A fence company sells a finished line around a yard, and most of the price is material. Posts, panels, gates, and concrete arrive before a single hole gets dug. The customer pays a deposit up front, then waits on the permit and the HOA.
That gap between deposit and install is where fence books go sideways. Cash shows up months before the work. Material prices move while the job waits.
Greg Neilsen, JD, LLM (Master of Laws in Taxation), reviews our guides. Last reviewed: October 5, 2026.
Each answer is below.
Example: In April a fence company collects $90,000 of deposits on jobs scheduled for June and July. Counted as sales, April shows profit with no labor or material behind it. Held as deposits, the income lands in June with the costs that earned it.
Example: A $14,000 vinyl order covers three jobs: $5,200, $4,600, and $4,200 of material. One HOA rejects the color and that job cancels. The $4,200 of panels go back to the supplier, and the credit gets applied to the open bill, not left floating.
Example: A $8,000 job was quoted with $3,200 of material and $1,800 of labor, a $3,000 profit. By install, material runs $3,700. Profit drops to $2,500. Spread over 40 jobs a season, that $500 gap is $20,000.
Fence companies tend to run Builder Prime, Jobber, or Housecall Pro for quotes, contracts, scheduling, and payments. QuickBooks Online holds the books.
The deposit is the piece to get right. Builder Prime can send deposit invoices to QuickBooks in a way that keeps them off the income line. Other tools send the deposit as a payment against an invoice, which needs its own mapping. We check what your tool sends, then reconcile deposits to the bank monthly.
Example: A customer signs a $9,500 contract and pays a $4,750 deposit through Builder Prime. QuickBooks shows $4,750 in customer deposits. When the crew finishes and the final $4,750 arrives, the full $9,500 moves to fence income.
Read our guides to Builder Prime, Jobber, and Housecall Pro with QuickBooks Online.
Florida treats fencing and gates installed for permanent use as work on real property. On a lump-sum job, you pay sales tax on the posts, panels, and concrete when you buy them. The homeowner pays no tax on the contract.
Two other setups work differently. A contract that itemizes the material at a stated price, with installation priced on top, is a retail sale plus installation, and tax goes on the material. Selling a gate kit or panels to a homeowner who installs them is a plain retail sale.
Fence installation is on Florida’s list of construction class codes. That puts a fence company under the construction rule for workers’ compensation: coverage starts with the first employee. A sub crew without its own coverage counts as yours, so get the certificate before they dig.
An owner holding at least 10 percent of the company can file an officer exemption with the state, and a construction company can have up to three. The exemption covers the owner, not the crew.
Augers, a skid steer with a post driver, compactors, saws, welders, and any trailer without a tag go on the county tangible property return by April 1. The first $25,000 of value is exempt once the first return is filed.
Example: A fence company owns $41,000 of augers, saws, and untagged trailers on January 1. The first $25,000 is exempt, so the county taxes $16,000 of value. Without a filed return, the company can lose that exemption.
Crew trucks over 6,000 pounds sit outside the passenger-car depreciation caps. A skid steer acquired after January 19, 2025 qualifies for 100 percent bonus depreciation. Florida has no personal income tax, so the S corporation decision is all federal math.
We close the books monthly with deposits, job costs, and supplier credits in their own places. Payroll runs through Gusto. We prepare the company and personal returns, and Greg Neilsen, JD, LLM, reviews every one before it is filed.
Plans start at $750 per month. One flat fee covers bookkeeping, tax planning, and business tax returns on most plans. The fee is set after we see your books and put in writing before work starts. No onboarding fee.
We work from Tampa by phone, email, and video, and reply within 24 hours. See every trade we serve, including remodelers and landscapers.
Not on a lump-sum install. You pay tax on the material when you buy it. You charge tax when you sell material without installing it, or when your contract itemizes the material as a sale.
In the books, when the job is done. Until then it sits as a deposit you owe the customer in work.
Florida treats fence installation as construction, so coverage starts with the first employee. An owner with at least 10 percent of the company can file an officer exemption. Employees still need coverage.
Book them to the job as a direct cost. If the contract passes them through, the job price covers them.
For payments made in 2026, file a 1099-NEC for any unincorporated sub you paid $2,000 or more. Collect a W-9 and a certificate of insurance before the first check.
This page is educational and is not tax or legal advice for your situation. Rules change, and the right move depends on your numbers. Talk to a tax professional before you act.
Greg Neilsen, JD, LLM (Master of Laws in Taxation), reviews our guides. Last reviewed: October 5, 2026.
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