Flooring and tile contractors: see what each job made — books, payroll and taxes done for you

Free tax review

Find out what we’d handle and what it costs

Thirty minutes by phone; you leave with one written price.

Each month we keep the books, run payroll and show what each install made after materials and installer pay; at year end we prepare the return from those books. Bookkeeping starts at $375 a month, quoted as a flat fee in writing before we start. Based in Santa Clarita, we work with flooring and tile contractors in any state.

What each job made, every month Retention a GC holds back, tracked for each job Installer pay by the hour, the foot or the job The return prepared from your own books

Typical situations

Do you work with flooring and tile contractors like me?

Yes, we take on flooring and tile contractors who install for homeowners, sub on remodels for general contractors, run a showroom, or all three.

A company paying installers by the square foot or by the job

Installer pay goes out in one weekly lump, so it never lands on the jobs it was earned on. We code each installer payment to the job it was for and send a monthly job report showing what every install made. Books plus the year-end return, from $475 a month.

A contractor laying remodel floors for general contractors

The GC holds back retention — the share of each payment kept until the project ends — and once a job is finished, nobody tracks what the GC still holds, so the jobs look profitable while the bank runs short. We carry it on the job as money still owed and flag it when the punch list is done, so you know to ask the GC for the final payment. Monthly bookkeeping from $375 a month — what monthly bookkeeping covers.

A contractor paying two installers on 1099s, nobody on payroll

The paperwork comes after the first check, if it comes at all. We collect a signed W-9 — the form that gives you a worker’s taxpayer ID — and a license number before the first payment, and run payroll for anyone the owner puts on it. Monthly bookkeeping from $375 a month, with sub paperwork and 1099s included; payroll from $95 a month once anyone goes on it — how the payroll service runs.

A flooring company with a showroom

The company sells flooring over the counter and also furnishes and installs it. The books run both through one sales line, though California taxes them differently. We split the two at setup and tie the counter-sale receipts to their own lines, with the sales-tax detail sent at each close (the California sales-tax rules sit in the California section). Monthly bookkeeping from $375 a month.

A newly licensed C-15 or C-54 contractor leaving a bigger company

First van, first jobs, no separate business bank account. A C-15 is California’s flooring and floor covering license from the CSLB (Contractors State License Board); a C-54 covers ceramic and mosaic tile. We have the owner open a business account before the first job and pull any job costs already paid from the personal account into the books, set up the job list and quarterly estimates from day one, and compare an LLC and an S-corp on the first year’s numbers before anything is formed. The return from $650, or from $850 for an LLC or S-corp — how we prepare the return and how we compare entities.

A shop a year behind, distributor invoices in a drawer

Distributor credits and returned boxes were never applied, so job costs run high. We match every distributor statement to its invoices and credits, rebuild the year, and prepare the return from it. Cleanup from $750 — how a cleanup project runs.

Profit by job

How do you see what each job made?

Job costing is how you see what each job made: we match every cost, from flooring, underlayment and setting materials to your crew’s hours, against what each job billed, and send you a report each month showing what every one made.

We set up the job list and cost codes — the labels that sort every cost to its job and type — so a homeowner install, a GC remodel and a counter sale never share a line
We code installer pay to the job it was earned on, whether the crew is paid hourly, by the square foot or by the job, with the crew’s hours beside it
We send returned boxes and distributor credits back to the job they came from, not against the next purchase
We spread the van, shop rent and office costs across the month’s jobs, so each job report shows what the job made after overhead

What we do each month: every distributor invoice, installer payment and crew hour is coded to its job in the close, the month-end check of every account. For the bigger picture, read how tracking profit by job shows which jobs lose money.

Subcontractors

What do I need from a sub before I pay them?

Before the first payment, you need two things from every sub: a signed W-9 and, where your state licenses the trade, their license number.

For payments made in 2026, a sub paid $2,000 or more gets a 1099-NEC — the year-end form that reports what you paid a sub — though corporations generally don’t get one. The line was $600 for 2025, and the forms are due to the sub and the IRS by February 1, 2027. We track each sub’s total through the year so the forms go out on time.

We also look up each sub’s license and its classification when they’re set up, keep installers on payroll and subs on 1099s apart, and flag anyone nearing the line before year end. Our post on when a sub is owed a 1099 walks through who gets one.

Getting paid

How should deposits, progress billings and retention show up in my books?

A homeowner’s deposit is recorded on its job, a GC’s progress payments — the draws a general contractor pays as the work moves — are matched to the work they pay for, and the retention a GC holds back is carried as money still owed to you.

What we do: we set up each job’s payment schedule in the books when the contract is signed, so every deposit, progress billing and final payment has a place to land. We carry what each GC still holds on its job and raise it at the close once the work is done. And we catch the extra room or stair run that was never invoiced — the invoice is yours to send; we don’t write change orders, the signed add-ons to a contract.

Catch-up work

What does a catch-up look like when a flooring or tile contractor’s books are behind?

