Accounting for Trades & Home Services
Tax and accounting built for HVAC, plumbing, electrical, solar, landscaping, masonry, and home-service businesses across Garden City and Long Island, so the profit you earn in the field actually reaches your bottom line.
In the trades, the money is made or lost in the details.
Trade and home-service businesses run on tight margins, heavy equipment, and crews that scale up and down with the work. The same job can be profitable or a loss depending on how labor and materials are tracked, how equipment is written off, and how the crew is classified. JRH & Associates works with contractors and home-service companies throughout Garden City and Long Island, and we keep the financial side as solid as the work you put in the ground.
Reviewed by James R. Hurley, CPA · June 2026
Job costing and profitability per job
The single most useful thing a trade business can know is which jobs actually make money. That means assigning labor, materials, equipment time, and subcontractor costs to each job, then measuring the result against what you billed. With job costing in place, you can see which kinds of work and which customers carry your business and which ones drain it, then bid and staff accordingly. We set up your books so every job tells you the truth, and so estimating gets sharper with each season.
Vehicle and equipment depreciation
Trucks, vans, excavators, and specialty tools are major investments, and the tax code rewards how you time them. Section 179 lets you expense qualifying vehicles and equipment in the year they go into service, up to an annual limit, and bonus depreciation can absorb much of the rest. Heavy work trucks used mostly for business often qualify for the full deduction, while passenger vehicles face tighter caps. We plan equipment purchases around your income for the year so a major buy lands the deduction where it helps you most.
Classifying crews and subs: 1099 vs W-2
How you classify the people who do the work matters as much as how you pay them. Workers you direct day to day, who use your tools and follow your schedule, generally must be W-2 employees, while true independent subcontractors who run their own operations can be paid on a 1099. Both New York and the IRS pursue misclassification hard, and the cost of getting it wrong includes back payroll taxes, penalties, and interest. We review how your crews and subs actually operate and help you classify them correctly before it becomes a problem.
New York sales tax: services vs capital improvements
One of the trickiest areas for contractors is when to collect New York sales tax. Repairs and maintenance that keep property working are generally taxable services, so you charge the customer tax, while capital improvements that permanently add value to real property are treated differently and are supported by a properly completed Form ST-124 from the customer. The distinction is easy to get wrong and expensive when you do. We help you apply the rules job by job, collect the right exemption documents, and stay clean if the state ever reviews your work.
Cash flow, quarterly estimates, and the S-corp election
Trade income arrives in bursts while payroll and material bills never stop, so cash flow planning is survival, not a luxury. We help you smooth the swings, plan quarterly estimated taxes so April is never a shock, and watch for the point where electing S-corp status starts saving real money on self-employment tax as your profit grows. Explore our full range of services, book a free consultation, or see how we work with construction and real estate businesses.
Every trade that keeps Long Island running.
HVAC & Plumbing
Heating, cooling, and plumbing contractors juggling service calls, installs, and equipment-heavy jobs.
Electrical & Solar
Electricians and solar installers managing licensing, permits, and large up-front material costs.
Landscaping & Masonry
Seasonal crews and hardscape builders who need job costing and smart equipment depreciation.
Cleaning & Home Services
Cleaning, handyman, and home-service companies scaling up staff, routes, and recurring work.
"In the trades, the work is honest and the margins are thin, so the accounting has to earn its keep. When you know your cost on every job, write off your equipment at the right time, and classify your crew correctly, you stop leaving money on the table and you sleep better when an auditor calls."
James R. Hurley, CPA Founder & President, JRH & Associates Common trade and home-service tax questions.
Job costing is the foundation of a profitable trade business. It means assigning every dollar of labor, materials, equipment, and subcontractor cost to the specific job it belongs to, then comparing that total against what you billed. When the books are set up this way, you can see which types of work, which crews, and which customers actually make you money and which ones quietly lose it. We help you build a job costing system that fits how you bid and run work, so pricing and hiring decisions are based on real numbers instead of gut feel.
Often yes. Section 179 lets you expense the full cost of qualifying vehicles, tools, and equipment in the year they are placed in service, up to an annual limit, and bonus depreciation can cover much of the rest. Heavy work trucks and vans used mostly for business frequently qualify, while passenger vehicles face tighter caps. The right move depends on your income for the year, your cash position, and your plans to keep buying equipment. We model the options so a big purchase lowers your tax bill in the year that helps you most.
It depends on how the work is actually controlled, not just what is easier to pay. Workers you direct day to day, who use your tools and follow your schedule, generally have to be W-2 employees, while genuine independent subcontractors who run their own businesses can be paid on a 1099. New York and the IRS both scrutinize misclassification, and getting it wrong can mean back payroll taxes, penalties, and interest. We review how your crews and subs operate and help you classify them correctly so a single audit does not undo a profitable year.
It comes down to whether the work is a repair or a capital improvement. Repairs, maintenance, and installations that keep property working are generally taxable services in New York, so you collect sales tax from the customer. Capital improvements that add value or permanently become part of the real property are treated differently, and a properly completed Form ST-124 from the customer supports not charging tax on that job. The lines can be subtle, so we help you apply the rules correctly, keep the right exemption documents on file, and stay clean if the state ever looks.
As a trade business grows, self-employment tax on every dollar of profit becomes one of the largest bills you face. Electing S-corp status lets you take part of the profit as a reasonable salary and the rest as a distribution that is not subject to self-employment tax, which can produce real savings once profits are consistent. It does add payroll and filing requirements, so the math has to clear that cost. We run the numbers for your business and tell you honestly whether the election pays off yet or is worth waiting on.
Build your business on numbers you can trust.
Schedule a free consultation and we will review your jobs, your equipment, and the strategies that can lower what you owe and steady your cash flow.