Bookkeeping for Concreters in Geelong

Concreting in Geelong means early starts, weather delays, and juggling multiple jobs across the region—from residential driveways in Highton to commercial slabs in the Geelong Ring Road industrial precinct. What it shouldn't mean is spending your Sunday nights buried in receipts, wondering if you've charged enough GST or whether you can claim that new float.

The construction industry has some of the highest rates of ATO audits in Australia. Concreters, in particular, face scrutiny around subcontractor arrangements, cash payments, and equipment deductions. Getting your bookkeeping right isn't just about compliance—it directly affects your cash flow, your ability to quote accurately, and ultimately, how much profit stays in your pocket.

GST Obligations for Geelong Concreters

Once your concreting business turns over more than $75,000 annually, GST registration becomes mandatory. For most established concreters in Geelong, this threshold gets crossed quickly—a few driveway jobs and a couple of shed slabs and you're there.

Here's what GST registration means for your day-to-day operations:

• Charge 10% GST on all taxable supplies — This includes labour, materials, and any equipment hire you on-charge to clients
• Claim GST credits on business purchases — Concrete, mesh, fuel, tools, and even your work boots if used primarily for work
• Lodge BAS returns — Quarterly for most small businesses, monthly if turnover exceeds $20 million
• Issue tax invoices — Required for sales over $82.50 (inc GST) if your customer wants to claim the GST credit

One common mistake we see with Geelong concreters: forgetting to claim GST on fuel. If you're running a ute between jobs in Corio, Torquay, and Lara, that fuel adds up. At current prices, you could be missing out on $50–80 per month in GST credits alone.

Progress Claims and Cash Flow Timing

Large commercial concrete jobs rarely pay in one lump sum. Progress claims—invoicing as you complete stages like site prep, footings, and final pour—are standard practice. But they create a bookkeeping challenge: GST becomes payable when you invoice, not when you get paid.

Consider this scenario: You're pouring concrete for a new warehouse in North Geelong. The total contract is $88,000 (inc GST). You issue a progress claim for $33,000 after completing footings in March. That $3,000 GST gets reported on your March quarter BAS—even if the builder doesn't pay until May.

This timing mismatch catches plenty of concreters off guard. Suddenly they owe $8,000 in GST but haven't received payment yet. Cash flow planning becomes critical.

Practical tip: Set up a separate bank account and transfer 10% of every invoice amount into it immediately. When BAS time rolls around, the money's already there.

Equipment Deductions and Depreciation

Concreting requires serious equipment investment. Mixers, vibrators, screeds, power floats, laser levels—it adds up fast. Understanding how to claim these costs correctly can save you thousands each year.

Under Division 328 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, small businesses can access simplified depreciation rules, including the instant asset write-off. For eligible businesses, this means deducting the full cost of equipment in the year of purchase rather than spreading it over several years.

Commonly claimed equipment for Geelong concreters:

• Concrete mixers — Both towable and truck-mounted
• Power floats and trowelling machines — Essential for large commercial slabs
• Vibrating screeds — Particularly the petrol-powered units
• Concrete saws — For expansion joints and cutting
• Laser levels and GPS equipment — Increasingly common for civil work
• Utes and trailers — Subject to car limit rules for vehicles

For vehicles, the rules differ slightly. The car limit (currently around $68,108 for the 2025-26 financial year—check current figures with the ATO) caps how much you can claim on passenger vehicles. Work utes classified as 'cars' under ATO definitions fall under this cap, while genuine commercial vehicles with carrying capacity over one tonne may not.

Subcontractor Payments and TPAR Reporting

If you engage other concreters, labourers, or bobcat operators as subcontractors, you've got additional reporting obligations. The Taxable Payments Annual Report (TPAR) requires you to report all payments made to subcontractors in the building and construction industry.

TPAR applies if you pay subcontractors for:

• Concreting work (obviously)
• Earthmoving and excavation
• Equipment hire with an operator
• Demolition and site clearing
• Any other building and construction services

The report is due by 28 August each year, covering payments made in the previous financial year. You'll need to collect ABNs from all subcontractors—if they don't provide one, you may need to withhold 47% from their payment under the no-ABN withholding rules.

Record keeping essentials for subcontractor payments:

• Subcontractor's name and ABN
• Total gross amount paid (including GST)
• Total GST included in payments
• Copy of their invoice

In Xero, you can track these payments automatically by setting up subcontractors as contacts with their ABN recorded. When TPAR time comes, generating the report takes minutes instead of hours.

Job Costing: Know Your Real Profit Margins

Here's where most concreters leave money on the table. Without proper job costing, you're essentially guessing at quotes. You might win jobs but lose money on them—or quote too high and lose work to competitors.

Effective job costing for concreting includes:

• Materials — Concrete (by cubic metre), mesh, bar chairs, form boards, curing compound, sealers
• Labour — Your time plus any employees or day-labour rates
• Equipment — Pump hire, bobcat hire, vibrator fuel costs
• Travel — Fuel and vehicle running costs to and from site
• Waste disposal — Tip fees for off-cuts and broken concrete
• Overheads allocation — Insurance, registration, phone, accounting fees

A driveway job in Newtown might look profitable at $4,500 on the surface. But once you factor in the concrete pump hire ($550), half a day of prep work, and the tip run for old concrete removal, your actual margin might be under 15%.

We recommend tracking at least your five most common job types separately. After a few months, you'll have real data showing which jobs are genuinely profitable and which ones you should quote higher—or decline altogether.

Employee vs Subcontractor: Getting the Classification Right

This is where the ATO focuses significant audit resources in the construction industry. Misclassifying employees as subcontractors can result in back-payment of superannuation, PAYG withholding, and penalties.

Under the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992, you must pay super for workers who are your employees—and the definition extends beyond just having an employment contract. A worker paid principally for their labour under a contract that's wholly or principally for their labour may be deemed an employee for super purposes.

Indicators the ATO looks at:

• Control — Do you direct how, when, and where they work?
• Tools and equipment — Do they use their own, or yours?
• Financial risk — Do they quote on jobs and risk making a loss?
• Independence — Do they work for multiple clients, or just you?
• Ability to delegate — Can they send someone else to do the work?

If you engage a labourer who works exclusively for you, uses your tools, follows your directions, and gets paid an hourly rate—they're likely an employee regardless of what your agreement says. The ATO's Employee/Contractor Decision Tool on their website helps you assess individual arrangements.

For guidance on Fair Work obligations when hiring employees, visit fairwork.gov.au.

What to Do Next

Getting your concreting bookkeeping sorted doesn't require an accounting degree. It requires consistent habits and the right systems. Here's your action list:

• Separate your business banking — If you haven't already, open a dedicated business account
• Set up a GST holding account — Transfer 10% of every payment received
• Collect ABNs from all subcontractors — Before you pay them the first time
• Track job costs on your top five job types — Even a simple spreadsheet helps initially
• Review subcontractor arrangements — Use the ATO's decision tool to check classifications
• Keep digital copies of all receipts — Xero's receipt capture makes this effortless

If your books are behind or you're not sure where to start, a single conversation with a bookkeeper who understands construction can save you hours of confusion. We work with concreters across Geelong—from one-man operations to crews running multiple sites—and we know what the ATO looks for and what deductions you're probably missing.