26 articles

CIS Basics

Practical guides on cis basics for UK construction subcontractors and contractors.

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CIS Basics
How Much Does a Bookkeeper Cost for a Self-Employed Tradesperson?
Trade-reported bookkeeping fees for a one-person construction business sit broadly between £15 and £45 per hour, or roughly £40 to £150 per month on a fixed monthly package, depending on transaction volume and whether payroll or VAT is included. Those are market ranges rather than published rates, because bookkeeping is an unregulated service priced job by job. This guide sets out what drives the price for a CIS subcontractor specifically, what a bookkeeper does that an accountant does not, the CIS records that make trade bookkeeping different from ordinary small business bookkeeping, and the point at which accounting software does the same job for less.
4 August 20267 min read
CIS Basics
Consumer Unit Replacement: Pricing and Time on Site for CIS Electricians
Consumer-facing quote data puts a UK consumer unit replacement at roughly £350 to £850 all in, with most jobs booked as a single day on site. The figure that matters to a CIS subcontractor is different: what is left after the board, the devices, the certification, the notification fee and the 20% CIS deduction on the labour element. This guide sets out realistic time on site by scenario, the BS 7671:2018+A4:2026 spec decisions that move the price, the Part P notification route, and how to invoice the job so the deduction lands on labour only.
4 August 20267 min read
CIS Basics
What It Costs to Qualify as an Electrician, and Whether Self-Employment Pays
Training providers publishing 2026 prices put the adult route to a full electrical qualification at roughly £9,700 to £11,200 once the diplomas, the NVQ, the AM2, an ECS card and a first set of tools and test gear are counted. The apprenticeship route costs almost nothing in fees but takes three and a half to four years on apprentice pay. This guide sets out both routes honestly, then runs the 2026/27 numbers on an employed JIB electrician salary against a self-employed CIS day rate, including what the 20% CIS deduction does to your cash flow and which training costs HMRC will actually let you claim.
4 August 20269 min read
CIS Basics
Does a Self-Employed Electrician, Plumber or Builder Need a Bookkeeper?
Most single-trade CIS subcontractors do not need a bookkeeper, they need a system and an accountant who files the return. The point at which that stops being true is measurable, and it turns on four things: whether you are above the £50,000 Making Tax Digital threshold from 6 April 2026, whether you buy and invoice materials, whether you are VAT registered, and whether you run payroll. This guide sets out the three complexity tiers a trade business sits in, what poor records actually cost in lost refund and 30% deductions, and how the DIY plus annual accountant hybrid works in practice.
4 August 20268 min read
CIS Basics
EICR Certificates: What They Are and How to Price the Job
An EICR is a periodic inspection and test of a fixed electrical installation, reported against BS 7671 using the C1, C2, C3 and FI classification codes. For a self-employed electrician it is one of the few pieces of work with a legally mandated five-year repeat cycle attached to it, which makes it the closest thing the electrical trade has to recurring revenue. This guide covers what the inspection involves, the validity rules across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, trade-reported price ranges by property size, the qualification change landing on 1 October 2026, and how CIS treats inspection income differently from the remedial work that follows it.
4 August 202610 min read
CIS Basics
Pricing a House Rewire as a Self-Employed CIS Electrician
A full house rewire is one of the few domestic jobs large enough to make or break a self-employed electrician's year, and one of the easiest to underprice. This guide breaks the job into its real cost components (operative days by property size, materials, certification and notification, making good), sets out the trade-reported market ranges the customer is comparing you against, and covers the tax side that only bites after you have quoted: the labour and materials split under CIS, VAT on domestic work, and the turnover thresholds a big rewire year can push you across.
4 August 202610 min read
CIS Basics
What to Charge as a Self-Employed Electrician: Rates for 2026/27
Published UK cost guides put a domestic electrician's hourly rate at roughly £45 to £60 in 2026, rising to £80 to £100 in London and the South East, with day rates commonly quoted between £250 and £400. Those are consumer quote figures, not subcontract rates, and neither tells you what you actually keep. This guide sets out the published benchmarks with their sources, the three pricing models electricians use, what your rate has to cover before a penny is profit, and a worked 2026/27 example taking a £280 day rate through CIS deductions, expenses and tax to a real take-home number.
4 August 20269 min read
CIS Basics
Do Construction Companies Survive Better or Worse Than the UK Average?