A catch-up rebuilds the missing months from your bank, distributor invoices and installer pay records, then sets the return and quarterly estimates on the reconciled numbers. We call it a cleanup project, and it starts at $750.

What we ask for

Bank and card statements; the distributor statements and invoices; contracts, deposits and invoices for open jobs; GC pay applications — the progress bills you send a GC for each draw — and what each draw paid; installer pay records, with hours and footage for anyone paid by the square foot; counter-sale receipts if there’s a showroom; last year’s return.

How the cleanup runs

Distributor statements matched to their invoices and credits; installer pay split to the jobs it was earned on; GC pay applications tied to the draws that paid them; gaps documented rather than guessed.

What you get

Reconciled books, the P&L (the profit and loss statement) and balance sheet, a job-by-job read on the year, and the return and quarterly estimates prepared from the rebuilt numbers.

Cleanup is billed half to start and the balance on delivery — here is how a cleanup project is scoped.

The monthly close

What do you check every month?

Each month we reconcile every account and tie every cost, draw and installer payment to its job before the P&L, balance sheet and job report go out.

Bank and card accounts reconciled
Distributor statements matched to their invoices
Flooring, underlayment and setting materials coded to the job they went to
Crew hours and footage logged to each job
Each draw matched to the pay application it paid
Retention due back listed job by job
Installed square footage checked against what’s been invoiced
Counter-sale receipts and showroom stock pulls kept apart from install jobs
A W-9 and license number on file before any new installer is paid

Each month: the P&L, the balance sheet, the job report and a short note on what needs attention — what the monthly close includes.

California

What’s different for a flooring or tile contractor in California?

In California, five things change for a flooring or tile contractor: who counts as an employee, a state report for subs, workers’ comp, sales tax on the flooring you install and sell, and a cap on homeowner deposits.

An installer you pay on a 1099 without a license is presumed to be your employee. We look up each installer’s license and its classification on the CSLB site at setup; worker status itself is a question for an employment attorney. Our post on how California decides employee or sub walks through the rule.
California has its own report for subs, the DE 542. It goes to the EDD, California’s Employment Development Department, within 20 days once you’ve paid, or signed a contract to pay, $600 or more to a sub who is an individual, sole proprietor or single-member LLC. We file it once a sub reaches that point.
Workers’ compensation — the insurance that covers an installer hurt on the job — is required once anyone is on payroll; a C-15 or C-54 contractor with no employees may keep the CSLB exemption on file instead. We book the premium with wages once coverage is in place.
Flooring you furnish and install is taxed when you buy it. We carry that tax as part of each job’s material cost.
Counter sales from a showroom are retail sales and need a seller’s permit. We keep counter sales on their own lines, apart from the install jobs.
Stock you bought for resale and then install yourself owes use tax — the state’s tax on goods you use rather than resell — on what it cost. We post it in the month it’s pulled and keep those pulls on their own lines, ready for the sales-tax return you file with the CDTFA (California Department of Tax and Fee Administration); our post on sales tax on the materials you install covers the contractor side.
Installing flooring in a home is home-improvement work, so the down payment can’t be more than $1,000 or 10 percent of the contract, whichever is less, and special-order flooring is no exception. When we record a homeowner deposit above the cap, we flag it to you.

Pricing

What do bookkeeping, payroll and the return cost a flooring or tile contractor in 2026?

In 2026, a flooring or tile contractor’s bookkeeping runs from $375 a month, books plus the year-end return from $475 a month, and payroll from $95 a month. The return alone runs from $650 for a Schedule C (the business page of your personal return), or from $850 for an LLC or S-corp with the owner’s personal return included. A cleanup runs from $750. W-2 and 1099 filing on their own, without monthly books, starts at $95. Each is a flat fee quoted in writing before we start.

Tracking what each job made, 1099 filing and license checks sit inside the quote; there’s no separate charge for them. What moves a quote: how many jobs are open in a month, crew size and how often payroll runs, the number of subs, bank and card accounts, how far behind the books are, and whether there’s a showroom ringing up counter sales.

Books

from $375/mo

Reconciliations for every account
Distributor invoices and installer pay coded to their jobs
Subs’ W-9s, license checks and 1099s
Monthly P&L, balance sheet and job report

Books plus the return

from $475/mo

Everything in the books
The year-end return prepared from your own books
Quarterly estimates from real numbers
Year-round question access

Payroll

from $95/mo

Pay runs weekly, biweekly or monthly
Direct deposit and pay stubs
The 941 and 940 — the quarterly and annual federal payroll returns
Year-end W-2s and 1099s

The return alone

from $650

Schedule C from your records
From $850 for an LLC or S-corp, the owner’s personal return included
A basic books review before we file
How we prepare the return

The quote is the price.

Book my free 30-minute call

How it works

What happens after you book?

After you book, we hold a free 30-minute call by phone and send the engagement letter during it; once you sign, a secure-portal invite and a short checklist follow.

The 30-minute call

About six questions: homeowner jobs, remodel work for general contractors or both; a showroom or install-only; installers on payroll or on 1099s; how materials are bought; QuickBooks or not; how far behind the books are. You leave with one flat price for the work we’d take on, in writing before we start.

