Fortuna Accountants Ltd

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“Profit disappears” usually starts with messy job costs.This is our 15-minute weekly cost capture checklist for CIS jobs...
22/07/2026

“Profit disappears” usually starts with messy job costs.

This is our 15-minute weekly cost capture checklist for CIS jobs. Do it before the paper piles up.

✅ Labour: write start to finish hours per person (and any gaps)
✅ Materials: log every delivery and every waste line
✅ Subbies: record invoice date for each subbie (then match it)
✅ Overheads: allocate the ones you always forget

⏰ Then do the 2 quick checks for the profit killers:
🚨 Missing retentions or stage payments that are sitting unclaimed
🚨 CIS deductions or VAT timing that does not match what’s booked

Action win: set a recurring Friday 3-point review in Xero.
Flag jobs where labour and materials are booked but CIS deductions or stage payment claims are still sitting unallocated, then chase the cash before it slips.

Want our Friday review template in Xero or spreadsheet format? Comment “COSTS”.



“MTD records feel fine”… until audit day.MTD for Income Tax isn’t the compliance, it’s the audit trail.This week, pick O...
21/07/2026

“MTD records feel fine”… until audit day.

MTD for Income Tax isn’t the compliance, it’s the audit trail.

This week, pick ONE construction cost that gets missed in digital records and map it step-by-step:
✅ invoice date
✅ payment date
✅ CIS deduction shown on the subbie statement
✅ VAT treatment (if you’re VAT registered)

🚨 Example we see a lot: materials bought in a personal name, or a subcontractor invoice paid late so the timestamps drift.

If you can’t explain every step in 60 seconds, your software and records are one month behind.

Book a free 30-minute Finance Health Check with Kate to see how we can help: tidycal.com/fortuna/30-minute-fact-finding-meeting-with-kate



Retentions look harmless… until HMRC sees them. ✅Contractors: if you treat retentions and materials timing like they are...
17/07/2026

Retentions look harmless… until HMRC sees them. ✅

Contractors: if you treat retentions and materials timing like they are “just part of the job”, you can quietly mess up what HMRC expects.

This week, take one live subcontractor job and map it stage by stage:
✅ Gross vs net stage payments
✅ CIS deduction (where it applies, not where it feels right)
✅ Retentions released dates and how they match the contract
✅ Materials treated as part of the contract work, or billed separately

Then cross-check against what you’re about to file on your next return. The goal is consistency, because HMRC will look at the pattern, not your intentions. ⏰

If you want a second set of eyes, book Kate’s free Finance Health Check: tidycal.com/fortuna/30-minute-fact-finding-meeting-with-kate



“VAT timing, not profit” is a board we want in every trades office. 🚨This week, grab your last 3 VAT periods and mark wh...
15/07/2026

“VAT timing, not profit” is a board we want in every trades office. 🚨

This week, grab your last 3 VAT periods and mark when VAT cash actually moved:
✅ CIS gross payments
✅ reverse charge purchases
✅ when you submitted the VAT return

If the VAT you owe lands before the CIS receipts clear, your cashflow forecast will lie to you.

So in your 13-week forecast, set a rule:
Hold a VAT pot
Only spend it once it’s credited to the business account

Need a qualified pair of eyes watching this every quarter? Book Kate’s free Finance Health Check: tidycal.com/fortuna/30-minute-fact-finding-meeting-with-kate

What’s been hitting you hardest lately: VAT timing, late CIS receipts, or reverse charge surprises?



“Easy to incorporate” can still cost you twice.If you’re a sole trader with CIS work, the incorporation itself is the qu...
14/07/2026

“Easy to incorporate” can still cost you twice.

If you’re a sole trader with CIS work, the incorporation itself is the quick bit. The trap is the handover plan: where each contract sits, how you treat retentions and stage payments on day one, and how you avoid double-taxing the same profit as you switch.

This week, do 3 things:
✅ List every current CIS job
⏰ Note the next stage payment and retention dates
🚨 Ask your bookkeeper which invoices, retentions, and stage payments land in the limited company’s starting date

Then you’re not guessing. You’re timing the money.

Book a free 30-minute Finance Health Check with Kate to see how we can help: tidycal.com/fortuna/30-minute-fact-finding-meeting-with-kate



Turnover tells you almost nothing about whether you are making money. Two jobs at the same price can land miles apart, a...
10/07/2026

Turnover tells you almost nothing about whether you are making money.
Two jobs at the same price can land miles apart, and you will not know which is which unless you cost them.

In construction the profit hides in the detail.
The labour hours that ran over and nobody logged. The materials that went up between quote and order. The subbie cost that crept. The variations the client never got re-priced for. None of it shows in turnover.

All of it shows in your bank balance at the end of the year, by which point the job is long gone and you have quoted three more just like it.

Job costing is simply closing that gap while you can still act on it.

For each job, track four things as you go.
1️⃣ Labour at your real cost per hour, overtime included.
2️⃣ Materials actually used, waste and price rises included.
3️⃣ Subbie costs that hit that specific job.
4️⃣ A fair share of overhead.

Compare that to what you quoted.
Do it for a couple of months and the pattern is obvious.
One type of work runs a healthy margin near 18%.
Another barely breaks even.

One client always drags the cost up.
Once you can see it, you can price for it, and the same hours start paying you properly.

Most contractors are sitting on this answer and have never looked.
The numbers are already in your business.
They just need pulling together.

That “all done” CIS invoice can still cost you cash.We see it when subcontractor invoices get parked as “just bookkeepin...
10/07/2026

That “all done” CIS invoice can still cost you cash.

We see it when subcontractor invoices get parked as “just bookkeeping”, but the deductions are what hit your month-end.

This week, run a simple 2-column CIS pack tracker for every live job:
✅ Gross claim
✅ CIS deductions

Then reconcile it to your CIS statements monthly. You’ll know exactly what was deducted, what you can reclaim, and you can act before cash gets tight.

Need us to check your process in 30 minutes? Book a free Finance Health Check with Kate:
tidycal.com/fortuna/30-minute-fact-finding-meeting-with-kate



Turning over £2M. Still feel skint most months. The profit is real, the cash just is not there when you need it.In const...
08/07/2026

Turning over £2M. Still feel skint most months. The profit is real, the cash just is not there when you need it.
In construction that gap has a name, and it is usually retentions and late payment. You finish the work, you raise the invoice, and 5% or sometimes more sits in retention for months. The main contractor pays on their terms, not yours.
Meanwhile wages, materials and subbies all go out on time, every time. On paper you are profitable. In the bank you are stretched.

This is why profit and cash are not the same thing, and why chasing turnover alone never fixes the feeling.

What does fix it:
🔴 Know exactly what is owed to you and when it is genuinely due, retentions listed separately with release dates.
🔴 Agree payment terms before the job starts, in writing, not after.
🔴 Build a simple thirteen-week view of cash in versus cash out so you can see the squeeze coming.
🔴 Hold a cash buffer that covers one payroll run, so a late payment is an annoyance, not a crisis.

None of that needs new software.
It needs the numbers in front of you once a week instead of once a year.
When you are turning over a few million but feel skint, what ties your cash up most, late payment or retentions?

I would like to know which it is for you.

“Profit” isn’t your finish line. Stage payments go in, subbies and materials go out. Then CIS and VAT hit later and blow...
08/07/2026

“Profit” isn’t your finish line. Stage payments go in, subbies and materials go out. Then CIS and VAT hit later and blow the plan.

We build budgets around pay cycles, not end-of-year totals. Plan your month in three lines:
✅ Cash-in from current job stage payments
✅ Cash-out for subbies and materials this month
⏰ VAT and CIS timing you’re liable for later

This week’s easy exercise: take your last 3 invoices and split them into the month they were actually paid. Then set targets so your cash-out is covered in the same month.

What trips you up most right now: stage payment timing, CIS paperwork timing, or VAT timing?

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“Your month’s sales” rose, but cash didn’t? 🚨If you’ve picked up stage payments and booked more “sales”, but your bank b...
07/07/2026

“Your month’s sales” rose, but cash didn’t? 🚨

If you’ve picked up stage payments and booked more “sales”, but your bank balance still feels tight, it’s usually profit being trapped.

This week, pick one live job and pull it apart against your management accounts:
✅ CIS subbie spend to date
⏰ Materials timing (what’s paid vs what’s consumed)
✔ Outstanding retention + unpaid stage payments

Then compare it to the job’s gross margin in your management accounts.

Ask yourself the blunt question: what is this job actually funding? The overheads? The next order? Or a pile of costs stuck in subcontractor spend, retentions, and timing?

Want us to sanity-check the approach? Book a free 30-minute Finance Health Check with Kate to see how we can help: tidycal.com/fortuna/30-minute-fact-finding-meeting-with-kate



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Hilton Hall, Hilton Lane
Wolverhampton
WV112BQ

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