Insolvency headlines suggest construction is the UK's most fragile sector. ONS Business Demography survival data tells a more complete story: of the construction companies born in 2019, 43.3% were still trading five years later in 2024, against 38.4% across all UK industries. This article works through the full cohort-by-cohort survival series compiled in our UK Construction Survival Index, explains why a better-than-average survival rate does not contradict rising insolvency counts, and sets out what the pattern means for a trade business owner planning for the long term.
23 July 20267 min read
CIS Basics
The State of UK Construction Business 2026
Two proprietary datasets, drawn entirely from Companies House and Insolvency Service public records, reveal the real picture of UK construction in 2026. Electricians and plumbers lead company formation at over 7,000 new firms each per year. A March incorporation spike, running about 15% above the monthly average across the decade, points directly to the 6 April tax deadline. And trailing-twelve-month insolvencies stand at 4,038, up 49.9% over a decade, with creditors voluntary liquidations accounting for around three quarters of all cases. This article works through what each of those numbers means for a CIS subcontractor or trade business owner making decisions about structure, payment terms, and financial risk.
20 July 202611 min read
CIS Basics
Which Construction Trades Are Going Limited? Company Incorporations by Trade Ranked
Companies House data for 2025 shows that electricians and plumbers are incorporating at a scale that dwarfs every other trade, while joiners are growing fastest on a year-on-year basis. But volume alone does not tell a subcontractor what to do. This piece ranks all eight core trades by 2025 incorporations, traces their decade-long growth, and sets the numbers alongside the limited-vs-sole-trader tax decision that each trade's typical profit profile shapes.
20 July 202613 min read
CIS Basics
CIS and Mortgages: How Lenders Treat CIS Income and What You Need to Apply
CIS subcontractors face a specific problem when applying for a mortgage. Most mainstream lenders read net receipts rather than gross CIS earnings, which shrinks the income figure used for affordability by 20% or more before a single expense is claimed. This guide explains how lenders assess CIS income, what documents you need, how your SA302s and Self Assessment returns feed the application, and what you can do to put your best case forward.
12 June 20269 min read
CIS Basics
CIS Registration for Contractors: Step-by-Step Guide 2026/27
Registering as a CIS contractor is not the same as registering as a subcontractor. The process, the trigger event and the ongoing obligations are all different. This guide covers who must register as a contractor, what you need before you start, the step-by-step HMRC registration process, and the April 2026 due-diligence duties that apply from day one.
12 June 20267 min read
CIS Basics
CIS Deduction Rates: 20%, 30% and Gross Payment Status Explained
The Construction Industry Scheme operates three deduction rates: 0% for subcontractors with Gross Payment Status, 20% for registered subcontractors, and 30% for unregistered ones. Crucially, the deduction only applies to the labour element of an invoice, not the materials. This guide explains all three rates, shows exactly how the deduction base works with a worked invoice example, and explains why over-deduction across a tax year typically means money back.
12 June 20268 min read
CIS Basics
CIS Employment Status: How HMRC Tests Whether You Are Self-Employed or Employed
CIS does not automatically make a worker self-employed. HMRC applies a three-part employment status test, and getting it wrong exposes a contractor to backdated employer NIC at 15%, PAYE penalties, and the loss of Gross Payment Status. This guide explains the three tests, the CEST tool, the false self-employment risk and what a genuinely self-employed CIS subcontractor looks like.
12 June 20267 min read
CIS Basics
CIS for Partnerships: Registration, UTR, Deductions and Self Assessment
A construction partnership registers for CIS as a single entity using the partnership UTR, suffers deductions at the partnership level, and then allocates profits and the corresponding CIS deducted to each partner on their individual Self Assessment returns. This guide covers CIS304 registration, how the deduction base works for a partnership, the GPS turnover test, what happens when partners join or leave, and how to convert from a partnership to a limited company without losing coverage.
12 June 20269 min read
CIS Basics
CIS Invoice Splitting: How to Correctly Separate Labour and Materials
Under CIS, deductions apply to labour only. Materials you buy for a job are excluded from the deduction base. Getting the split right on every invoice is the single most effective step a subcontractor can take to avoid being over-deducted, and the difference adds up to thousands of pounds a year.
12 June 20269 min read
CIS Basics
6 CIS Mistakes That Cost Subcontractors Money Every Year
Most CIS subcontractors overpay HMRC every year without realising it. This guide walks through the six most common and most expensive mistakes, with worked cost figures for each, and explains exactly how to put each one right.