The engagement letter

Sent during the call; sign it when you’re ready — it doesn’t expire. Signing books a short onboarding call, where we set up your access.

Access and documents

The portal invite, read-only bank feeds or your QuickBooks file, the open-jobs list and your license number.

Behind first

If the books are behind, the cleanup comes first, then the first monthly close and job report.

The return, from your own books

Half the return fee starts the work and the balance is due before e-file. You review the draft before anything is filed, and an extension is free if April gets tight.

Communication

You’ll know where the books and the return stand.

The person who answers the phone is the person who closed your books last month.

The same-day rule

Call or email during business hours and you’ll hear back the same day — all twelve months.

The job report, walked through

When the monthly report lands, the person who closed your books goes through it with you — which installs carried the month, which came in thin, and what to watch on the next job.

Admitted to practice before the IRS

Our team of IRS representation specialists is admitted to practice before the IRS. If an IRS letter shows up, forward it: how we handle IRS letters.

The N&T Tax & Advisory Group team

The same team that codes your distributor invoices builds the job report and prepares the return, so both come from the same numbers.

Bookkeeping · Profit by job · Payroll · Quarterly estimates · Tax preparation · IRS representation · Direct line: (661) 554-4495

Reviews

Rated 5.0 on Google

★★★★★ Twelve reviews, every one five stars, every one verifiable. Read all of them on Google →

"Alex helped me resolve a complicated tax situation that had been causing me a lot of stress. He was extremely knowledgeable, responsive, and efficient throughout the entire process."

Kevin B. — via Google

"Working with Alex was straightforward. I hadn't looked at my books all year, but he made my life easy and handled the whole profit and loss at the end of the year so I could get my taxes done."

Levon B. — via Google

"I came to this company with previous tax years and bookkeeping that were done incorrectly. They're very knowledgeable about what they do and help me get everything in order at a very reasonable price."

Sayra A. — via Google

Where we work

Do you work with flooring and tile contractors outside California?

Yes — based in Santa Clarita, we work with flooring and tile contractors remotely in any state.

Job paperwork — distributor invoices, contracts, pay applications — moves through the secure portal, and the monthly job report is walked through by phone or screen share. If you work in another state, we work to that state’s payroll and filing rules and price it into your quote. And if you also run whole remodels as a general contractor, we keep a page for accounting for general contractors too.

Anywhere in the US Santa Clarita Los Angeles San Fernando Valley

What we don’t do

We keep the books, run payroll and prepare the returns; we don’t write bids or estimates, measure rooms, price change orders, prepare lien waivers, pull permits, or sell or install flooring. We also don’t give legal advice on contracts or worker status, license or certify workers, collect insurance certificates, or prepare reviewed, audited or compiled financial statements for a surety or a bank.

Worth reading

What can you read before you call?

Short reads from our blog for contractors — cash pay, returned materials, workers’ comp, equipment write-offs and the LLC question.

Cash pay

Expense or depreciate a tool or equipment purchase?

Entity

LLC vs S-Corp for Contractors: Where the 2026 Tax Savings Actually Come From

FAQ

What should a flooring or tile contractor ask before booking?

Do I have to send 1099s to the installers I pay by the job?

Yes, when an installer you pay as a sub is an individual, sole proprietor, single-member LLC or partnership and you paid them $2,000 or more during 2026 — corporations generally don’t get one. The 1099-NEC is due to the installer and the IRS by February 1, 2027. We keep a running total for each sub during the year and prepare the forms from it.

Can my installers be paid as 1099 subs?

Not always: worker status is a legal question, and in California anyone doing licensed work without their own license is presumed to be an employee. We check each person’s license and W-9 when they’re set up and tell you when a case needs an employment attorney’s answer; we don’t give legal advice on worker status.

How do I know which jobs made money once the installers are paid?

Each job’s materials, installer pay and crew hours are tallied against what the job billed, and what’s left is what the job made. A monthly job report lays that out for each job, so a losing job shows up the month it happens. That’s the report we send with every close.

Can I pay my installers by the square foot?

Yes. In California an installer on payroll paid by the square foot is a piece-rate employee, so rest and recovery breaks and other time not spent laying floor are paid separately, on their own pay-stub lines. When an installer paid this way is on payroll, we set up the separate pay lines and ask for hours as well as footage each pay period.

My books are a year behind. Can you catch them up?

Yes — a cleanup project starts at $750. We work from your bank statements, the distributor’s statements and what you paid the installers, then prepare the return from the rebuilt year. The price depends on how many months are missing and what records survive.

Should a flooring contractor be an LLC or an S-corp?

Either can work: an S-corp is a tax choice an LLC can also make, and a California LLC owes the $800 annual tax. Which one fits comes down to running costs and taxes on your own numbers, and we model both before you form anything. Our entity-selection page shows how the comparison runs.

Ready to see what each job made?

One free 30-minute call. You’ll leave knowing what we’d handle and what it costs — whether or not you hire us.