Accounting for Painters.
Bookkeeping and tax filing for painting contractors, handled by an IRS Enrolled Agent. 100% virtual, so nobody has to come off a ladder for a meeting.
Generic Books Miss How a Painting Company Makes Money.
Is your paint store account costing you more in taxes than it should?
A painting company looks simple from the outside. Bid the job, buy the paint, do the work, get paid.
The money doesn’t move that simply. Deposits arrive weeks before the work. Paint gets bought on a store account and comes back as rebates months later. Commercial jobs hold back part of the payment until the walkthrough. And the crew question can be the most expensive line on your return.
Bookkeeping and tax filing get done together here, by the same person. The way your books are built during the year decides what you owe in April.
Six Places Painting Contractors Leave Money on the Table.
These aren’t loopholes. They’re ordinary rules that get missed when nobody looks at a painting business specifically.
Your Paint Store Account
Most painters buy on a contractor account at one or two stores. Those statements bundle paint, tape, plastic, caulk, and rollers across a dozen jobs.
If the statement gets booked as one lump, you can’t see what each job really cost. You also can’t see whether your markup on materials is holding up.
Then there are the rebates. A rebate from the store isn’t extra income. It lowers what you paid for the paint. Booked wrong, you pay tax on money you never made.
Your Deposits
On cash-basis books, a deposit counts as income the day it hits your account. It doesn’t wait for the job to finish.
A big batch of deposits in December can push your tax bill up for a year when the work happens next spring. We plan around it before year end, not after.
California also limits how much you can collect up front on a home improvement job. We flag deposits that look out of line so they don’t become a licensing problem.
Your Crew
This is the expensive one.
California Labor Code 2750.5 says that to be a real subcontractor on licensed work, the person has to hold the license himself.
In California, a painting job worth $1,000 or more in labor and materials needs a contractor’s license, the C-33 Painting and Decorating license. So a painter on your jobs without his own C-33 isn’t a sub. He’s an employee, whatever the two of you agreed.
If you paid him on a 1099, the back taxes and penalties land on you. We tell you which workers are which and file the 1099s for your real subs. We don’t run payroll.
Your Sprayers and Your Van
Airless sprayers, lifts, scaffolding, and pressure washers are equipment, not supplies. Smaller pieces can often be written off the year you buy them. Bigger ones can too, under Section 179.
California caps that write-off well below the federal limit, so a big purchase can come off your federal return in one year and your state return over several. Your books have to track both.
Your van gets the same check. We compare the mileage rate against what you really spend on gas, repairs, and insurance, and use whichever saves you more.
Residential vs. Commercial
A repaint for a homeowner pays fast. A commercial job may hold back part of the payment until the work is signed off.
On cash-basis books, money held back isn’t income until you receive it. But if it never shows up in your records, it never gets chased either.
We track the two sides separately, held-back money included. Then you can see which kind of work pays you better.
The Rainy Season
Exterior work slows when the weather turns. Interior jobs alone may not carry the same income.
The IRS still wants its estimated tax payments every quarter. Pay in at least as much as last year’s total tax, spread over four payments, and you avoid the underpayment penalty even if you owe more in April. We figure that number for you.
Key Takeaway: Most of these get decided in your bookkeeping, months before anyone opens a tax return. That’s why we do both.
Want the full list of write-offs? Read Contractor Tax Deductions: What You Can Write Off. Or take the 3-minute Write-Off Diagnostic to see which write-offs you might be missing.
One Person, Both Jobs.
Monthly Bookkeeping
Cash basis, in QuickBooks Online. Reconciled every month and set up for a painting company: materials by job, deposits, and held-back payments.
See bookkeeping plans →Tax Filing
Your return, priced per return. No monthly plan required. Multi-state if you work outside California.
See tax prep pricing →The Part In Between
Entity setup, 1099s for your subs, and a straight answer before you buy a new sprayer or a second van.
Priced Up Front.
Monthly bookkeeping for a painting company starts at $500. Tax returns are priced per return and start at $700 for a sole proprietor.
You can see the full bookkeeping plans or get a tax prep estimate in under two minutes. No call required for either.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you work with solo painters or only bigger companies?
Both. A one-van painter and a company running three crews need different things, and the monthly plans scale with you.
Are paint store rebates taxable?
Generally, a rebate from the store lowers the cost of the paint rather than counting as new income. What matters is booking it against the right purchases, so your materials cost is accurate.
Is a deposit taxable when I get it, or when the job is done?
On cash-basis books, it counts when you receive it. That’s why a heavy December of deposits is worth planning for.
I already have a bookkeeper. Do I have to switch?
No. Plenty of painters come to us for tax filing only. If your books come in clean, we’ll tell you.
Should my painting business be an S corp?
Maybe. An S corp can cut the 15.3% self-employment tax on part of your profit. It also adds a return, payroll, and paperwork, and below a certain profit it costs more than it saves. Our free Tax Savings Calculator gives you a first estimate.
Do you work with painters anywhere in the U.S.?
Yes. We’re 100% virtual. Everything happens by phone, video, email, and a secure portal.
Running a painting business year round? Monthly bookkeeping keeps your books tax-ready and your numbers current, starting at $500 a month.
See Bookkeeping Pricing →Let's Talk.
At Civita Tax Solutions, we help home service business owners save money on taxes with all-in-one accounting. We handle your bookkeeping, advisory, and tax filing. You focus on the business. We handle the finances.
Every painting company’s books are different. A quick conversation tells us if we’re the right fit.
Book a Free Consultation