12 June 20268 min read
CIS Basics
CIS National Insurance: Class 2, Class 4 and Employer NIC for Construction Workers
CIS deductions are advance income tax payments, not National Insurance. This guide explains which NI classes apply to sole-trader subcontractors (Class 2 and Class 4) and to limited-company directors in construction (employer NIC), with worked examples for 2026/27 and a clear explanation of why a large NI bill can still sit behind a year of CIS deductions.
12 June 20269 min read
CIS Basics
CIS: Sole Trader or Limited Company, Which Structure Works Better?
For a CIS subcontractor the sole-trader-versus-limited-company choice is not the generic one most articles describe. It turns on three things that are specific to the Construction Industry Scheme: how and when you get your over-deducted CIS money back, how the gross payment status turnover test is measured for your entity type, and how the 2026/27 tax arithmetic actually falls once you account for employer National Insurance and the higher dividend rates. This guide works through all three with real numbers.
12 June 202613 min read
CIS Basics
CIS vs PAYE: Complete Tax and Take-Home Comparison for Construction Workers (2026/27)
CIS and PAYE are not two ways of paying the same tax. CIS treats you as a self-employed business that deducts its costs and settles up through Self Assessment, while PAYE treats you as an employee whose tax is finalised in-year and who carries no expense deduction but gains real employment rights. This pillar guide compares the two properly: the exact take-home at £35,000, £55,000 and £80,000 gross for 2026/27, the employment rights and pension value PAYE adds, the cash-flow difference, the false self-employment risk that can land a misclassified worker and contractor with a back-dated bill, and the Making Tax Digital threshold that is tested on gross CIS income before any deduction.
12 June 202613 min read
CIS Basics
CIS vs PAYE: the Key Differences for Construction Workers
Most construction workers end up on one of two payment systems: PAYE, where a contractor deducts income tax and National Insurance before paying wages, or CIS, where a contractor deducts a flat percentage from the labour element of each invoice. The two systems differ in how much is taken, how it is taken, who bears the risk, and crucially what you can get back at year end. This guide sets out the differences side by side and shows why most self-employed subcontractors systematically overpay under CIS.
12 June 202610 min read
CIS Basics
How to Register for CIS as a Subcontractor (Step by Step)
Registering for CIS is optional in law but essential in practice. An unregistered subcontractor has 30% deducted from every labour payment. A registered one pays 20%. This guide walks through both the subcontractor and contractor registration routes, what documents you need, how HMRC verifies you afterwards, and what the 0% Gross Payment Status upgrade looks like.
12 June 202611 min read
CIS Basics
Switching CIS Accountant: What Subcontractors Need to Know
Switching accountants is straightforward in law. There is no legal barrier to changing your CIS accountant at any point in the tax year, and no requirement to wait until January or April. The practical challenge is ensuring the handover is complete: the right records transferred, the HMRC authorisation switched over correctly, and nothing left unfiled or unclaimed by your previous accountant. This guide covers the process step by step.
12 June 20266 min read
CIS Basics
What Construction Work Is Not CIS? Work Excluded from the Scheme Explained
The Construction Industry Scheme covers a wide range of construction operations, but it does not cover everything done in or around a building. Professional services, materials-only supply, certain specialist installations and ordinary cleaning all fall outside CIS. Getting the boundary wrong in either direction creates real problems, either unnecessary compliance obligations or missed registration and the 30% penalty deduction rate.
12 June 20268 min read
CIS Basics
What Does a CIS Accountant Do and Do You Need One?
A CIS accountant is not just a generalist with a CIS checkbox ticked. They carry specialised knowledge of refund mechanics, Gross Payment Status applications, CIS300 contractor compliance, the domestic reverse charge and the April 2026 MTD obligations. This guide sets out what a specialist does that a generalist typically does not, when you can manage without one, and when the fee pays for itself many times over through recovered deductions alone.
12 June 202610 min read
CIS Basics
What Is the Construction Industry Scheme? A Complete Guide
The Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) is the set of HMRC rules that requires contractors to deduct money from payments to subcontractors and pass it to HMRC as an advance on the subcontractor's tax and National Insurance. This guide explains what CIS is and why it exists, who counts as a contractor and a subcontractor, the three deduction rates and the labour-only base they apply to, how registration works on both sides, monthly returns and the reinstated April 2026 nil-return rule, and how over-deducted CIS turns into a refund.
12 June 202612 min read

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