Site work & heavy civil
Books and taxes for asphalt paving contractors.
Overlay contracts, sealcoat and striping jobs, hot mix bought by the ton, and a crew paid through a week of rain delays. Gus sorts every dollar, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
July came in at $22,000. The striping machine bought outright got logged as equipment, not a supply order.
- Municipal overlay paymentPaving contracts
- Meridian HOA sealcoatSealcoating and striping
- Asphalt plant ticketAsphalt tonnage
- Shell fuel accountFuel
- Roller rental, UnitedEquipment rental
Why your books are different
Asphalt paving books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist bookkeeper sees deposits and bills. Your business is hot mix bought by the ton, a window of good weather to lay it in, and two very different services under one roof. When the books do not know that, a real cost or a rained-out week reads wrong.
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1
Asphalt tonnage swings with the oil market
Hot mix bought by the ton at the plant changes price week to week with oil prices, and if the cost is not tracked by ticket, a job that looked profitable on the bid can lose money by the time it is laid.
What we doLogs every asphalt ticket by job and by tonnage, so a price swing shows up as a real cost, not a mystery. -
2
A rained-out week looks like a bad month
A crew paid for a week that gets rained out before the mix could be laid looks like the business lost money that week, when the job simply moved to the next dry stretch.
What we doKeeps wages separate from lay-down revenue, so a weather delay reads as a delay, not a loss. -
3
Sealcoating gets lumped into paving
A big capital paving job and a same-day sealcoat and striping contract for an HOA lot run on very different margins, and combined into one number nobody can tell which service actually pays the bills.
What we doKeeps paving revenue separate from sealcoating and striping, so each service shows its own real margin. -
4
The paver lease looks like a truck payment
A leased paver or milling machine and the trucks that haul hot mix from the plant get paid from the same account, and lumped together nobody can see what the big equipment actually costs against day-to-day hauling.
What we doKeeps equipment leases separate from hauling and trucking costs, so both numbers stay honest. -
5
A rush trucking fee vanishes into the job cost
Hot mix has to reach the site and get laid the same day, and a late load sometimes means paying extra for a second truck, a cost that gets buried inside general materials.
What we doFlags rush and extra trucking charges so a scheduling problem shows up as its own line, not hidden inside materials.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for an asphalt paving contractor.
Set up once for how you get paid and what you spend. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Paving contractsNew paving and full-depth overlay jobs for commercial and private lots.
- Sealcoating and stripingMaintenance work billed apart from the bigger paving jobs.
- Municipal resurfacing contractsRoad and lot overlay work paid on a public agency's schedule.
- Direct driveway jobsResidential driveways billed straight to the homeowner.
- HOA maintenance contractsRecurring sealcoat and striping work for property managers and associations.
Money out
- FuelDiesel for the paver, roller, and support trucks.
- Asphalt tonnageHot mix bought by the ton at the plant, priced by the day.
- EquipmentPavers, rollers, and milling machines, logged so they get written off right.
- Equipment rentalA milling machine or roller rented for one job, from United or a local dealer.
- Trucking and haulingThe trucks that haul hot mix from the plant while it is still workable.
- Sealcoat and striping materialsEmulsion, sand, paint, and glass beads for the maintenance side.
- Insurance and bondingGeneral liability, equipment coverage, and the bond that let you bid the job.
- Permits and traffic controlLane closure permits, cones, and flaggers on road jobs.
What we watch for you
- Material cost
Asphalt cost per job against what it billed, so a price swing shows up before it hurts a bid.
- Weather delays
Crew days paid against days actually laying mix, so a rained-out week reads as a delay.
- Fuel share
Diesel against revenue. When it climbs, a bid needs to move with it.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things asphalt paving contractors ask Gus.
Text him like you would text anybody. He answers in plain English, and when a question is above his pay grade, an accountant looks and gets back to you.
I logged the new ticket price against that job, so you can see the real margin instead of guessing. Worth a look before the next bid goes out.
No, it is a delay. I kept the wages separate from lay-down revenue so it reads as what it is, not a bad week.
If you pay them $2,000 or more this year and they are not on payroll, they get a 1099 by January 31. I am keeping that list as we go.
The tax side
The tax side of an asphalt paving business.
Most of what goes wrong here is materials priced by the day and two services counted as one. Get those right and the set-aside was already running.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Pavers, rollers, and millersEquipment bought for the business can usually be written off the year it goes to work. Bonus depreciation is back to 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025, but whether to take it all now depends on the year you are having.
