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Construction Industry Scheme (CIS)

Alexander Accountancy’s service for clients in the building sector is built entirely around the legislative requirements of the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) as it applies to both income and expenses, together with the additional complexities of how it can interact with VAT legislation through the reverse charge method for subcontractors. We focus upon processing income and costs in accordance with the legislation, reconciling the differences between invoice amounts and payment amounts and making sure these are reported and paid or reclaimed.

Who can benefit?

This is a requirement for every business that falls within the scope of CIS, usually businesses directly involved in construction. It can also affect businesses that are not traditionally thought of in this way but provide services that fall within the scope of the legislation. For example, an industrial cleaning company would not be an obvious candidate. However, if they provide a final clean for a main contractor in the process of preparing a property for sale, that will fall within the scope of the scheme for the purpose of how payments are made.

Key benefits:
The main benefit of this service is that it provides compliance with some extremely complex legislation, fulfilling their obligations when working in this highly regulated sector.

Main outcomes:
For clients that engage subcontractors, Alexander Accountancy will verify each subcontractor and their deduction rates, then complete and submit monthly CIS returns and notify the client of payments due to HM Revenue & Customs. If the client has a payroll, Alexander Accountancy ensure these details are included on the monthly PAYE returns.

Alexander Accountancy also prepare the deduction certificates to be given to the subcontractors and deliver these electronically where email addresses are supplied. The VAT treatment will be checked, and advice will be given on this in relation to the reverse charge scheme. Where clients are engaged as subcontractors Alexander Accountancy will keep a record of the deductions suffered for CIS or under the VAT reverse charge scheme. Making sure they are reclaimed either through the PAYE system for limited companies or self-assessment for non-limited businesses, as well as on the VAT returns.

Compliance
There is strict and complex legislation regarding the construction industry. Alexander Accountancy are experts with more than 40 years’ experience in dealing with this sector.

Alexander Accountancy’s process:
CIS returns have the shortest time frame of any third-party payment returns, with periods ending on the 5th day of each month having to be submitted by 19th day of each month. We therefore request information promptly and process it as early as possible.

Our expertise:
Chairman David Alexander has extensive knowledge of this industry. He actively took part in self-build schemes from 1986 to 1990. He has acted as the treasurer for self-build groups, been the director of a development company building and finishing both residential and commercial properties and he still mentors the owners of a property business. Therefore, he has firsthand knowledge of all aspects of construction and has been able to pass this on to other team members, and a key reason we run a specialist property networking group.