Accountant for Builders — Central Coast, NSW

The Coast builds three ways at once. The accounting has to keep up with all of them.

The Central Coast's construction market isn't one market. In the north — Warnervale, Hamlyn Terrace, Wadalba, Woongarrah — it's new estates and project homes, with the same volume of subbies and progress claims you'd see in Western Sydney. Along the coast — Terrigal, Avoca, Killcare, Ettalong, The Entrance — it's renovations, knockdown-rebuilds and holiday homes with owners who live somewhere else. In Gosford it's apartments and commercial fit-outs. And threaded through all of it are the carpenters, plumbers, electricians, tilers and landscapers who work the Coast all week and drive down the M1 for Sydney jobs when the Coast goes quiet.

An accountant for builders on the Central Coast needs to handle the home warranty requirements of a $900,000 Avoca rebuild, the TPAR of a Warnervale project builder with fifteen subbies, the travel and ute claims of a Woy Woy sparky who spends two days a week in Sydney, and the GST on a Long Jetty flip. We do all of that from Norwest, through Xero, phone and email, for a fixed monthly fee — and most of our Coast clients have never needed to come to the office.

Home warranty on Coast renovations and rebuilds

In NSW, a licensed builder must take out Home Building Compensation cover for each residential project over $20,000 including GST, and it's illegal to take a deposit until the owner has the certificate. That catches most Coast renovations, not just new homes. Since icare's rules changed on 2 March 2026, most builders up to $12 million open job value are scored automatically from credit data, but a weak score, a tier change or a Major Builder review means full financials, aged debtors and creditors, ATO statements and a WIP schedule. We prepare the pack, test your net tangible assets and current ratio against icare's benchmarks before you apply, and can act for you on the HBCF Portal. More on HBCF eligibility →

Your ute, the M1 and what you can actually claim

Travel is the deduction Coast tradies ask about most, and the one the ATO looks at hardest. Travel between job sites during the day is deductible. Travel from home to your first site generally isn't, even if it's an hour down the M1 — unless a narrow exception applies, such as carrying bulky tools that are essential to your work with no secure storage at the site. Keep that distinction clear and your claim will hold up.

What you drive matters too. For tax, a "car" carries less than one tonne and fewer than nine passengers. Many utes and vans are designed to carry one tonne or more, which means they aren't a car and you claim the business portion of actual costs — fuel, rego, insurance, repairs, interest and depreciation. If your vehicle is a car, sole traders can use a 12-week logbook or the cents-per-kilometre method: 88c per km for 2025–26 and 91c per km for 2026–27, up to 5,000 business km. We check the payload on your rego papers before we decide the method. More on tradie deductions →

New-estate builders: subbies, TPAR and progress claims

If your business is primarily in building and construction (50% or more of your income or activity) and you pay contractors for building and construction services, the ATO requires a Taxable payments annual report by 28 August each year. For each contractor you report their ABN, name, address, the gross amount paid including GST and the GST. Payments for materials only, employees on PAYG withholding and invoices unpaid at 30 June are left out. The failure to lodge penalty is one penalty unit for every 28 days late, up to five units, and a penalty unit is $364 for breaches from 1 July 2026. On GST, each progress claim on an accruals basis is a separate sale reported when you invoice or get paid, whichever comes first, and retentions have their own deferral rule; small businesses under $10 million aggregated turnover can choose a cash basis instead. More on BAS, GST & TPAR →

Flips, holiday homes and "substantial renovations"

A lot of Coast building work is for owners who don't live there, and some of it is for builders who buy, renovate and sell. If a property has been substantially renovated, the ATO can treat it as new residential premises, which makes the sale taxable if you're carrying on an enterprise. Whether a renovation is substantial depends on what was done to the building, not the dollar value. That decision changes the margin, whether you need to register for GST, and whether the margin scheme is available — so we look at it before you buy the place, not when the contract is exchanged. More on project feasibility →

Cash flow when the Coast goes quiet

Coast work is seasonal in a way Sydney work isn't. Holiday-home owners want jobs finished before Christmas, then nothing starts until February; wet winters push slabs back; and the quarterly BAS lands whether you've been paid or not. We build a month-by-month forecast that reflects your actual pattern, and we put GST, PAYG and super aside as the money comes in so the quiet months don't become ATO payment plans.

Apprentices and Payday Super

Super guarantee is 12%. Since 1 July 2026, Payday Super means it must be paid each payday and received by the worker's fund within seven business days of payday (20 business days for a new employee's first contribution). The ATO's free Small Business Superannuation Clearing House has closed. We run payroll and STP so the super goes out with the wages, and we check federal apprentice incentives for every eligible hire.

Tools and the permanent $20,000 write-off

Small businesses with aggregated turnover under $10 million using the simplified depreciation rules can immediately deduct each asset costing less than $20,000, in the year it's first used or installed ready for use — a limit Parliament made permanent from 1 July 2026. Dearer assets go into the small business pool at 15% in the first year and 30% after that.

How we work with the Coast

Bank feeds and receipt capture in Xero, a monthly reconciliation on our side, BAS lodged on agent dates, and a phone call or video meeting whenever you need one. Our office is at 204/11 Solent Circuit, Norwest — just over an hour down the M1, with on-site parking — if you'd rather sit across a desk for tax planning in May.

Where we work on the Coast