Florida sales tax help
The real-property-improvement vs retail-plus-installation detail behind your construction books, configured in QuickBooks.
Sales tax helpFlorida · Construction Accounting
Florida construction accounting that knows which job made money.
Florida taxes a contractor on the materials it uses on most real property contracts (Rule 12A-1.051), so we set the books up for how each contract is written, build real job costing, WIP, AIA billing, and retainage, keep financial statements ready for your surety and your CPA, and track subcontractor 1099s — prepared by a senior bookkeeper who works in your software, or by a signed specialist practice when your books need one.
Monthly bookkeeping: $500–$2,500+ a monthWhat sets the price
If your file needs our paid diagnostic first, its fee is credited in full against the cleanup. Either way, you get a fixed fee in writing before any work starts.
State rule
Florida rule: on a real property contract, the contractor is generally the final consumer of the materials and supplies it uses, paying sales tax when it buys them and collecting none from the owner, unless the contract is a retail sale plus installation contract; the books are set up for how each contract is written. Source: Florida Department of Revenue, GT-800007.
§ The short version
Florida construction accounting from TechBrot shows which job made money: job costing, WIP schedules, AIA billing, retainage and subcontractor 1099s in your own QuickBooks file, with monthly bookkeeping at $500–$2,500+/mo. On most real property contracts Florida treats the contractor as the consumer of its materials, so the books follow how each contract is written.
They took something that felt overwhelming to me as a first-year business owner and made it simple.
What stood out the most was TechBrot Inc’s attention to detail.
Intuit QuickBooks Certification Level 2 and QuickBooks Workforce Certification,
§ 01 · Why Florida contractor books break
Three places Florida contractors lose the numbers.
Profitable-looking contractors go under when these go unmanaged. Knowing which one you’re in tells us where to start.
01Job costs
Jobs that quietly lose money
Without real job costing and a WIP schedule, a contractor can look profitable while individual jobs bleed — the loss only shows up after the job (and the cash) is gone.02Sales tax
Real-property-improvement treatment
Florida taxes construction by contract type — real-property improvement makes you the consumer of materials; retail-sale-plus-installation doesn’t. Books set up wrong for your contract type mean sales tax is mishandled on every job.03Subs & 1099s
Subcontractor records
A sub-heavy roster with sloppy 1099 records is an audit and a backcharge waiting to happen — and blurs the job-cost picture when sub costs aren’t tied to jobs.§ 02 · What TechBrot handles
How we keep a Florida contractor’s job costs.
Every engagement is scoped to your jobs and crew, delivered in your own QuickBooks file by your TechBrot team, with every close reviewed by a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor.
01
Real job costing
Labor, materials, subs, and equipment tied to each job so true job margin is visible, not a blended number.
QuickBooks accountant02
WIP schedules
Costs vs billings tracked per job so over- and under-billings and real margin are visible before the job closes.
Monthly bookkeeping03
Contract-correct sales tax
Books set up for real-property-improvement or retail-plus-installation so Florida sales tax is handled right on materials — your CPA confirms.
Sales tax help04
AIA billing & retainage
Progress billing (AIA G702/G703) and retainage receivable/payable tracked so cash and billings stay straight.
QuickBooks accountant05
Statements for your surety & CPA
Financial statements ready for your surety and your CPA, kept current from the monthly close so a bond application or renewal is not a scramble.
Financial statements06
Subcontractor 1099s
Sub records and 1099s kept clean and tied to jobs — ready for filing season and clean on the job-cost side.
Bookkeeping services§ 03 · Tools we work alongside
Connected to how you build.
- Procore, Buildertrend, and construction-management platforms
- Knowify and job-costing tools
- Gusto, ADP, and construction payroll providers
- Certified-payroll tools for federal Davis-Bacon jobs
- Bill.com for subcontractor and vendor AP
- QuickBooks Online or hosted Desktop — your file
We reconcile alongside the project-management and payroll tools you already run — the books read from how you build.
§ 04 · How engagements work
From guesswork to job-level profit.
Every Florida construction engagement follows the same rhythm — books accurate first, job-profit visibility second, advisory third.
- Step 1
Free job & contract review
A QuickBooks ProAdvisor reviews your jobs, WIP, and how your contracts are treated for Florida sales tax — at no cost. - Step 2
Written fixed-fee scope
A written scope and fixed fee within 3 business days — setup, cleanup, or monthly. - Step 3
Build job costing & WIP
Job costing and a WIP schedule set up, AIA billing and retainage tracked, sales tax set to your contract type. - Step 4
Monthly job profit
A monthly close showing job-level profit and WIP, CPA-ready and bonding-ready.
§ 05 · Beyond the books
Accurate job costs are the start. Winning the right bids is the point.
When job costs are accurate and WIP is visible, the decisions get real: which work to bid, which crews and job types make money, whether to take the bonded job — answered from numbers that tie.
That’s where fractional-CFO advisory picks up, on cleaned-up books, in coordination with your CPA and bonding agent.
Checked against the Florida Department of Revenue.
§ 07 · Around this page
Around Florida.
Florida QuickBooks ProAdvisor & bookkeeping
The state page: services, industries, cities and the Florida tax terms in one place.Construction accounting, nationally
The national engagement this page is the Florida version of — same scope, same written fixed fee.Also in Florida
Other Florida industries
Florida cities
Not sure where your file stands? Start with the free QuickBooks file review · how Florida compares: state-by-state tax quirks.
§ 08 · FAQ
Florida construction accounting questions.
What does Florida construction accounting include?
Real job costing, WIP schedules (costs vs billings), AIA progress billing and retainage, books set up for the Florida real-property-improvement sales-tax treatment, financial statements ready for your surety and your CPA, and subcontractor 1099 records — in your own QuickBooks file. We deliver the books; your CPA confirms contract taxability and files.
How does Florida sales tax work on a construction contract?
It turns on the contract. On a real-property improvement, the contractor is generally treated as the consumer of the materials — you pay sales tax when you buy them and don’t separately charge the customer sales tax on materials. A retail-sale-plus-installation contract (where you sell tangible items and install them) is treated differently, and fabrication or mixed contracts change it again. We set the books up to match your contract type; your CPA confirms the determination and files. Taxability varies — confirm with the Department and your CPA.
How do job costing and WIP schedules work?
We tie labor, materials, subcontractors, and equipment to each job and maintain a WIP schedule comparing costs incurred to amounts billed. That surfaces over- and under-billings and shows real job margin before the job closes — so a job that’s bleeding gets caught while you can still do something about it, not at year-end.
Do Florida contractors have to deal with prevailing wage and certified payroll?
Florida has no statewide prevailing-wage law. Certified payroll under federal Davis-Bacon applies only on federally funded projects. We keep payroll and job coding clean so certified payroll can be produced accurately where it’s required; the submission and labor-compliance obligations stay with you or your payroll provider. We keep the books behind it right.
Can you keep books ready for bonding and DBPR licensing?
For bonding, yes — we keep financial statements ready for your surety and your CPA, current from the monthly close. DBPR is Florida’s licensing agency, and its Construction Industry Licensing Board licenses the contractor, not the books, so the license is yours to maintain. When a license application or renewal asks for financial information, the books behind it are accurate and current, so renewals and bonding aren’t a scramble.
Do you work in my own QuickBooks file?
Yes — your file, your data, in QuickBooks Online or hosted Desktop, with a senior bookkeeper assigned to your file, and every close reviewed by a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor before it reaches you, connected to your construction-management and payroll tools rather than proprietary software.
Florida contractors start here