Monthly close & reconciliation
Bank, credit card, and loan accounts reconciled every month so your numbers hold up.
Seattle, WA · King County
Accountant in Seattle for construction & real estate businesses
Building in Seattle means dealing with tight infill lots, strict permitting, and some of the most complex WA B&O and Seattle city tax filings in the state. We run the books so you can focus on the build.
Accounting built for Seattle construction & real estate
Seattle contractors juggle King County permitting, Seattle Business License Tax (city B&O), and Washington State excise tax — plus the usual job costing and 1099 pressure. We handle the full monthly cycle so nothing slips.
What we do for Seattle clients
Job costing & WIP
Costs tracked by job, phase, and crew — WIP schedules for lenders when you need them.
Sales tax, WA B&O & 1099s
State and city filings on time, W-9s collected year-round, 1099s filed in January.
Who we work with in Seattle
- Custom home buildersInfill lots, high-end finishes, WIP schedules for lenders.
- RemodelersDeposits, change orders, and project-level P&Ls in dense neighborhoods.
- Real estate developersMulti-entity books, construction draws, and investor reporting across King County projects.
- Specialty tradesElectricians, tile installers, and painters running crews across Seattle job sites.
What Our Clients Say
74 five-star reviews from construction and real estate businesses across Washington
"Ruvim and his team have been great to work with. They're reliable, responsive, and provide accurate bookkeeping and payroll support. We appreciate their attention to detail and the outstanding work they do!"
"I worked with Ruvim and Ready Accounting for over two years and had a great experience. Ruvim is extremely responsible, reliable, and always on top of things. He built a great system that made reconciling all of our company accounts simple and organized, kept our filings on time, and helped us manage ACH payments to our trade partners smoothly. Ruvim is knowledgeable, responsive, and someone you can trust with the financial side of your business. Highly recommend Ready Accounting to any company looking for dependable and professional accounting support."
"Working with Ready Accounting has been smooth and stress-free. Ruvim is knowledgeable, responsive, and truly cares about your success. Highly recommend!"
"Ruvim is the best bookkeeper there is period. We have used several bookkeepers in the past but no one matched his level. I highly recommend using him."
"We have been with ready accounting for about half a year or so and let me say it's been amazing! Upon opening a business and hiring employees, there was so much things needed to be done where I had absolutely no clue how to do! A friend of mine recommended ready accounting and honestly never looked back! He does an amazing job and best of all, I don't have to do a thing! Thanks ready accounting for being trustworthy and amazing!"
"Ruvim is very organized, thorough and knowledgeable. Excellent communication skills, timely and cares about his clients and their business operations. Highly recommend!"
"Ruvim is an incredibly knowledgeable individual who consistently demonstrates responsiveness and helpfulness. Whenever I have questions, he promptly provides accurate answers, making him an invaluable resource for my business. His understanding of my business accounting needs is unparalleled, and he consistently delivers exceptional results. I wholeheartedly recommend him to anyone seeking reliable expertise and support."
5.0 rating from 74 Google reviews
Want the story behind the stars? Read real client case studies — including a Bellevue remodeler and a Tacoma developer.
Local details that matter in Seattle
Seattle Business License Tax (city B&O)
The City of Seattle levies its own B&O tax on top of the WA State one. We track gross receipts by classification and file on your schedule so you don't get hit with a surprise assessment.
King County job costing
Between long permit timelines and expensive labor, margin lives or dies at the job level. We wire QuickBooks Online, Buildertrend, or Jobtread to give you real per-job profitability.
Sales tax on construction
Retail vs. wholesale, prime vs. sub, reseller permits — Washington construction sales tax has real teeth. We keep your coding clean and your filings on time.
Accounting for Seattle businesses — what it actually involves
Seattle work skews toward infill: townhome clusters in Ballard and Beacon Hill, deep remodels in Queen Anne and Montlake, and tenant improvements in SoDo and Georgetown. Lots are small, labor is expensive, and schedules stretch, so a job that pencils at bid can quietly lose margin over an 11-month build if costs aren't coded as they land.
Permitting through SDCI
Seattle permits run through the Seattle Department of Construction & Inspections rather than King County, and review timelines on anything touching land use are long enough that draw schedules and cash forecasts have to account for them. We date job costs to the phase they belong to so your WIP doesn't jump the month a permit finally clears.
