Construction bookkeeping for New Jersey contractors
Construction businesses move a lot of money through a lot of hands: material purchases at several suppliers, deposits from customers, payments to subcontractors, payroll for crews, equipment loans and fuel. Construction bookkeeping is about keeping all of that recorded and reconciled, so the company’s numbers, its 1099s and its sales tax returns agree with each other.
We work with builders, remodelers, trades and kitchen, bath, stone and building-supply businesses in New Jersey. One dedicated specialist keeps your books in QuickBooks Online, follows New Jersey’s contractor sales tax rules, and prepares your year-end filings from the same records.
What our construction bookkeeping services include
Monthly books for the whole company
Every month we categorize transactions, reconcile bank, credit card and loan accounts, and send you a profit and loss statement and balance sheet. Material purchases, subcontractor payments, payroll, equipment and vehicle costs each get their own accounts, so you can see where the money goes. This is our monthly bookkeeping service, set up for how contractors work.
One thing to be clear about: we keep company-level books. We don’t offer job costing or project-by-project cost reports. If you track jobs in an estimating or project tool, we keep the general ledger consistent with what you bill.
Subcontractors, W-9s and 1099s
Paying subcontractors is normal in construction; paying them without paperwork is where trouble starts. We collect W-9s as new subs come on, track what each one is paid, and prepare 1099-NEC forms at year-end. For payments made in 2026, the IRS threshold is $2,000 per payee for the year, and Form 1099-NEC is due by January 31.
New Jersey sales tax: repairs vs. capital improvements
New Jersey has its own rules for contractors. According to the Division of Taxation’s guide to sales tax and home improvements:
- Contractors are the final consumer of materials, so they pay sales tax when buying them.
- Labor on a repair or maintenance job is generally taxable, and the invoice should state materials and labor separately.
- Labor on an exempt capital improvement, one that permanently adds value or useful life to the property, is not taxed when the owner gives the contractor a completed Certificate of Exempt Capital Improvement (Form ST-8), which the contractor keeps.
- Some installations are taxable even as capital improvements, such as carpet and other floor coverings, certain landscaping, and hard-wired alarm systems.
We record taxable and exempt work separately, keep track of ST-8 certificates, and prepare your NJ sales tax returns from the same figures.
Payroll for crews
Workers you direct day to day are usually employees, not subcontractors. We set up payroll so wages and payroll taxes post to your books each pay period, with payroll filings available on request.
Year-end tax return
At year-end we prepare your business tax return, federal and New Jersey, from the books we have kept. Before year-end, tax planning can look at the timing of equipment and vehicle purchases.
What you see each month
Each month you get a profit and loss statement and balance sheet with materials, subcontractors, payroll, equipment and vehicle costs on separate lines, plus a list of what each subcontractor has been paid so far this year. Customer deposits received before work starts are tracked as deposits rather than counted as income too early, and equipment loans show the real balance owed. When a bonding company, lender or supplier asks for financial statements, they are already current.
Starting out or catching up
New contractors can start clean: we can form your New Jersey LLC and register it for sales tax before the first job. If your books are already months behind, catch-up bookkeeping rebuilds them from bank statements before monthly work begins.
Home improvement contractors in New Jersey also register with the Division of Consumer Affairs each year, as the state’s home improvement contractor quick-start guide explains. We don’t file that registration, but we keep the tax side in order.
How we work with contractors
- Free consultation. A 15–30 minute call or a visit to your shop or yard.
- Fee agreed upfront. Set individually by transaction volume, accounts and reporting frequency, before we start.
- One specialist. The same person handles your books, 1099s and questions, in English or Turkish.
We work across Bergen, Passaic, Essex, Hudson and Morris counties and in New York. Book a free consultation to talk about your company’s books.