Is Xero the cure to your CIS headache?

Under the Government’s Construction Industry Scheme (CIS), contractors must deduct money from the payments they make to subcontractors to go to HMRC. These are treated as advance payments for tax and National Insurance contributions.

CIS applies to businesses involved in the construction industry, and can affect businesses that are not actually in the industry but who spend large amounts on construction work.

Although HMRC released a handy CIS guide for contractors and subcontractors, which has more detail on what is and isn’t covered by the scheme, it can still be very confusing and time consuming.

Steven Todd, Head of EQ Property & Construction, commented,

“Construction businesses have dealt with the administration of CIS for a number of years and will have processes in place to deal with it. However, advances in accounting software such as Xero are making the administration of CIS and other areas of the accounts much easier and quicker.”

Xero makes it easy to manage your CIS obligations – used from your office, van or the building site, deductions are calculated automatically, and you can easily make payments and create returns. Importing all of your contractor and subcontractor contacts into Xero is easy so there’s no need to waste time with data entry.

If you are looking for advice or support with the Construction Industry Scheme, please contact our EQ Property & Construction team at property@eqaccountants.co.uk or contact one of our offices.

Alternatively, if you would like further information on Xero, please get in touch with our EQ Accounting team on info@eqaccounting.co.uk.