General 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, show how much each job made after materials, subs and crew hours, run payroll and prepare the return. Bookkeeping starts at $375 a month, quoted as a flat fee in writing before we start. Based in Santa Clarita, we work with general contractors in any state.

What each job made, every month Subs’ paperwork collected before you pay them Payroll and your return from the same books Your subs’ 1099s filed in January

Typical situations

Do you work with general contractors like me?

Yes — we work with general contractors who run jobs with a crew and subs and need the books, tracking what each job made, payroll and the return handled.

A kitchen-and-bath remodeler on deposits and draws

He takes a homeowner deposit and three draws — payments against the job’s schedule — and the P&L looks great the month a draw lands and terrible the next. The miss is reading the bank balance as profit. We track each job’s draws against the work actually done, and the monthly job report shows what each job has earned, apart from what’s sitting in the bank. Monthly bookkeeping from $375 a month — how monthly books track draws.

A GC with a three-person crew, two paid “as subs”

Two of the crew get 1099s, with no W-9s collected and no license check before anyone got paid. The miss is paying first and chasing paperwork in January. We collect each sub’s W-9 and paperwork when they’re set up and run payroll for anyone you put on it — the California license rule is in the California section below. Payroll from $95 a month — how payroll runs with us.

An ADU builder who’s short every payroll week

Every job “made money,” but he’s short every other Friday. The miss is not tracking what each job made: overhead, the owner’s own labor and materials bought for one job and used on another never land on a job. We code every purchase, sub invoice and payroll hour to its job, and the monthly report shows which jobs are carrying the others. Books plus the return from $475 a month — what the monthly job report shows.

A tenant-improvement contractor doing extras on a phone call

The extra work gets done on a call and never written up, so it sits in the job’s costs but never gets billed. We keep each job’s contract value, change orders — the written approvals for extra work — and billings in the books, and flag costs with no matching change order so he can bill them. Monthly bookkeeping from $375 a month — how extras get caught each month.

A first-year B licensee

His B license — California’s general building contractor license — just came through, the first deposits are landing in a personal checking account, and there’s no job list yet. The miss is starting without separate accounts or quarterly estimates, and finding out in April what last year made. We set up the books and the job list from day one, run quarterly estimates from real numbers, and look at the entity question with him. The return from $650, or from $850 for an LLC or S-corp — how we prepare the return; for the LLC question, how we compare entity options.

A GC a year behind

QuickBooks half-kept by a spouse, a box of sub invoices, and a return coming due. The miss is filing from a guess. Cleanup first: the year rebuilt from the bank, the contracts, the draw history and the subs’ bills, then the return prepared from them. Cleanup from $750 — how a catch-up project runs.

Profit by job

How do you know which jobs actually made money?

That’s what job costing is: we match every cost — materials, subs, crew hours, equipment — against what that job has billed, and send you a report each month showing what every job made, while the job is still open.

We set up your job list and cost codes, so every cost has a job to land on
We load the crew’s hourly rate with payroll taxes and benefits, so labor lands on jobs at what it really costs
We split overhead — shop, admin, insurance, equipment — across job types instead of letting it disappear at year-end
We keep material cost apart from markup and track change orders and deposits per job

What we do each month: code every bill and crew hour at the close and send the job report. For the bigger picture, read how a contractor tracks what each job made.

Subcontractors

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

Before you pay a subcontractor, get a signed W-9 (the form with their legal name and taxpayer ID) and their license number.

For payments made in 2026, a sub who isn’t a corporation and is paid $2,000 or more gets a 1099-NEC, the year-end form that reports what you paid a sub (the line was $600 for 2025), and the forms go out by February 1, 2027.

What we do: collect the W-9 when a sub is set up, keep each sub’s paperwork with the job, and file the 1099s in January. For the details, read which subs get a 1099, step by step.

Getting paid

How should deposits, draws and retainage show up in my books?

