Accountants for Builders

Midlands Accountancy is a Birmingham firm acting as accountant for builders across the West Midlands, covering CIS on both sides, bookkeeping, VAT, payroll, accounts and tax returns. Building work generates paperwork faster than any other trade we see: deduction statements, retentions, stage invoices, materials receipts in the van door. This page sets out how we support builders with the records and filings the trade demands.

Which builders do we act for?

We act for builders at every scale short of the national contractors: the sole trader doing extensions and loft conversions, the small firm with a couple of vans, and the limited company taking on new-build plots. Some clients are subcontractors, some are contractors making deductions, and plenty are both at once. Our base is Birmingham and we work with building businesses across the West Midlands; site life means meetings are rare and most of the relationship runs by phone, photo and cloud records. This page sits within our wider construction and trades hub.

How building businesses are commonly set up

Builders trade as sole traders, in partnerships, and through limited companies, and the right shape depends on circumstances rather than habit. The structure affects how CIS deductions are recovered, how profits are taxed, and what has to be filed each year, so it is worth reviewing when the business changes rather than only when it starts.

CIS from both sides of the payment

The Construction Industry Scheme sits over most building work. Contractors must verify subcontractors, make deductions where required, file monthly returns and issue payment and deduction statements. Subcontractors must keep those statements, because the deductions are payments on account towards their eventual liability, not a final bill. We run the monthly cycle for contractors through our CIS returns service and make sure subcontractors’ deductions are recorded, reconciled and claimed correctly at the year end. GOV.UK’s overview of the scheme explains the framework.

Employed or subcontracted, and how we test it

Whether someone on your site is genuinely a subcontractor or is really an employee is decided by the working arrangement, not by what the invoice says or what either party would prefer. CIS treatment does not settle it. What we ask about is who controls the hours and the order of work, who supplies the tools and materials, whether the person can send someone else in their place, and whether they carry any financial risk on the job. Getting it wrong carries the risk for you as contractor, not for them, so where the answers point in different directions we tell you it needs a proper assessment instead of letting it drift.

Retentions, stage payments and the money still to come

Building income rarely arrives as one tidy payment. Stage payments land as the job progresses, retentions are held back and released months later, and variations get agreed on site and invoiced late or never. The accounts need to reflect what has been earned, what has been invoiced and what is still held back, otherwise profit appears and disappears at random. We help builders track retentions by job and keep stage invoicing tied to the contract terms.

Site paperwork into usable records: materials and labour

The records that matter most in this trade are the ones separating materials from labour, because CIS deductions are calculated on the labour element and job profitability depends on knowing what materials actually cost. Supplier invoices, merchant statements, plant hire, skip hire, fuel and subcontractor statements all need capturing while the job is live. Our bookkeeping service gives builders a routine for this, usually photographing paperwork as it arrives; mixed-up records are among the bookkeeping problems that delay year end we see most. HMRC’s baseline record requirements are set out on GOV.UK.

Filing deadlines an accountant for builders keeps track of

A builder’s compliance year can include self assessment or company accounts and corporation tax, monthly CIS contractor returns, VAT returns where registered, and payroll where there are employees. VAT in construction has its own complications, including reverse-charge arrangements between construction businesses, so VAT returns in this trade benefit from regular handling. Sole traders unsure where they stand can start with our guide on whether you need an accountant for self assessment.

Keeping cash moving between jobs

Cash flow breaks more building firms than lack of work does. Money goes out on materials and wages weeks before stage payments arrive, and a released retention can make or break a month. We help builders see their position ahead: what is due in, what deductions have been suffered, what the tax bill is shaping up to be.

Where builders’ accounts commonly go wrong

In order of how much they cost to put right: deduction statements missing at year end, so tax you have already paid cannot be evidenced; retentions forgotten until they are too old to chase; subcontractors paid before verification; materials and labour run together in one figure so no job’s profit can be worked out; and a van full of receipts arriving in January.

Getting a quote for your building business

For an accurate quote, tell us whether you are a contractor, a subcontractor or both, your trading structure, roughly how many subcontractors you pay in a typical month, whether you are VAT registered, and how your records currently reach an accountant. The scope we quote covers bookkeeping, CIS on both sides, VAT, payroll, accounts and tax returns; contract disputes, health and safety, planning and employment claims are not ours, and neither is valuing work in progress on site, so we point you to the right professional when those come up. Our capacity for building clients is limited and CIS work is seasonal, so come to us before your year end rather than after it. Request a quote and describe a typical month on the tools.

Frequently asked questions

I am a subcontractor. Why do I still need to file a return if tax is already deducted?

Deductions taken under CIS are payments on account, not your final liability. Your position is only established when your return is prepared, and many subcontractors find deductions exceeded what was due, which a return is the route to recovering.

Do I have to operate CIS if I only use another trade occasionally?

Whether you count as a contractor turns on the nature of the payments you make for construction work, not how often you make them. Tell us who you paid last year and what for, and we will tell you which side of the scheme you are on before a return is late rather than after.

Can you sort out my CIS position from previous years?

Usually yes. Where statements are missing we can help reconstruct the position from bank records and contractor contact, though it is slower. Bringing prior years up to date is a common first project for new clients.

How should I record materials I buy for a job?

Keep the supplier invoice, tie it to the job, and keep it separate from labour. That separation drives both CIS calculations and your view of whether the job made money, so it is the one habit we push hardest.