Forgotten retainage
The client held back part of every payment and nobody recorded it as a receivable. The money exists, but it shows up in no report until someone remembers to collect it.
Florida · Construction and remodeling
Construction bookkeeping in Florida, from draw to retainage
The job is almost done, the draw has not been released, the sub wants to be paid Friday and the forecast shows a storm.
Construction bookkeeping in Florida means keeping QuickBooks Online tied to the real money on each job: draws (payments released by stage), retainage (the portion held back until completion), subcontractor payments backed by W-9s, and materials. GS Brasil does this for contractors in Orlando and across the state, in Portuguese, English and Spanish, with an eye on the calendar: hurricane season, June through November, moves both schedules and cash. Taxes stay with your CPA.
Job costing itself, separating cost by job, is covered on the construction bookkeeping page. This page is about what changes when the job is in Florida.
Signs on the job
Where cash gets tight for a Florida contractor
Late draw, payroll on time
The release depends on inspections and paperwork. The crew and subs do not wait. Without a forecast, the company finds the gap in payday week.
A week lost to a storm
Work stopped, materials exposed, crew idle. The downtime cost lands in general expenses and disappears from the margin of the job that caused it.
The Florida picture
What is different about construction bookkeeping in Florida
The schedule has a risk season
From June 1 to November 30 Florida is in hurricane season. Not every year brings a storm, but every schedule has to plan for one. A lost week means an idle crew, a draw delayed because the stage was not finished and sometimes damaged materials to replace.
In the books, that calls for two things. First, charge the downtime cost to the job that stopped, not to general expenses, so the margin shows what happened. Second, look at cash before June: how much the company can keep paying with jobs stopped for one or two weeks.
Draws and retainage: revenue in pieces
On larger jobs, the client or the lender releases money by stage, the draw, usually after an inspection or an approved progress billing. Many contracts also include retainage: part of each payment is held back until final completion.
The common mistake is recording only what hit the bank. Proper bookkeeping records the amount billed on each draw, what was received and the retainage receivable, job by job. That way the Balance Sheet shows what the company is actually owed, and job closeout brings no surprises.
Subcontractors, W-9s and 1099-NECs
Florida contractors run on subs: masons, electricians, painters, drywall installers. Each one should hand over a Form W-9, with name, address and TIN, before the first payment. And each payment needs to be tied to a job.
The 1099-NEC applies to individuals and LLCs not taxed as corporations, due January 31. The threshold was 600 dollars for payments through 2025 and rose to 2,000 dollars for payments made from 2026 on. Payments by card or payment platform are usually reported by the platform on a 1099-K. Confirm each case with your CPA. The full routine is in bookkeeping for 1099 contractors.
Sales tax on materials
Construction materials involve sales tax, and the treatment depends on details only your CPA can assess. Bookkeeping's role is to record each purchase on the right job, with the sales tax paid shown separately, so your CPA has the information without chasing receipts one by one.
Residential, remodeling and Orlando
Growth in residential construction and remodeling means many smaller jobs running at once. In Orlando, contractors split their calendar between new homes, remodels and vacation rental maintenance. Short jobs with frequent change orders (scope changes) are exactly where margin slips away unnoticed.
See also the Orlando bookkeeping page and the article on job costing in construction.
How it starts
How we organize the finances of your jobs
01
Contracts
Map jobs and contracts
Which jobs are open, which have draws, which have retainage and who the active subs are.
02
Setup
Projects in QuickBooks
Each job becomes a project in QuickBooks Online. If the company uses Buildertrend, the two systems are kept in agreement.
03
Catch up
Put the past in order
Missing W-9s, payments with no job and unreconciled months are fixed first. A large backlog follows catch-up bookkeeping.
04
Routine
A close with margin by job
Every month, a consolidated P&L, a Balance Sheet showing retainage receivable and margin on each job.
What we deliver
What your Florida construction company gets
Draws recorded by job
Amount billed, received and outstanding on each draw, checked against the contract.
Visible retainage receivable
Retainage recorded on the Balance Sheet by job, so it gets collected at completion and never forgotten.
Downtime cost on the right job
Storm downtime, replacement materials and idle crew time charged to the project that took the hit.
Subcontractors in order
W-9 before the first payment, each payment tied to a job and annual totals per sub for the 1099-NEC.
Materials with sales tax broken out
Purchases by job with tax paid shown separately, ready for your CPA to classify.
Cash before the season
A cash view with expected draws and sub payments, so you reach June knowing how much runway the company has.
The line with your CPA.
GS Brasil does not prepare taxes, does not decide how sales tax on materials is treated and does not file 1099s as a tax service. It keeps the books for each job and hands your CPA a ready package: W-9s, totals per sub and purchases with tax broken out.
Frequently asked
Questions from Florida contractors
Do you work with contractors outside Orlando?
Yes, across Florida, with remote service and video meetings. Many Brazilian owned contractors are in Orlando, and many are in South Florida too, such as Fort Lauderdale.
How do you record retainage?
As a separate receivable, by job. The amount held back does not vanish from billing: it stays on the Balance Sheet until completion, and the report shows what is outstanding on each contract.
Do you issue 1099s for my subcontractors?
Not as a tax service. GS Brasil organizes the W-9s, ties each payment to a job and closes annual totals per sub. Filing the 1099-NEC stays with your CPA, who gets everything ready ahead of the January 31 deadline.
Does a job stopped by a hurricane become a loss?
The downtime cost goes to the job, and whether that creates a loss depends on the contract and the rest of the project. Insurance is for your broker, and tax treatment is for your CPA. Bookkeeping makes sure the cost shows up where it happened.
I use Buildertrend. Do I need to switch?
No. Buildertrend stays as your job management system and QuickBooks Online as your financial system. GS Brasil keeps the two in agreement, with no double entry.
Keep reading
More on construction
Construction
Job costing and margin per job in QuickBooks.
1099 bookkeeping
W-9s, contractor totals and a 1099 package for your CPA.
Article: job costing
How to truly separate cost by job.
Orlando and Kissimmee
Portuguese speaking bookkeeper for the Orlando area.
Fort Lauderdale and Pompano
Cleaning, remodeling, marine and restaurants in Broward and Boca.
Catch-up bookkeeping
When the books are months behind, with or without QuickBooks.
First step
Start with the first conversation
Twenty minutes, no commitment, to understand where your company is and point the way.