- Contractor 1099sA striping crew, a hauler, or an operator not on payroll gets a 1099-NEC by January 31 if you paid them $2,000 or more in 2026. Gus keeps that list running all year.
- Employee or contractorA striping or sealcoat crew that runs your equipment, works your schedule, and takes direction on site is usually an employee, not a sub. Getting that wrong gets expensive, so Gus asks before it becomes a habit.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right only when tonnage costs and service revenue were tracked correctly all year.
Deductions asphalt paving contractors miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Diesel and DEF
- Tack coat oil
- Sealcoat materials
- Striping paint and beads
- Milling machine rental
- Roller and compactor upkeep
- Traffic control and cones
- Equipment insurance
- Bond premiums
- CDL renewal fees
- Safety gear and PPE
- Shop and yard rent
General information about 2026 federal rules, not advice for your business. Your accountant looks at your actual numbers before anything gets filed.
All year, not just April
A paving year, kept every month.
Cold weather shuts the lay-down season down for months. Your team keeps you ahead of the calendar and the tax deadlines both. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
Plan the year
Last year's return gets started, the 1099 list for crews and haulers is ready, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January, right into the season's first paving weather.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether this summer's mix of paving and sealcoat work changed the number for the year.
- October
Before the cold shuts it down
The last weeks of workable paving weather. Gus looks at equipment worth buying before December and gets final payments on finished jobs chased down.
What you get
What you pay depends on what your business needs, and it does not move after that, busy season or slow. No hourly bills, no surprise invoices, no setup fee.
Book a call- Monthly bookkeeping
Every transaction sorted into categories set up for asphalt paving contractors. You never categorize a thing.
- An accountant checks every transaction
Real review, every month, before your books close. Not a spot check.
- Your business tax return, filed
Prepared, reviewed, and signed by that same accountant every year.
- The monthly number
What you made, what you spent, what to set aside for taxes.
- Your own bookkeeper
A real person assigned to your business, in the app whenever you need them. No hold music.
- On your books all year
Every month, not just in April. Your team speaks up whenever something is worth your attention.
- Cancel any time
No contract. No cancellation call. Your books are yours.
Straight answers
Questions asphalt paving contractors ask first.
Can Gus track asphalt cost by job when the price changes week to week?
Yes. He logs each ticket from the plant against the job it went to, so the real material cost shows up next to what the job billed, not buried in one materials line.
I run a paving crew and a separate sealcoat crew. Can Gus keep them separate?
Yes. He keeps sealcoating and striping revenue apart from paving revenue, so you can see which service actually pays better this year.
Do I write off a paver all at once?
Often you can. Equipment bought for the business can usually be deducted the year you buy it, and sometimes spreading it out is the better call. Gus flags the purchase and the accountant decides with your whole year in view.
My books are a mess after a busy paving season. Is that a problem?
No. Send the bank statements you have. Gus sorts them, the accountant checks them, and most owners know where they stand inside a week.
Rain pushed a job into the next month. Does that mess up my numbers?
No. Gus tracks what was billed and collected when it actually happened, so a weather delay just moves the timing, not the truth of what the job made.
Is a real accountant checking my books?
Yes. You get your own bookkeeper, Gus does the first pass on every transaction, and an accountant checks every one before your month closes. That same accountant prepares, signs, and files your business return. Goatkeeper is not a CPA firm, and we never pretend a person looked when they did not.
What does it cost, and can I cancel?
It starts at $197 a month, depending on what your business needs. No setup fee, no hourly bills, no contract. Cancel any time from the app, and your books go with you.
More in site work & heavy civil
We keep books for the business next door too.
- Directional boring contractors
- Erosion control contractors
- Hydro excavation
- Land surveying firms
- Pond & lake construction
- Private utility locating
- Aggregate & dirt hauling
- Demolition contractors
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- Church & religious facility builders
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- Scaffolding contractors
- Sheet metal contractors
- Waterproofing & caulking contractors
- Drafting & CAD services
- Home plan & house design sellers
What makes a bookkeeper worth paying for Every business we keep books for
Book a call
Pick a time. That's the whole signup.
Fifteen minutes with a real person on our team. They look at where your books are, tell you straight what it takes to get caught up, and get you set up on the spot if it fits.
- $197 a month to start
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever