Features
CIS, done on the invoice rather than in a spreadsheet
What it does
Does it work the deduction out for me?
Yes, on the labour only, and on the net figure before VAT. Materials are not deducted from, which is the part most spreadsheets get wrong and the part that costs you money. The invoice total never changes — the deduction is shown as what the contractor will keep back, so the customer's copy and your books agree.
What happens if a line is not marked as labour or materials?
It refuses to produce a number and says which line it could not answer for. An uncategorised line is unknown, not materials — and a confident wrong figure on somebody's tax is worse than being asked a question. You answer it once on the line and it is right from then on.
Can I see what I am owed back at the end of the year?
Yes. Deductions are grouped by HMRC tax month, which runs the 6th to the 5th and not the calendar month. A deduction counts on the day the contractor pays you, not the day you invoiced — so an invoice raised in March and paid in May is a May deduction, in the following year's reclaim. That one rule is where hand-kept totals usually go wrong.
What about the statements the contractor is supposed to send me?
You record each one as it arrives and the page shows which months are still missing. Inside the 14 days a statement is awaited rather than overdue, and a statement with no date on it is never marked late. Where a statement disagrees with your invoices, the statement is what you can prove, so that is the figure the reclaim is made against.
Does it handle the VAT reverse charge as well?
Yes. Construction work between two VAT-registered businesses in the scheme is usually reverse charge, which means you do not add VAT and the invoice has to say so in writing. The wording goes on automatically and the VAT total reads nil rather than being quietly left off.
Does it mark materials up?
It warns you if they look marked up, and never refuses. Materials have to be at cost: inflating them shrinks the labour the deduction comes off, so it under-deducts, and it is the subcontractor HMRC comes to about it. It says nothing about labour, or about a line with no cost recorded, because an uncosted line is unknown rather than free.
Does it reach my accounts software?
Yes — Xero, QuickBooks and Sage. The figure that goes across is the one printed on the invoice your customer is holding, posted as a negative line against a CIS-suffered account, never as a credit note. A credit note would forgive the money and record no tax suffered, which is a different thing entirely. If you have not said which account to use, the invoice is held and reported rather than pushed across at its gross total.
What about retention on top of CIS?
Both at once, and they are different things. Retention held back is not money you are owed yet, so it is never chased and never counted as overdue — and a retention with no release date on it is never late, because "six months after practical completion" is often not a date anybody has. Once it is released, or its date passes, it becomes ordinary money owed and is named as retention on the chase so you are not ringing a quantity surveyor about an overdue invoice.
What it does not do
Worth knowing before you spend an afternoon on it rather than after.
It does not file anything with HMRC. It prepares your figures and shows you where you stand; the return is still made by you or your accountant.
It does not verify subcontractors with HMRC, so it cannot tell you whether somebody is on 20%, 30% or gross. You set the rate you have been given.
There are no applications for payment or valuations as a document type of their own. A staged invoice is the nearest thing, and for a lot of contracts it is enough.
Retention is held per invoice, not pooled across a whole contract as one figure.
A payment schedule cannot be used on a CIS invoice. A percentage of a whole job carries no labour and materials split, so any deduction taken from it would be a guess at your tax — it refuses by name rather than producing a number.
See it being done
Step-by-step guides with a short recording of each one, free to read without an account.
Subcontract work and CIS
What a contractor withholds from your invoice, why it is not a debt, and how to set it up.
Getting your CIS back
The statements contractors owe you, which ones are late, and what the tax year adds up to.
The VAT reverse charge on construction work
When you charge no VAT at all, what the invoice has to say, and the two questions only your customer can answer.
Retention held back on a contract
Money the contract keeps until practical completion — recorded, shown to the customer, and never chased as a debt.
Bill for the days worked
Charge a rate per person per day, counted from the visits your team has already finished.
Also worth a look
Free to use, no account needed.
CIS calculator
What a contractor will deduct from your invoice, and what reaches your bank.
VAT reverse charge checker
Whether to charge VAT on a construction invoice, and the wording HMRC wants when you do not.
CIS deductions: what is taken off, and what is not
Why a £1,000 invoice is paid at £880, what the deduction is legally taken off, and why the total on the invoice does not change.
Retention: money held back, and why it is not a late payment
Five per cent held back for a year is not an overdue invoice. What retention is, when it is actually due, and how to keep track of it.
Questions, answered
Is the CIS deduction taken off materials?
No. It comes off labour only, and off the net figure before VAT. Materials are left alone and must be at cost — marking them up shrinks the labour the deduction is taken from, which under-deducts, and HMRC pursues the subcontractor for it.
What is an HMRC tax month?
The 6th of one month to the 5th of the next, rather than the calendar month. CIS statements and deductions are grouped that way, and a deduction counts in the month the contractor pays you rather than the month you invoiced.
Can TaskMyJob submit my CIS return?
No. It prepares the figures and shows the year's total so you know what to reclaim, but the return is filed by you or your accountant. Nothing here is submitted to HMRC.
What if the contractor's statement does not match my invoice?
The statement is what you can prove, so the reclaim is made against the statement. The page shows you where the two disagree rather than quietly picking one.
Does it work for the VAT reverse charge too?
Yes. Where the reverse charge applies, no VAT is added and the required wording is put on the invoice, with the VAT total reading nil rather than being left off.
What does it cost?
£29.99 a month for the whole business — every feature, every person, no add-ons and no per-user pricing. 60 days free and no card to start.
Everything else it does
Try it on your own work
60 days free with everything switched on, and no card to start. If you would rather ask something first, there is a person on the other end.
£29.99 a month for the whole business after the free 60 days.