Deposits, draws and retainage — money the property owner holds back until the job is done — are tracked by job, so the books show what each job has billed, what’s been collected and what’s still held back.

We hold each deposit on its job until the work is billed
We match each draw to the schedule and the work done
We add approved change orders to the job’s contract value
We carry the retainage the property owner holds back as money still owed to you
We carry the retainage you hold from subs as money you still owe each sub

We set up each job’s contract value, draw schedule and retainage when the job starts, and reconcile them at every monthly close. The tax side of deposits — which year they count as income — is covered in the FAQ below.

Catch-up work

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

For a general contractor whose books are behind, a catch-up is a cleanup project from $750, then the return and quarterly estimates prepared from the reconciled numbers.

What we ask for

Bank and card statements, the QuickBooks file if there is one, each job’s contract, draw schedule and change orders, sub invoices and W-9s, payroll reports and last year’s return. Where a record is missing, we document the gap rather than guessing.

How the cleanup runs

Bank deposits are traced to their jobs and sources, costs get coded to jobs, and missing months are rebuilt from the bank and the job records. Missed 1099s for subs are filed as part of the catch-up.

What you get

Reconciled books, a job-by-job report, the return prepared from those books, and quarterly estimates — then monthly books if you want them.

Cleanup is billed half to start and the balance on delivery.

The monthly close

What do you check every month?

Every month we check each open job’s billing against its costs, the draws against the schedule, retainage on both sides, every new sub’s paperwork, the crew’s hours by job and the bank and card accounts — then close the books and send the job report.

Billed to date against work done, per job
Every bill, sub invoice and material purchase coded to its job
Each draw against its schedule
Retainage by job and by sub
W-9 and license on file before a new sub’s first check
Crew hours posted to jobs
Bank and cards reconciled
The quarter’s estimate from the closed books

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

California

What’s different for a general contractor in California?

In California, four things change for a general contractor: who can be paid as a sub, a state report for individual subs, workers’ comp once anyone is on payroll, and sales tax on materials.

Who can be a sub. California presumes that a worker doing licensed work without their own contractor’s license is your employee, not a sub. We check each crew member’s license and paperwork, keep the signed subcontract on file, and run payroll for anyone you put on it. Here’s how to tell a sub from an employee.
The state sub report. California has its own report, the DE 542 to the EDD (the state’s payroll-tax agency), for subs who are individuals, sole proprietors or single-member LLCs once you’ve paid or contracted for $600 or more with them; it’s due within 20 days, and we file it inside that window.
Workers’ comp. Workers’ comp is insurance that pays for employees’ on-the-job injuries; once anyone is on payroll you carry it, and the CSLB — the Contractors State License Board — needs proof of coverage on file. We flag it the day payroll starts.
Sales tax on materials. You pay sales tax on materials when you buy them, and we carry it as job cost. Fixtures you furnish and install are taxed as a sale, so we code them separately on the job and point them out to you.

Pricing

How much do the books, payroll and the return cost a general contractor in 2026?

In 2026, bookkeeping for a general contractor starts at $375 a month, books plus the year-end return at $475 a month, payroll at $95 a month, the return alone at $650 for a Schedule C contractor or $850 for an LLC or S-corp with the owner’s personal return included, and a cleanup at $750. 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 above the floor: how many jobs are open at once, crew size and how often payroll runs, how many subs you pay in a year, how many bank and card accounts there are, and how far behind the books are.

Books

from $375/mo

Bank and cards reconciled
Costs coded to jobs
A monthly job report
Retainage tracked by job
Subs’ W-9s, license checks and 1099s

Books plus the return

from $475/mo

Everything in the books
Your return from your own books
Quarterly estimates
Subs’ 1099s each January

The return alone

from $650

Your Schedule C from your records
From $850 for an LLC or S-corp, your personal return included
How we prepare the return

The quote is the price. If all you need is the year-end forms, standalone W-2 and 1099 filing starts at $95.

Book my free 30-minute call

How it works

What happens after you book?

