SPEC 04 · CONSTRUCTION TAX

Construction tax planned from the WIP, not from a shoebox in March.

Construction tax services for Kansas City contractors: the entity return, the accounting method, the Kansas City profits tax and the Missouri and Kansas returns your jobs require, planned in the fourth quarter from the WIP schedule.

Sound familiar?

  • A profitable year on paper and a tax bill in April.
  • No cash to pay it, because it is all in retainage and equipment.
  • Nobody asked about the accounting method until the return was due.

Or call (816) 555-0148. Monday to Friday, 7:00 am to 4:30 pm.

Start with a WIP schedule

Three details. A construction accountant calls within one business day to set up the review.

The WIP schedule build is $1,250 fixed (illustrative), credited to your first month. Nothing starts until you agree the price in writing.

SHEET A-101 · THE YEAR

Three dates that change the bill.

  1. Third quarter

    WIP review

    The September WIP shows what the year will look like while there is still time to act.

  2. Fourth quarter

    Planning meeting

    Method, entity, equipment and timing, decided with you before December 31.

  3. Spring

    Returns filed

    The entity return, the Kansas City RD-108 by April 15 and the state returns the jobs require.

SHEET A-201 · WHAT WE PLAN

What gets decided before December.

  1. Accounting methodPercentage of completion or completed contract for long jobs, where a smaller contractor may choose. We confirm the current federal threshold before quoting it.
  2. EntityS corporation or partnership for a growing contractor, with reasonable compensation set honestly. We do not promise savings.
  3. Kansas City profits taxThe 1% on net profits on the RD-108, filed through QuickTax, even in a loss year.
  4. Two statesMissouri and Kansas returns when jobs cross State Line, and whether an elective entity-level tax helps.
  5. Sales and use tax on materialsWho pays it on each side of the line; see the State Line sales tax guide.
A building owner and a general contractor walking through a finished lobby at golden hour

SHEET G-001 · YEAR-END

Planned, not discovered

Your tax return starts in September.

When the books are job-costed and the WIP runs monthly, the year-end is not a surprise. We read the September WIP, plan the fourth quarter with you and hand your outside CPA, or our own return team, numbers that already tie out.

  • September WIP review
  • Fourth-quarter planning meeting
  • Returns filed from tied-out books
The monthly WIP schedule

RFI LOG · OBJECTIONS

What contractors say about tax.

My CPA files our return.

Keep them. We can hand your CPA a clean year-end package and the WIP instead of filing ourselves. The planning still happens in the fourth quarter.

We only work in Missouri.

Then Kansas drops out, but the Kansas City profits tax and the earnings tax on your crews still apply if you work inside city limits.

Can you promise a lower tax bill?

No. We plan from real numbers and file correctly; the result depends on your year.

SPEC · WHO RUNS IT

Colleen has sat on your side of the table.

Colleen Brandt ran a mechanical subcontractor's office before opening Ironbark, so she has paid the April bill that nobody planned for. She leads construction tax and the year-end package.

The return and planning start from $2,800 a year on the pricing page (illustrative): one entity return, the Kansas City RD-108, the Missouri and Kansas returns the jobs require and the fourth-quarter meeting. Owners' personal returns stay with their own preparer. City filings go through Kansas City's QuickTax.

Who runs it

Colleen Brandt, founder of Ironbark Accounting, on a job site at dusk with a white hard hat under her armColleen BrandtFounder and Construction Accountant

Colleen leads every fourth-quarter planning meeting.

Colleen Brandt, founder, on a job site at dusk with a hard hat under her arm

DETAIL REFERENCES · READ NEXT

SITE PLAN · WHERE WE WORK

Both sides of State Line.

Our office is at 1520 Genessee St, Suite 300, Kansas City, MO 64102. We work for contractors across the metro in Missouri and Kansas, and we meet you at the shop, the yard or the trailer.

  • West Bottoms
  • Crossroads
  • River Market
  • the Northland
  • Waldo
  • North Kansas City
  • Riverside
  • Independence
  • Raytown
  • Grandview
  • Lee's Summit
  • Liberty
  • Belton
  • Kansas City, KS
  • Overland Park
  • Olathe
  • Lenexa
  • Shawnee
  • Merriam
  • Leawood
  • Bonner Springs

RFI LOG · BEFORE YOU BOOK

Construction tax questions

Something else? Call (816) 555-0148.

RFI 01Which accounting method should we use?

It depends on contract length, size and how you report to your surety. We review percentage of completion and completed contract with you in the fourth quarter and confirm the current federal threshold before quoting it.

RFI 02Do we owe the Kansas City profits tax?

If you do business in Kansas City, Missouri, the 1% on net profits is filed on the RD-108, due April 15, even in a loss year, electronically through QuickTax.

RFI 03Do you prepare owners' personal returns?

No. Owners keep their own preparer; we send them the K-1s and anything else they need.

RFI 04We work on both sides of State Line. What changes?

Income may be reported in both states, and sales and use tax on materials and labor differs. The State Line guide covers the sales tax side.

RFI 05What does it cost?

From $2,800 a year for the return and planning; illustrative. See pricing.

SHEET 99 · CLOSEOUT

Plan the year before it ends.

Send your open job list. In ten business days you get a WIP schedule and a fade report, $1,250 fixed and credited to your first month if you stay. Illustrative price.

Start with a WIP schedule

or call (816) 555-0148

Call (816) 555-0148 Start with a WIP