What expense account are subcontractors?

Why would it not be considered a COGS (or COS) if he only uses the subcontractor on a specific job?

Hello, jenna_lee.

I can provide you some information about COGS in QuickBooks Desktop.

Costs of Goods Sold, or COGS tracks all of the costs associated with the items you sell, which allows you to calculate gross profits accurately.

COGS accounts also give the total underlying costs on your Profit & Loss reports. In QuickBooks, you create new accounts through the Chart of Accounts, or COA, window. You then assign the necessary inventory items to these accounts so that you can accurately track what you have in stock, and know exactly how much you've spent and earned with it.

You might find this article helpful: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/community/Inventory-and-projects/Understand-Inventory-Assets-and-COGS-....

If you require more information about COGS, feel free to let me know. Have a great rest of your day.

Hello @Rose-A,

I was hoping you could assist me. We currently use Subcontractor labor set up as a service type/item with the expense account set up COGS-subcontractor and income account 4520 Revenue-labor, we set up estimates and invoice the client directly from that in QB however the cost of the Subcontractor labor does not reflect on the job when the job profitabiity detail report is ran for this job, but on the job estimates vs. actuals detail report the cost shows, what needs to be done so that the cost reflects properly on the job profitabiity detail report?

(using QB Enterprise 2016 Contractor)

Thank you

We have an independent contractor who's payments have been entered under a current liability account. Im assuming because of this, he was not eligible for a 1099.

Is this correct, or should the account be changed to an expense?

It’s nice to see you in the QuickBooks Community, Jalise.

I’m here to clarify why your vendor isn’t eligible for 1099.

Yes, you’re correct once you use a different account to record vendor payments the transactions will not be tracked as 1099. Aside from that, the contractor should reach the $600 threshold.

To resolve the issue, you’ll have to associate an expense account for each 1099 category and choose the correct one you set up in QuickBooks to track 1099 payments.

To change the account:

1. Go to Vendors at the top menu bar, then select Vendor Center.
2. Choose the contractor you’re working on.
3. Go to the Transactions tab.
4. Double-click on the transaction to open it.
5. In the Expenses section, change the current liability account to a 1099 account.
6. Click on Save & Close.

I'm adding some articles with detailed instructions on how to troubleshoot issues when preparing 1099.

• QuickBooks Desktop setup, troubleshooting, & FAQs
• 1099 Vendor does not show on the 1099 Summary Report

If you have further questions about the process, reach out to me by mentioning my name. I’ll get back to assist you further. Have a good one.

Thanks for that Risa-LilaM.

So, here is my issue. We received money from a funder and they requested we pay the independent contractor from the funds they gave us. In doing so, it was recorded as a liability instead of an expense. The contractor received well over $600 last fiscal year, but because of how it was recorded, he didn't get a 1099. How should he go about paying his taxes for last year?

@Rasa-LilaM

Please learn from this input; you can Map a Liability account and even an Asset account for purposes of 1099 reporting. Example: The contractor works on Equipment you track as Fixed Asset or the Business Building = for purposes of 1099-Misc reporting, that is mapped to box 7. That labor is not Expense, but invested costs.

@Jalise

This is likely where you went wrong: "We received money from a funder and they requested we pay the independent contractor from the funds they gave us."

First, we know it isn't literally the same serial number dollar bill that you get, and then pay out. Next, you treat it as Income when that is Your Resource to spend. Any restriction on it makes it Restricted Income; not Liability. It would be Liability if you must use it as promised or Return it.

"In doing so, it was recorded as a liability instead of an expense."

That part is backwards; the Payment to the contractor is still expense or whatever applies. The Funds you were given, if they were in fact not yours to keep and use, but subject to being returned, means the Payment to the contractor still is whatever you paid for that they provided. Then, additional to that Spending, you were supposed to Relieve Liability to Income, to show you earned the right to Keep that funds, because you Spent them as promised.

What you did is Wash Away the grant entirely, which is wrong.

"The contractor received well over $600 last fiscal year, but because of how it was recorded, he didn't get a 1099."

And that is wrong, as well.

Let's review the options for proper accounting of these activities:

1. I get Grant Income, under Restriction, to use only on the Specific Purpose. That is my income when I got it, and my spending is associated with that Job (customer = grantor) and/or Class (program/purposes, such as Food Bank or Animal Rescue).

Or,

 2, I am awarded a Reimbursement Grant, so the Spending happens first, and then I apply to be reimbursed, which makes the Reimbursement my Grant Income.

