You’re sitting there with a pile of receipts, a messy QuickBooks file, and a tax bill that feels way too high for how hard you worked this year.
You’re not alone. And it’s not your fault.
Most contractors are missing out because their books are a disaster, and their CPA can only work with what’s given them.
If your bookkeeping is messy, you’re leaving thousands of dollars on the table every single year. Not because the tax deductions don’t exist. Because they’re buried so deep in your records that nobody can find them.
Let’s fix that.
Vehicle Expenses
You drive to job sites every single day. You haul materials. You meet with clients. You pick up supplies at Home Depot three times a week.
But if you’re not tracking mileage or separating personal use from business use, you’re missing one of the biggest tax deductions available to you. And I’m not talking about a few hundred bucks. For most contractors, this is easily $5,000 to $10,000 in deductions left unclaimed.
Your CPA needs clean records. They need to see business miles separated from personal miles. They need documentation. If it’s all lumped together or not tracked at all, they can’t help you.
Tool and Equipment Purchases
You bought a new miter saw in March. A laser level in June. Replaced your drill set in September.
But where did those expenses go in your books? Are they categorized correctly? Or are they sitting in “miscellaneous expenses” where your CPA will never think to look for them?
Tools and equipment qualify for immediate expensing under Section 179. That means you can deduct the full cost in the year you bought them, not spread it out over five years. But only if your bookkeeper actually categorized them as equipment purchases.
If everything is just thrown into “supplies” or “materials,” you’re losing money.
Home Office Tax Deduction
You run your business from home. You have a dedicated space where you do estimates, manage schedules, handle invoicing, and coordinate with clients.
That’s a home office. And it’s deductible.
But most contractors never claim it because they think it’s complicated or they’re scared of an audit. The reality is, if you legitimately use part of your home exclusively for business, you qualify. And depending on your situation, this could save you $2,000 to $5,000 a year.
Your CPA won’t bring this up if they don’t know you work from home. You have to tell them. And you have to have your expenses organized so they can calculate it properly.
The problem isn’t that you don’t know these deductions exist. The problem is that your books aren’t set up to capture them.
When you’re in the middle of a busy season, you’re not thinking about tax strategy. You’re thinking about getting the job done, keeping your crew paid, and making sure clients are happy.
So receipts get shoved in a drawer. Expenses get entered into QuickBooks under whatever category seems close enough. And by the time tax season rolls around, it’s too late to go back and fix it.
Your CPA can only work with what you give them. If your books are a mess, they’re going to file your taxes based on messy books. They’re not going to spend hours digging through your records trying to find tax deductions you might qualify for.
Start organizing your books like your tax bill depends on it. Because it does.
Create clear categories for vehicle expenses, tools, equipment, and home office costs. Track your mileage every single week. Keep receipts organized by category, not thrown in a box.
And if you’re not sure how to set this up, get help. A good bookkeeper who understands construction will set up your chart of accounts the right way from the start.
Your tax bill will be smaller. Your CPA will actually be able to help you. And you’ll stop leaving money on the table every single year.
