials, and forecasts cash around the real timing of claims and supplier bills. General compliance alone misses most of what matters in construction.
It depends on your turnover, assets, family situation and plans. Many builders trade through a company for liability protection, sometimes with a trust holding the shares. Some separate plant and property into another entity. The QBCC licensing requirements also shape the decision. We review the facts and recommend what fits rather than applying a formula.
The arrangement has to match the reality of the work, not just the paperwork. If someone works set hours under your direction with your tools, the ATO and Fair Work may treat them as an employee regardless of their ABN, with superannuation and withholding consequences. We assess each arrangement and help you set it up correctly.
If your business is in the building and construction industry and pays contractors for building services, generally yes. The report goes to the ATO each year and lists what you paid each contractor. The practical requirement is tracking contractor payments properly through the year, which is straightforward in Xero if it is set up for it.
Yes. Licensees above certain turnover categories must report financial information to the QBCC annually, and the figures need to meet the current requirements for net tangible assets and current ratio. We prepare the reports from the same books used for tax, so the numbers are consistent and the licence is protected.
Yes. Our Jimboomba office, VKS Accounting, works with a lot of earthmoving, civil, fencing and trade contractors across Logan, Flagstone, Yarrabilba and out to Beaudesert. The Victoria Point office covers Brisbane. Most of the bookkeeping and reporting is done online, so where you are based rarely matters.
