Plumbing & water

Books and taxes for commercial plumbing contractors.

A general contractor holding back retainage until closeout, a property management contract paid net 60, and a multi-building service agreement. Gus sorts all of it, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.

Book a call What we handle
  • From $197 a month
  • An accountant on every transaction
  • Cancel whenever
NovemberExample month
$22,300
what you made

November came in at $22,300. The office tower job closed out and the general contractor finally released the retainage they had been holding since July, so I matched that payment to the original job instead of counting it as new work.

  • Retainage release, office tower jobRetainage held and released
  • Property management contract, net 60Service contracts
  • New construction progress billingProgress billed jobs
  • Ferguson commercial account invoicePipe and fixtures
  • Subcontracted fire sprinkler crewSubcontracted labor
Money in$96,400
Money out$74,100
Set aside for taxes$7,900
An example month. Yours will have your numbers.

Why your books are different

Commercial plumbing books go wrong in the same few places.

A generalist sees an invoice and a payment. Your business bills in progress draws, waits months for a general contractor to release retainage, and works net-60 terms with property managers. When the books do not know that, cash on hand and money actually earned can look nothing alike.

  1. 1

    Retainage held back is still your money, not lost income

    A general contractor often holds back 5 to 10 percent of a job's value until closeout, sometimes for months after your work is done. If the books do not track it, that money either gets forgotten or double-counted when it finally arrives.

    What we doTracks retainage held on each job and matches the release payment back to the original work, so nothing is lost or counted twice.
  2. 2

    Net-60 terms make the bank balance lie about the month

    A property management contract billed net 60 means work done in September gets paid in November, and comparing the month you did the work to the month you got paid makes both months look wrong.

    What we doTracks income against when the work was actually done, so a healthy month is not mistaken for a slow one just because the payment landed later.
  3. 3

    Subcontracted specialty crews blur into your own labor

    A commercial job often needs a fire sprinkler sub or a specialty gas crew you bring in and pay out of the same contract. Mixed into your own crew's wages, you cannot see your true labor cost against what the job actually paid.

    What we doKeeps subcontracted labor in its own line, separate from your own crew's wages, so your real labor margin per job stays visible.
  4. 4

    Progress billing on a long job hides the real margin until the end

    A multi-month commercial build gets billed in draws tied to project milestones, and it is easy to lose track of whether the job as a whole is actually profitable until it closes out.

    What we doTracks each job's draws and costs together, so you can see how a long job is performing before it is finished, not just after.

Your categories

The categories Gus keeps for a commercial plumbing 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

  • Progress billed jobsNew construction and remodel work billed in draws tied to milestones.
  • Retainage held and releasedThe portion of a job's value held back by a general contractor until closeout.
  • Service contractsRecurring maintenance agreements with property managers, billed monthly or net terms.
  • Emergency and repair callsOne-off repair work for commercial clients, billed apart from contracts.

Money out

  • Crew wagesKept apart so you can see labor against the jobs it ran.
  • Subcontracted laborFire sprinkler, gas, or specialty crews brought in on a job.
  • Pipe and fixturesCommercial-grade fixtures and pipe from your supply house account.
  • Permits and inspectionsCommercial permit and inspection fees, which run higher than residential.
  • Truck and fuelFuel, repairs, insurance, and loan interest for the fleet.
  • Bonding and insurancePerformance bonds and higher liability coverage for commercial work.
  • Financing and card feesWhat a lender, Square, or Stripe kept before you got paid, on the jobs that use them.

What we watch for you

  • Retainage outstanding

    How much money is sitting held back on active jobs, waiting on closeout.

  • Days to payment

    How long net-60 and net-90 contracts actually take to pay, so cash flow planning is realistic.

  • Subcontracted labor share

    How much of a job's cost goes to subs, against your own crew's labor.

  • The set-aside

    What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.

Ask Gus

Things commercial plumbing 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.

That retainage from the office tower job finally came in. Does that count as new income this month?

No. I matched it back to the original job from earlier this year, so it shows up as the last piece of work you already did, not a new deal.

How much retainage is sitting out there on my active jobs right now?

I have that tracked for you across every open job. It is worth checking before you plan cash flow around a big closeout.

How much of my job cost is the fire sprinkler sub versus my own crew?

I keep those separate. Your crew's wages and the sub's invoice each have their own line, so your true labor margin is easy to see.

The tax side

The tax side of a commercial plumbing business.

Most of what goes wrong here is timing and who did the work: retainage held for months, subcontractor payments that need their own paper trail, and progress billing that spreads one job across a year.

What your return has to get right

Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.

  • When income countsRetainage held back by a general contractor is usually not counted as earned income until it is released, even though the work behind it is already done.
  • Subcontractor 1099sAny subcontracted crew not on your payroll who you paid $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps that list all year.
  • Equipment and vehiclesTrucks and equipment bought for commercial work can usually be written off the year you buy them. Bonus depreciation is back to 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
  • The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when the books are right all year.

Deductions commercial plumbing contractors miss

Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.

  • Truck fuel and repairs
  • Commercial-grade fixtures and pipe
  • Performance bond premiums
  • Commercial permit fees
  • Subcontracted labor
  • Uniforms with your logo
  • Higher liability insurance
  • Phone and tablet for dispatch
  • License renewal
  • Financing and card fees
  • Continuing education courses
  • Small tools under the expensing threshold

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 commercial plumbing year, kept every month.

Big jobs and slow payment cycles rarely line up with a calendar year. Your taxes come on a schedule. Your team keeps you ahead of both. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.

  1. January

    Plan the year

    Last year's return gets started, the 1099 list is ready, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.

  2. April

    Filed. Done.

    Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January.

  3. July

    Halfway check

    Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether retainage releases and net-60 payments landed on schedule.

  4. October

    Before year-end closeouts

    Many commercial jobs push to close out before the calendar year ends. Before that, Gus looks at equipment you might buy and anything worth doing before December.

What you get

Starts at$197a month

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 commercial plumbing 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 commercial plumbing contractors ask first.

Can Gus track retainage separately from regular payments?

Yes. He tracks what is held back on each job and matches the release payment to the original work when it finally arrives.

How does Gus handle net-60 or net-90 contracts?

He tracks income against when the work was actually done, so a slow payment does not make a good month look bad, or hide a slow month behind a late check.

Can Gus keep subcontracted crews separate from my own labor?

Yes. Subcontracted labor gets its own line, so your true labor cost per job stays visible.

Do I need to send 1099s to subs I hire on commercial jobs?

If you pay a subcontractor $2,000 or more in 2026 and they are not on your payroll, yes. Gus keeps that list running all year so January is not a scramble.

My jobs run for months before they close out. Can Gus still give me a monthly number?

Yes. He tracks each job's draws and costs as they happen, so you can see how a long job is performing before it finishes, not just after.

My retainage and progress billing records have not been touched in months. Is that too far behind for Gus?

No. Send the statements you have. Gus will sort progress draws, retainage releases, and subcontractor payments into place, even catching up several jobs at once.

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.

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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