Or,

3. I get a Restricted Grant that has the stipulation that Funds not Expended must be returned. That means it is more like a combination of 1 + 2. I treat the initial inflow as Liability. I track all spending and mark that this is Billable to the Grantor. I invoice the Grantor and then I use the Prepayment item on a Credit Memo to apply it to the invoice. The Invoice is creating the Income. There is not a Payment of new money against that invoice; the credit memo is how I show the Liability is reduced, and I am using the prepayment to clear the Invoice, to show I have the right to Keep the initial funds (reducing liability = the amount I need to repay just went down). I do that until I spent the grant in full, and the Liability from the prepayment of the grant is fully cleared to 0 liability on hand.

And for Every scenario, if I paid the subcontractor for goods or services, the entries are all the same as usual = really entered for what I am paying that person for doing or selling to me. Nothing about the Purchase is Liability. I spent funds; the earlier options control what I need to Treat the inflow of the funds as, in the first place.

What are the steps to reflect,  1099 expense and income profit for the same vendor? i.e. Bill for Vendor(expense) and Invoice client for vendor services (income).

Hi Denee,

In QuickBooks Online, most of the vendor/contractor payments are categorized in box 7. To check which boxes these vendor payments belong to, you can follow these steps:

1. On the left panel click Expenses, and choose Vendors.
2. Click the Prepare 1099s button located in the upper right-hand corner.
3. Click the Continue your 1099s button.
4. Go to the Account section, hover your mouse pointer on each box to see the types of payments you can assign.
5. Check the box and select the account from the drop-down menu.
6. Click Next until you finish preparing the 1099s.

You can also check these article for more information:

• 1099-MISC box 7: Nonemployee compensation
• Common questions about 1099s 

We'll be around if there's anything you need help with QuickBooks. Thanks.

I’m filling out the SBA Loan thing and need to be clear about a few things. They are asking for:

1. Gross Revenues for the Twelve(12) Month Prior to the Date of the Disaster (January 31, 2020) *
2. Cost of Goods Sold for the Twelve(12) Month Prior to the Date of the Disaster (January 31, 2020) 

I’m not sure about COGS.  The ‘Job Materials Purchased’ shows up as a negative amount, which makes sense.  But the ‘Subcontractors Expense’ and ‘ Tools and Small Equipment’ are showing as a positive amount.  This makes the Total COGS less than I think it should be.

They don’t ask about the Total Expenses – does that make sense or is that something I should include in COGS?

I'll be glad to upload the P&L if we can take this conversation offline.

Thanks,

David

Hello Clearwater,

The COGS amount will be less than the Jobs Materials Purchased if there are still materials left in the inventory. Please note that COGS will only be realized when the materials are sold. Also, it depends on how you set up your items affecting the COGS account.

When you pull up the report, you can click the amount associated to COGS to see the transactions. From there, you can determine whether these transactions correctly set up. I'd also recommend reaching out your accountant when set up COGS for your items. They can give you better options in doing this and in correcting your reports.

You can also use this article about COGS for more information: Understand inventory assets and cost of goods sold tracking.

Feel free to drop by again if you have additional queries.

The expenditures were not for inventory that will be sold.

I paid subcontractors a flat rate for their labor and filed a 1099-MISC for them.

The other was for tools I purchased.

As I understand it, these are still COGS but I must have miscategorized them.  My CPA is not a QB's expert so he wasn't sure how to set that up.  And since I keep my own books, I am unable to find a qualified bookkeeper to help with a one time thing.

Any ideas?  As I said, I would gladly post the P&L in a private communication, which may help

Thank you for coming back with more details, David.

Yes, it's better if one can take a look at your P&L report to see your transactions. I would recommend reaching out to our Support team to check this out. They can use a screen sharing tool to see your setup, reports, and transactions.

You can follow these steps:

1. Click on Help and choose Contact Us.
2. In the text box, enter the summary of the issue and click Let's talk.
3. Choose Message us or Get a callback.

If there's anything that we can help you at the moment aside from this, please don't hesitate to go back to this thread.

What is the correct detail type for the subcontractor expense account like an electrician or carpenter?

were you able to figure this out?  i've run into the same issue. 

thanks 

What is the subcontractor is an S-Corp? Do you still follow the same accounting process as if you were tracking a 1099 subcontractor?

and are you assigning that to Accounts payable A/P? 

Can you have more than one expense category for contractors you pay directly?

(Ie. Contractor pay and Contractor travel).  

If so, how do I do it? 

What is Solar System Account Head

@Shayan Akhter  "What is Solar System Account Head"

I... guess that would be the sun?