The setup starts from the 30-minute call: the engagement letter, a portal invite, a short checklist, and then the work.

The 30-minute call

About six questions: what you build, crew size and whether the crew is on payroll or paid as subs, how many subs you pay in a year, how you bill, whether the books are in QuickBooks, and how far behind things are. It ends with one flat price for the whole job, in writing.

The engagement letter

Sent during the call and signed when you’re ready. Signing books a short onboarding call, and the secure-portal invite comes from that call.

Access and documents

Read-only bank feeds or the QuickBooks file, your open-jobs list, your contractor’s license number and your workers’ comp certificate, all through the secure portal — we send a short checklist so nothing is missed.

Behind first, then monthly

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

You see the return before it’s filed

The return comes to you before anything is filed, and questions during the year go to the people who keep your books.

Communication

You’ll know where every job stands.

The person who answers the phone can see your job list, your last close and your open payroll questions — no re-explaining the month from the top.

The same-day rule

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

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 — one about 1099s that weren’t filed, for example — forward it: how we handle IRS letters.

The N&T Tax & Advisory Group team

We work from one set of numbers — the books, the job reports, payroll and the return.

Bookkeeping · Profit by job · Payroll · 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 general contractors outside California?

Yes — we’re based in Santa Clarita and work with general contractors across Los Angeles and remotely nationwide. Draw requests, sub invoices and change orders move through the secure portal, the bank connects directly to the books, and we go over the monthly job report by phone or screen share. If your work falls under another state’s rules, we cover that in your quote.

Santa Clarita Los Angeles San Fernando Valley Nationwide

What we don’t do

We keep the books, the job costs, payroll and the returns — we don’t write bids or estimates, write or send change orders, manage lien waivers, pull permits, or chase insurance certificates. We also don’t give legal advice on contracts or worker status, and we don’t prepare reviewed, audited or compiled financial statements for bonding or a bank.

Worth reading

What can you read before you call?

Short articles from our blog — tracking what each job made, subs’ paperwork and the entity question.

Job costing

Job Costing for Contractors: Why You’re Busy and Still Broke

1099s

When to Give a 1099 to a Contractor: 2026 Rules for Every Sub and Supplier on Your Job

Crew

1099 vs W-2 for Contractors: Should Your Next Crew Member Be an Employee or a Sub?

Entity

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

Sales tax

Do You Need a Sales Tax Exemption for Products You Use on the Job? 2026 Rules

FAQ

What do general contractors ask before booking?

Do I have to send 1099s to my subcontractors?

Yes — if a sub who isn’t a corporation was paid $2,000 or more during 2026, they get a 1099-NEC. We collect each sub’s W-9 when they’re set up, then prepare and send the 1099-NECs and file them with the IRS by February 1, 2027.

Can I pay my crew as 1099 subs instead of putting them on payroll?

Not always: whether someone can be paid as a sub is a legal question about how the work is run, and California adds a license rule (see the California section above). We check each crew member’s license and W-9 before the first payment and run payroll for anyone you put on it. This isn’t legal advice; gray cases go to an employment attorney.

How do I know if a job made money before it’s finished?

The monthly job report shows each open job’s cost to date against what it has billed, so a job running over shows up while there’s still time to bill an extra or adjust the next draw request.

Is a homeowner’s deposit income when I get it?

For tax, a customer deposit is generally income the year you receive it; if you’re on an accrual method, you can elect to push it to the next year, but no further. In the books we hold it on its job until the work is billed, and at year end we reconcile the books to the return.

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

Yes — we rebuild the year from the bank, the contracts and the subs’ bills as a cleanup project from $750, then prepare the return from the rebuilt books.

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

It depends on your situation: an S-corp is a federal tax election an LLC can make, so the real question is how you want the business taxed. A California LLC owes $800 a year regardless of profit, so we model both options on your figures before you form or elect anything. Our entity-selection page shows how we compare the options.

Ready to find out which jobs actually made money?

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