New York · Construction Accounting
New York contractors don’t fail on revenue — they fail on jobs that quietly lost money while the books looked fine. We set up real job costing, WIP, and retainage, handle NY certified payroll under NYS Labor Law Article 8, and code the capital-improvement vs. repair sales-tax line (Form ST-124) — all in your own QuickBooks file, by a named Certified ProAdvisor. We deliver the books; your CPA files.
Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor team · Independent · not Intuit · Fixed-fee · written scope in 3 days
TechBrot delivers Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor construction accounting for New York contractors — job costing, WIP schedules, retainage, NY certified payroll, and capital-improvement sales-tax coding, set up in your own QuickBooks file by a named ProAdvisor. The full New York construction summary is below.
Reviewed by the Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor team at TechBrot Inc., an independent firm — not affiliated with Intuit Inc. New York construction facts (NYS Labor Law Article 8 certified payroll; capital-improvement Form ST-124) verified against NYS Department of Labor and NY DTF guidance.
Construction runs on projects, not periods — company-wide books can’t tell you whether a single job made or lost money. Real construction accounting needs job costing (labor, materials, equipment, and subcontractors tracked per project and cost code), WIP schedules showing earned revenue versus billings, retainage tracked on both receivables and payables, and change-order discipline. Whether you recognize revenue on percentage-of-completion or completed-contract changes how every one of those lines reads on your financials.
New York adds its own layer. Certified payroll under NYS Labor Law Article 8 is required on public and prevailing-wage work, with the wage schedules and reporting GCs and agencies demand. The capital-improvement vs. repair distinction governs sales tax on materials and labor — a permanent improvement to real property is generally non-taxable to the customer with a properly completed Form ST-124, while a repair or maintenance job is taxable. AIA-style progress billing, lien waivers tied to each draw, and multi-state payroll for crews crossing the NY/NJ/CT line round out the difference.
There’s a geography wrinkle too: an NYC job carries the city’s 8.875% combined sales tax on taxable materials and a stricter licensing and permitting regime than the same job upstate, where the combined rate is lower and the prevailing-wage exposure depends on the funding source. TechBrot sets all of this up in your own QuickBooks file, keeps it accurate monthly, and turns it into job-level profit you can bid from. We deliver the books; your CPA files. Independent firm — not affiliated with Intuit Inc.; does not file NY taxes.
It runs on projects, not periods — per-job revenue and cost, often percentage-of-completion, with retainage and change orders. New York adds certified payroll (NYS Labor Law Article 8) and the capital-improvement sales-tax rule (Form ST-124) that standard bookkeeping can’t handle.
Yes — labor, materials, equipment, and subcontractors tracked to each project and cost code, with prevailing-wage labor and capital-improvement materials coded correctly from the start, so you can bid from real job-level profit instead of a company-wide guess.
Yes — certified payroll reporting for New York public and prevailing-wage projects under Labor Law Article 8. Complex union or multi-state prevailing-wage cases — common on tri-state jobs near NJ and CT — are scoped openly on the discovery call.
New York splits a capital improvement (generally non-taxable with a Form ST-124) from a repair or maintenance job (taxable). In NYC the taxable rate is 8.875%. Miscoding it is a common NY assessment trigger — we track the ST-124 certificates and the taxable/non-taxable split.
A fixed monthly fee against a written scope — driven by active jobs, payroll complexity, and certified-payroll needs. Monthly bookkeeping typically runs $400–$2,500+/mo. No hourly billing. See New York pricing.
Profitable-looking companies go under when these go unmanaged. Knowing which one you’re in tells us where to start.
Costs land in company-wide buckets, not on jobs. You know the business made money this year — you don’t know which jobs made it and which quietly bled, so you bid the next one blind. The fix is job costing by project and cost code — labor, materials, equipment, subs — so every job shows true profit. If you can’t pull profit on a single completed job in under a minute, this is your starting point.
