QBCC Accountants for Builders & Construction

Why construction accounting is genuinely different

If you’ve ever had the feeling your accountant doesn’t quite understand how your money actually moves, you’re probably right to trust that feeling. Most accounting habits are built for businesses that invoice, get paid, and move on. Building doesn’t work that way – and treating it as if it does is where most of the trouble we see begins.

Your income arrives as progress claims that may be certified, reduced or disputed. A slice of every claim is held back as retention – money you have earned but cannot bank, sometimes for a year or more after practical completion. The work you have done but not yet claimed sits as work in progress, and how it is valued changes both your tax bill and your QBCC position. Your “employees” might be a mix of wages staff, labour-only subbies and genuine contractors – each with different super, payroll tax, WorkCover and reporting treatment. And every July, the Taxable Payments Annual Report (TPAR) means the ATO already knows exactly what every head contractor paid you.

Builders have special considerations

1. Cashflow. Progress claims on one side, wages and contractor costs on the other – and often the ATO somewhere in between. We don’t just record what happened; we work alongside you to manage the gaps, and if tax debt has built up, we’ll help you face it early and arrange terms while goodwill is still on the table. There is almost always a workable path – it just gets narrower the longer it waits.
2. Wages vs subbies, PAYG & superannuation. Labour is the biggest cost in every building business, and the line between an employee and a subcontractor is blurrier than most people realise – it affects super, PAYG, payroll tax and WorkCover all at once. It’s one of the most common places we see good businesses get caught out, and one of the easiest to put right once you know where you stand.
3. QBCC – your minimum financial requirements and annual reporting. Your licence depends on staying inside your limits and lodging on time. We keep an eye on both throughout the year, so compliance becomes something that happens quietly in the background of your business – not a December scramble.
4. TPAR. When the bookkeeping is right all year, your reporting to the ATO – TPAR, GST, PAYG and the annual return – stops being a season of stress and becomes a routine. That’s the goal, and it’s very achievable.
5. Tax planning. Paying less tax legally isn’t a trick; it’s simply planning done at the right time. The conversations that save you money happen before 30 June, and we make sure we have them with you.
6. Structuring. The QBCC takes a cautious view of trust structures, and the 2026 Budget changes have shifted the ground again. The right structure has to serve three needs at once – your tax, your licence and your family’s security – and we’ll explain the reasoning behind every recommendation in plain English, so the decision is yours.

And over all of it sits the QBCC. Queensland is the only state where your licence to operate depends directly on your balance sheet. That can feel like a lot of pressure riding on numbers you didn’t get into building to think about. It doesn’t have to be – watched properly through the year, these numbers are very manageable. They just can’t be ignored.

How we can help

Compliance that runs quietly in the background

Every contractor licensee lives inside QBCC’s Minimum Financial Requirements: a ceiling on revenue, a floor under your Net Tangible Assets, and a current ratio of at least 1:1. We track all three for our construction clients through the year – not just at reporting time – so a strong year leads to a planned upgrade rather than an accidental breach, and a hard year gets managed early, while there are still good options. When an MFR report is needed, we test your numbers before anything is prepared. You’ll never be surprised by your own report.

Tax that understands retention and WIP

When is a progress claim income? What happens with retentions you might not see for eighteen months? How should unbilled work at 30 June be treated? These questions move real dollars on a builder’s return, and they touch your QBCC position too. We plan both together, and we’ll always show you the reasoning – not just the result.

Numbers you can actually steer by

Plenty of builders run profitable-looking businesses where two jobs in five quietly lose money, and nobody can say which two. Job-level bookkeeping fixes that: every invoice, timesheet and supplier bill coded to its job, so you can see the margin on each project while there’s still time to do something about it. It’s the difference between driving with a windscreen and driving with a rear-view mirror.

Who we work with

Licensed builders. From a first category 1 licence to established commercial builders. Whatever the size, the need is the same: someone who already understands MFR reports, reporting windows and why the director loan account matters – so you’re never paying to educate your own accountant.

Subcontractors and trades. Electricians, plumbers, carpenters, concreters, painters, plasterers, landscapers, earthmovers. Many of our trade clients first came to us with a shoebox of receipts and a nagging feeling they were paying too much tax. It’s where nearly everyone starts, and sorting it out is satisfying work.

Self-certifying licensees ready to step up. SC1 and SC2 cover you to $800,000 of revenue. The step into category 1 brings an MFR report, real capital requirements and better systems. We guide that transition every year, and the earlier we start planning it together, the gentler it is.

Related businesses. Building designers, certifiers, suppliers, project managers and developers – businesses that live in the construction economy and share most of its quirks without holding a licence themselves.

How we work

Questions builders ask us

Can you take over mid-year from another accountant?

Yes, and it’s simpler than most people expect. We handle the professional courtesies and the file transfer with your current accountant; you sign one authority and the rest happens behind the scenes. There’s no need to wait for 30 June, and no awkwardness – this is a normal part of professional life.

My books are a mess. Is that a problem?

It’s a job, not a problem. Most construction clients arrive with some cleanup needed: unreconciled bank feeds, mystery loan accounts, jobs that were never costed. We quote the tidy-up as a one-off piece of work so it never blurs into your ongoing fees, and then it’s done.

Do you only work with companies?

No – sole traders, partnerships, companies and trusts. We’ll also tell you if your structure no longer fits where your business has grown to. The setup that suited a $200k sole trader is usually wrong for a $2m builder, and it’s better to hear that from us early than discover it later.

I think I already have a QBCC problem. Is it too late?

Almost certainly not. NTA shortfalls, overdue reporting, revenue over category – these all have repair pathways, and we walk through a typical one in our worked example. The options narrow the longer a problem waits, so call before QBCC writes to you.

What does it cost?

Every engagement is a fixed fee, agreed before we start, scoped to what you actually need. Compliance for a sole-trader subbie is a very different engagement from full bookkeeping, BAS, QBCC and advisory for a category 2 builder, and the price reflects that. If something extra comes up mid-year, we’ll discuss it with you before any work begins.

Do we have to meet in person?

Only if you’d like to. We’re in Varsity Lakes and plenty of clients drop in – but plenty more run everything by phone, email and video between site visits. Whatever fits your week.

QBCC Guides, Tools & Resources

Everything below was written by our team for Queensland builders and subbies – plain English, current rules, and honest about what’s hard.

• QBCC MFR Reports – what they are, when you need one, and the timing rules that catch people out
• Structuring Your Business for QBCC – why we discourage trusts, the goodwill problem, and how deeds of covenant work
• The Complete Accounting & Tax Guide for QLD Builders – the whole financial picture in one place
• QBCC Disallowed Assets – the builder’s checklist, item by item with the fix for each
• MFR Category Calculator – find your QBCC category in two minutes
• New QBCC reporting changes & requirements (from the blog)
• QBCC requires annual reporting (from the blog)
• More QBCC & building articles publish monthly