Seattle Department of Construction & InspectionsSeattle Business License Tax on top of state B&O
Seattle levies its own business license tax on gross receipts, separate from the Washington State B&O you file with DOR. Contractors doing work both inside and outside city limits have to apportion, which is where most self-filed returns go wrong. We track receipts by classification and jurisdiction month by month so the city return is a lookup, not a reconstruction.
City of Seattle business license taxHow we shape the monthly close for Seattle clients
- Receipts split between Seattle city limits and unincorporated King County work
- Per-project P&Ls for long infill builds where a single job spans three quarters
- Sales tax coded at the job's location rate, not your office rate
Seattle accounting questions we get asked
Do I have to file a Seattle business license tax return if my shop is outside the city?
If you perform work inside Seattle city limits you generally have a city tax obligation even when your office and yard are elsewhere, and the threshold is based on Seattle-attributed gross receipts. We track the split as jobs are costed so the answer is documented rather than guessed. Confirm your specific threshold with the City of Seattle, since it is updated periodically.
How do you handle sales tax for a Seattle job when my office is in another city?
Washington sources construction sales tax to where the work is physically performed, so a Seattle job carries the Seattle combined rate regardless of where you invoice from. We set up location-based rates in QuickBooks Online so each invoice pulls the right rate automatically.
Can you produce WIP schedules my Seattle lender will accept?
Yes. We produce monthly work-in-progress schedules showing contract value, costs to date, estimated cost to complete, and over/under billings — the format construction lenders and bonding agents in the Puget Sound expect.
Neighborhoods we serve around Seattle
We work with contractors and developers across King County — including:
- Ballard
- Capitol Hill
- Queen Anne
- West Seattle
- Fremont
- Green Lake
- Magnolia
- SoDo
- Georgetown
- Northgate
Our services in Seattle, WA
Every service below is available to Seattle-area contractors, remodelers, and real estate developers — remote by default, in person when it helps.
- Bookkeeping services in Seattle, WAConstruction & small business accounting — job costing, WA B&O, and monthly close.
- General contractor accounting in SeattleSubcontractor 1099s, change orders, and per-job margin.
- Remodeling accounting in SeattleDeposits, allowances, and burdened labor handled correctly.
- Home builder accounting in SeattleCost by lot, construction draws, and gross profit per home.
- Developer accounting in SeattleMulti-entity books, capitalization, and investor reporting.
- Construction accounting in SeattleWIP, retainage, and WA excise tax done monthly.
- Outsourced accountant in SeattleMonthly close, reconciliation, sales tax, and 1099s from $750/month.
- Outsourced controller in SeattleJob costing, WIP schedules, and lender-ready financials.
- Accounting cleanup in SeattleMonths or years of messy books brought current and tax-ready.
- Accounting system setup in SeattleQuickBooks Online, Buildertrend, Jobtread, and Jobber configured for job costing.
- QuickBooks Desktop to Online in SeattleFixed-fee migration with history and job costing preserved.
- Payroll setup in SeattleNew-employer registrations and ongoing payroll oversight.
How we run the books, in depth
Construction accounting guide
Job costing, WIP and percentage-of-completion, retainage, labor burden, WA sales tax, and 1099s.
Real estate development accounting guide
Capitalization policy, project cost ledgers, draw reconciliation, multi-entity books, and investor reporting.
Industry-specific accounting in Seattle
Guides & explainers
Helpful reading for Seattle business owners
How WA sales tax, city B&O, and payroll rules affect Seattle contractors and small businesses — plus how outsourced accounting compares to hiring in-house.
- Why hire a WA-based accountantLocal rules that out-of-state accountants routinely miss in Seattle and across King County.
- Outsourced vs. in-house accountantReal cost comparison and what's included at Core, Advanced, and Elite tiers.
- How to use QBO for sales taxAutomated Sales Tax setup for Seattle's combined WA + city rate.
- How to use QBO for job costingProjects and cost codes for construction and real estate work.
Also serving nearby
Ready for an accountant who knows Seattle?
Book a consultation — we'll review your books and map out what monthly accounting would cover.
Get in touch
Book a call with Ruvim
Tell us a little about your business and we'll follow up to schedule a call — usually same day.
Prefer to reach out directly? We answer most inquiries within a few hours during business days.
Email us
Info@readyaccounting.coCall us
(253) 367-3672