Without a WIP schedule you can’t see over- or under-billing — so cash looks healthy while you’ve borrowed against unearned revenue. On New York public work, retainage held on both sides distorts the balance sheet further. The fix is WIP schedules (earned vs. billed) and retainage tracked separately on receivables and payables. Over-billing feels like profit until the job finishes; WIP shows reality before it bites.
New York public and prevailing-wage projects require certified payroll under Labor Law Article 8; the capital-improvement vs. repair line (Form ST-124) governs sales tax on materials. Get either wrong and payments stall or assessments land. The fix is certified payroll reporting and correct ST-124 coding handled within your QuickBooks workflow — with complex union or multi-state prevailing-wage cases scoped openly on the call.
Every engagement is scoped to your jobs and crew, delivered in your own QuickBooks file by a named Certified ProAdvisor.
Labor, materials, equipment, and subcontractors tracked to each project and cost code — real job-level profitability you can bid from.
New York QuickBooks setup →Work-in-progress schedules showing earned revenue versus billings, so cash and profit reflect reality mid-project — on percentage-of-completion or completed-contract.
New York monthly bookkeeping →Retainage receivable and payable tracked separately, with AIA-style progress billing and lien-waiver discipline, so your balance sheet and cash position stay accurate.
New York bookkeeping →Certified payroll reporting for NY prevailing-wage and public projects (Davis-Bacon and NYS prevailing wage, Labor Law Article 8), plus multi-state payroll for tri-state crews near NJ and CT.
New York payroll-ready books →Capital-improvement vs. repair coding and Form ST-124 certificate tracking so materials and labor are taxed correctly under NY rules — including the NYC 8.875% rate on taxable materials.
New York sales tax help →Rebuild job costing from messy books, reclassify costs to the right projects and cost codes, fix sales-tax miscoding, and reconcile to a known-good baseline.
New York bookkeeping cleanup →Using different job-management software? If it exports to QuickBooks, we can work with it. Ask on a discovery call.
Every New York construction engagement follows the same four-phase rhythm — books accurate first, profit visibility second, advisory third.
A 30-minute call to map your jobs, crew, NY payroll requirements, and where the books are breaking. No pitch.
Configure job costing and cost codes, plus a cleanup to reclassify past costs and fix capital-improvement sales-tax coding where needed.
Monthly reconciliation with job-cost reporting, WIP schedules, retainage tracking, and NY certified payroll where required.
Job-profitability reporting and, as you scale, cash-flow and bonding advisory.
Once every job shows real profit and your WIP is clean, the question shifts from “are the books right?” to “how do we bid the next one better?” Which job types carry margin, when to chase bonded or public work, how cash flows across overlapping projects, what overhead each job should absorb — the decisions that separate New York contractors who grow from those who stall.
That’s where construction advisory comes in: a Certified ProAdvisor who knows your job-cost data turning it into bid strategy, cash-flow forecasting, and bonding-ready financials. As automation handles routine data entry, this judgment layer is where contractors find their edge. Explore fractional CFO & advisory →
This page reflects how TechBrot handles New York construction engagements. It is maintained by the Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor team at TechBrot Inc., a Delaware-incorporated independent ProAdvisor firm, and reviewed for technical accuracy on job costing, WIP, retainage, NY certified payroll (NYS Labor Law Article 8), and the capital-improvement vs. repair sales-tax rules (Form ST-124). TechBrot delivers the books and coordinates with your CPA, who files.
Certifications
Active Intuit Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor — Online (L2), Desktop, Enterprise, Payroll
Scope
Job costing, WIP, retainage, NY certified payroll, capital-improvement sales tax · income-tax filing coordinated with your CPA/EA
Engagement
Fixed-fee, written scope before work · delivered in your own QuickBooks file
Independence
Independent Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor firm · Not affiliated with Intuit Inc.
New York contractors start here
Book a free discovery call. We’ll review your jobs, your NY payroll requirements, and where the books are breaking, flag any certified-payroll or capital-improvement sales-tax exposure, and send a written fixed-fee scope within 3 business days. No pitch. Independent firm — does not file NY taxes; coordinates with your CPA.