Work-in-progress accounting, done right.
WIP schedules that hold up to a banker. Retainage tracked through the lien window. Job costing that survives the audit. Books that bonding companies trust.
Bonding renewal is the choke point on growth. Bad WIP arithmetic on the financial statements compresses your bonding capacity, costs you bids, and pushes premium up. Retainage held by GC but recognized as revenue too early inflates this year and starves next. Job-cost reports without committed costs are stories, not data.
How we fix it.
WIP schedule
Percentage-of-completion or completed-contract method picked correctly. Estimated cost-to-complete updated monthly. Overbillings and underbillings reconciled.
Job cost discipline
Committed costs (subs, materials, equipment) booked at PO date, not invoice date. Real cost-to-complete arithmetic.
Retainage tracking
Retainage receivable broken out from regular AR. Recognized when actually receivable, not when contract value is earned.
Bonding-ready statements
Bonding-ready statements with a clean WIP roll-up — formatted the way your bonding underwriter and your bank want to see them.
Why us for construction & GCs.
IRS Enrolled Agent, enrolled to represent taxpayers before the IRS in all 50 states, alongside CPAs and attorneys.
Finance training: the math behind every recommendation we make. Currently in law school.
WIP — percentage-of-completion or completed-contract, by contract type.
PCM is required for most contracts over $30M / 2-yr; CCM is allowed below. Choosing wrong (or worse, mixing methods) shows up immediately on bonded financials. We elect properly and file consistently.
Retainage — receivable, not revenue.
A 10% retainage held until contract close is yours when the project completes, not when it's earned on the schedule of values. Recognizing it too early inflates current income and creates phantom tax.
Bonding capacity — the financials are the gate.
Surety underwriters score working capital, equity, WIP-to-equity, and cash-flow patterns. Books that don't roll up cleanly cost you capacity. We build them to pass the underwriter.
Pricing, on the page.
Published prices · Quoted in writing before any work startsHow it works: one annual fee, half paid at engagement and half before your return is filed. Everything past the package baseline is a published add-on at a fixed price, so nobody counts forms. Books, payroll and sales tax are the only monthly items, because they are the only monthly work. See the full grid and every add-on or get your price in a minute.
One practitioner. Every file, personally led.
Cody is an IRS Enrolled Agent with an MBA — a solo practitioner with a small support team, working out of Lakeland, Florida. He is also currently in law school.
Every client engagement is led by Cody personally. The firm stays deliberately small so the work stays deliberately careful — and so when the IRS calls, the person who picks up is the person who filed your return.
Common questions.
If yours isn't here, ask it on the intake — we read every one before the first call.
PCM or completed-contract?
Depends on contract size, average length, and gross receipts. We elect once, document, and stay consistent.
Can you handle our retainage situation?
Yes. Retainage receivable broken out on the balance sheet, recognized properly through the lien window.
How do we get bondable?
Clean books, strong WIP, working capital and equity that meet the underwriter's ratios. We build toward those targets; bonding is a multi-year arc.
Equipment depreciation — §179 or MACRS?
Depends on your profit and your purchase plan. Big equipment years lean §179 + bonus. Slow years lean MACRS. We model.
Subcontractor 1099s?
Yes. We collect W-9s mid-year, file 1099-NECs by Jan 31, and tie subcontractor payments to the GL.
Multi-state projects?
Common. Florida-based GCs working FL/GA/AL/SC are routine. We file home-state + non-resident returns and handle apportionment.
Related
- Business tax preparationS corp, partnership, C corp and Schedule C returns, with the owner's return included.
- S corp tax servicesWhether the election pays, Form 2553, a salary you can defend, and the 1120-S.
- Monthly bookkeepingMonthly close and reconciliations from the firm that files your return.
- Contractors and tradesJob costing, per diem, equipment and subcontractor 1099s.
Bonded, banked, and ready to bid. That's the goal.
Send last year's reviewed financials and your current WIP. We'll confirm the package and the add-ons on the first call.