Industries · Construction

Accountants who understand how a construction business actually makes money.

Building and construction work runs on long projects, thin margins and a constant gap between doing the work and getting paid for it. The money is committed up front, held back in retentions, and won or lost on how each job is priced and managed. We work with the owners of established construction and building businesses, on the numbers that decide whether a strong year of work turns into a strong year of profit.

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In short

Prime Partners advises established construction and building businesses on the financial decisions that come with running projects over months and years. That covers contract revenue and work in progress, retentions and progress claims, cash flow across the cost-to-payment gap, structure and asset protection, and succession when an owner steps back. We bring the technical depth of a specialist practice and the accessibility of a team that knows your business by name.

We work with residential and commercial builders, civil and infrastructure contractors, electrical, plumbing and HVAC businesses, fit-out and joinery firms, concreting and earthmoving operators, and specialist trade and subcontracting businesses.

The pressures you carry What we do How we work Moments that matter Common questions

The pressures you carry

The financial questions that sit underneath every construction business.

A construction business earns its income across long projects where cost comes before payment and margin is decided early. That makes the financials behave differently to most businesses, and the decisions that matter most rarely show up on a standard set of accounts. These are the recurring pressures we help builders hold.

Contract revenue and work in progress

Recognising revenue across the life of a job rather than when invoices land is what makes construction accounting its own discipline. Done well it shows the true profit on each project. Done poorly it hides losses until it is too late to act on them.

Retentions and progress claims

Cash held back on every job ties up money you have already earned, often for a year or more. Across several projects the total can run into serious figures, and it needs tracking and forecasting rather than being quietly forgotten.

Cash flow across the gap

Paying for labour, materials and subcontractors before the client pays you is the defining strain of the industry. Managing that gap, and knowing it before it bites, is often the difference between a busy business and a profitable one.

Structure and risk

A project business carries real liability. The right structure protects the assets you have built from the risk of the work you take on, and keeps the trading entity, the equipment and the property in their proper place.

Tax, GST and compliance

Progress payments, the timing of GST, subcontractor reporting and the tax treatment of WIP all carry weight in construction. We keep that obligation managed rather than left to the last fortnight before lodgement.

What we do

The same journey we take every client on, told for a construction business.

Most builders come to us for one thing and stay for the rest. The work tends to follow a natural order, from getting the foundations right through to planning how the business is eventually handed on. Each step below is a service in its own right, and each one links through to the full detail.

Accounting clean-up→

Where the books have fallen behind a run of busy jobs, we bring them back to a standard you can rely on, so the numbers tell the truth on each project before any decision is made on them.

Business accounting and tax→

Year-end accounts, tax and the work in progress treatment, prepared with the way construction earns its income properly understood. The foundation everything else sits on.

External finance team→

The monthly reporting a builder actually needs, including margin by project, retentions due, and cash flow forecast across the gap, run by a team alongside the business rather than a once-a-year file.

Business structure review→

A structure that suited a small operation rarely suits a business taking on larger contracts and more risk. We review whether yours still protects your assets and fits the work you now take on.

Business growth→

The decisions that come with scaling a builder, from funding equipment and working capital to pricing bigger jobs properly, so growth strengthens the business rather than stretching its cash.

Business succession→

Planning the path for an owner stepping back, including the sale or transfer of the business, so the work, the team and the value you have built carry on without disruption.

Private client advisory and SMSF→

The personal side of owning a construction business, including individual tax position, investment structures, self managed super and the planning that comes with the wealth the business generates.

R&D tax incentive→

A specialised area in its own right. Where your business develops new building methods, materials or technical solutions on site, we assess eligibility and prepare the claim properly.

How we work

A senior-led relationship, not a once-a-year file.

Every engagement is led by a senior practitioner who knows the business and stays close to it. The way we work follows the same shape, whatever the builder.

Understand the business

We start with the work you take on, how jobs are priced and managed, where the cash sits across your projects, and what you are trying to build over the next few years.

Get the foundations right

Compliance, reporting and the work in progress treatment brought to a standard you can rely on, so the routine work stops being a source of friction and the numbers tell the truth on each job.

Advise on the decisions that count

Project margin, cash flow, structure and the funding of growth addressed as they arise, with the analysis to support a real decision rather than a hunch.

Stay alongside the business

A continuing relationship where you can pick up the phone before you price a big job or take on more risk, rather than explain it after the fact.

Plan the handover

When the time comes to step back, we plan the succession well ahead of it, from the sale or transfer of the business to the tax that comes with it, so the business carries on and the owner who built it leaves on their own terms.

Moments that matter

The decisions that shape a construction business deserve more than a once-a-year accountant.

Pricing the contract that is bigger than anything you have taken on before. Restructuring to protect what you have built as the risk grows. Funding the equipment and working capital that a larger job demands. Selling the business or handing it to the next generation and stepping back well. These are the moments where good advice is worth far more than the work that surrounds it, and they are the moments Prime Partners exists for.

Common questions

Questions construction businesses ask us.

What does an accountant for a construction company do?

An accountant for a construction company handles the financial work that comes with running projects over months or years. That means accounting for contract revenue and work in progress, managing retentions and progress claims, keeping cash flow steady across the gap between cost and payment, and handling the tax, structure and compliance that sit on top. At Prime Partners we cover the routine accounting as a matter of course and focus the relationship on the project margin, cash and structure decisions that decide whether a builder makes money.

How is work in progress accounted for in construction?

Work in progress in construction is the value of work completed on a contract but not yet billed or paid. It is usually recognised as revenue across the life of the project, commonly on a percentage-of-completion basis, so the accounts reflect the work actually done rather than just the invoices raised. Getting this right matters because it drives both your reported profit and your tax position, and we prepare it so the numbers reflect the real state of each job.

How do retentions affect a builder’s cash flow?

Retentions are amounts a client holds back from each progress payment, often around five per cent, released only after the work is complete and the defects period has passed. They tie up cash a builder has already earned, sometimes for a year or more, and across several projects the total held can be substantial. We help you track retentions properly, forecast when they are due, and factor them into cash flow so they stop being money you forget you are owed.

What business structure is best for a construction company?

The right structure for a construction business depends on how you manage risk, tax and the people who own it. Many builders operate through a company for the liability protection a project business needs, often within a group that separates the trading entity from the assets it holds. The best structure balances asset protection, tax efficiency and the licensing requirements that apply to your trade. We review whether your current structure still fits the size and risk of the work you take on.

Do you work with building and construction businesses in regional NSW?

Yes, we work with construction and building businesses across both metropolitan Sydney and regional New South Wales. With offices in North Sydney and Orange, we support builders, civil contractors, trade businesses and developers in the city and across the Central West, and nationally where the relationship calls for it.

Where is Prime Partners located?

Prime Partners has offices in North Sydney and Orange, NSW. We work with construction and building businesses across both metropolitan and regional New South Wales, and nationally where the relationship calls for it.

Talk to us

Start a conversation about your business.

If you are pricing a bigger job, weighing a restructure, funding growth, or planning your eventual exit, we would be glad to talk it through.

Get in touch→

Construction Accountants