Set up CIS for your business

Turn on the CIS features in Accounting to:

  • Record your CIS registration details.
  • Add CIS ledger accounts to your chart of accounts.

  • Add CIS options to contact records to allow you to set up contacts as contractors or subcontractors.

  • Produce CIS transactions and reports.

Once CIS is activated, the options will always be available on your contacts and chart of accounts.

Activate CIS 

When you activate CIS for your business, we'll add new CIS ledger accounts to your chart of accounts. Keep to the ledger accounts we’ve created or for more detailed reporting, create your own additional ledger accounts.

Once you've set up your CIS contacts too, you'll start to see CIS deductions automatically applied to your transactions.

Make sure you have permissions to update your financial settings and activate CIS. You’ll need to be a user with Full Access.

  1. Select Settings, then Business Settings.
  2. Under Financial Settings, select Construction Industry Scheme (CIS).
  3. Select I'm CIS Registered.
  4. Select whether you're a Contractor, Subcontractor, or both.
  5. Enter your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR).
  6. If you're a contractor, enter your Accounts Office Reference and Employer's PAYE Reference.
  7. If you're a subcontractor, select your Deduction Rate.
  8. Select Save.

CIS ledger accounts

Once CIS is activated, we'll create all the required CIS ledger accounts for you and add them to your chart of accounts.

We'll use the next available nominal code in the range for each section of your chart of accounts. For example, in the sales category, if 4910 is the last code used, we'll use 4911 for CIS Labour and 4912 for CIS Materials.

Alternatively, if you want to do more detailed reporting, you can learn how to set up your own CIS ledger accounts. You might want to do this to report separately on different types of labour or materials.

CIS ledger accounts for subcontractors

Code Ledger Name Category Category Group VAT Rate Used on Description
4911 CIS Labour Sales Income Standard 20% Sales, Journals, Reports Records income received from CIS labour on sales invoices.
4912 CIS Materials Sales Income Standard 20% Sales, Journals, Reports Records income received from CIS materials on sales invoices.
  The CIS Tax Asset ledger accounts        

Used to record the expected CIS amount deducted reduce the amount owed on the invoice.
1131 CIS Tax Asset Withheld Current Assets Asset No VAT Journals, Reports

Records the CIS amount deducted from a sales invoice.

This represents the amount that you expect to be withheld from you, so you can get a full picture of your CIS deductions.

1132 CIS Tax Asset Realised Current Assets Asset No VAT Journals, Reports

When the invoice is paid, the CIS amount is moved from the Withheld account to the Realised account.

This shows the total amount of CIS that’s actually been withheld.

CIS ledger accounts for contractors

Code Ledger Name Category Category Group VAT Rate Visibility Description
5111 CIS Labour Expense Direct Expenses Expenditure Standard 20% Purchases, Journals, Reports Records CIS labour charged on subcontractor invoices.
5112 CIS Materials Purchased Direct Expenses Expenditure Standard 20% Purchases, Journals, Reports Records CIS materials charged on subcontractor invoices.
  The CIS Tax Liability ledger accounts        

Used to record the amount of CIS amount withheld, letting you see your total liability at a glance.
2501 CIS Tax Liability Current Liability Liability No VAT Journals, Reports

Records the amount of CIS deducted before the invoice is paid.

This represents the amount that you expect to withhold from the subcontractor.
2502 CIS Tax Liability Realised Current Liability Liability No VAT Other Payments, Journals, Reports

When the invoice is paid, the CIS amount is automatically moved from the CIS Tax Liability account to the CIS Tax Liability Realised account.

This shows you the total amount of your actual liability.

Next steps

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