Service areas
Where the contractors are.
I keep books for trades businesses across the greater Seattle area. The books are kept remotely, so what matters is not how close I am to your yard but how well I know the rules you file under. Every city below runs its own business tax, and no two are the same.
8,971
5
1
Cities
City by city.
Washington cities levy their own business taxes on top of the state’s, with different rates, thresholds and filing schedules. These pages cover what each one means for a contracting business.
01
3,641 businesses
Seattle
The largest concentration of contracting businesses in Washington, and the city that changed its business tax most this year. The threshold jumped to $2 million, so most contractors now owe nothing and still have to file.
02
1,563 businesses
Auburn
The widest prime-to-subcontractor rate gap in the area, a threshold measured on companywide revenue rather than Auburn revenue, and a square footage tax on top.
03
1,497 businesses
Kent
A city B&O tax with two separate components, where you pay whichever is larger, and a classification rule that taxes subcontract work at double the prime rate.
04
1,238 businesses
Renton
A $500,000 tax threshold and a $1 million filing threshold doing two different jobs, a flat licence fee, and a deduction for work delivered outside the city that most contractors never claim.
05
1,032 businesses
Federal Way
The straightforward one. No city B&O tax at all, which leaves the state rules, sales tax sourcing and job costing as the things that actually decide whether the work paid.
06
Everywhere else
Somewhere else?
These five hold the biggest concentrations of contracting businesses in King County, which is why they came first. Elsewhere in King or Snohomish County the work is the same, and plenty of cities levy no business tax at all. Ask and I will tell you straight whether I am the right fit.
The same question, five answers
What does subcontract work cost you?
Bill a property owner and the work is a retail sale. Bill a general contractor and the identical work is a wholesale sale. Whether that changes your bill, and by how much, depends entirely on which city you are filing in.
A subcontractor who records every job the same way has the tax wrong in three of these five cities.
Services
The same three services, wherever you are.
Monthly bookkeeping, catch-up and cleanup, and QuickBooks setup and training. No payroll, no tax prep, no audits.
Each trade breaks the books in its own way, too.
Book a free consult
Tell me where the books stand.
Fifteen questions about your business and your books. I read every one personally and reply with a straight answer.