Fence Companies, CPA & Tax Services

Why Fence Companies in Dallas Need a CPA Who Understands the Trade

Fence contractors deal with tax situations that most general accountants get wrong: high material costs that shift between jobs, deposits collected weeks before work begins, crews that blur the line between employees and subcontractors, and expensive equipment that qualifies for immediate write-offs. A CPA who doesn’t understand how fencing jobs actually flow will misclassify costs, miss deductions, and leave you exposed to IRS and Texas Comptroller problems.

At AG Freideman, we work with trade contractors across Dallas-Fort Worth who run material-heavy, crew-driven operations. Al Freideman has over 30 years of experience as a licensed CPA, and he handles every fence company client personally. No junior staff, no hand-offs. When your books are reconciled and your return is filed, Al reviewed it. That’s why we have 52 five-star Google reviews and zero negative reviews.

If you’re running a fence company in Dallas, Plano, Frisco, McKinney, Allen, Richardson, or anywhere in DFW, call us at (972) 893-3481 or book a free consultation to see how we can clean up your financials and reduce your tax bill.

How Should Fence Companies Handle Job Costing for Materials?

Every fence job involves a different mix of cedar, pine, chain link, vinyl, concrete, post caps, hardware, and stain. If your books lump all materials into one expense line, you lose the ability to track profitability per job, and your tax return won’t accurately reflect your cost of goods sold (COGS). Accurate job costing is the foundation of both good tax preparation and a profitable fencing business.

Here’s what proper material-based job costing looks like for a fence contractor:

• Separate material purchases by job using job numbers or customer names in QuickBooks or your accounting software, not just one “Materials” category
• Track material waste and overages as a cost allocated to the specific job where they occurred, not dumped into general overhead
• Distinguish between materials you stock in bulk (posts, pickets, bags of concrete) and materials purchased for a specific project, because inventory accounting rules differ
• Reconcile supplier statements monthly from places like SRS Distribution, 84 Lumber, or your local supply house to catch billing errors before they compound

When we set up monthly bookkeeping for fence companies, we build a job costing structure that gives you real gross margins per project. You’ll know which jobs made money and which ones didn’t, and your tax return will reflect accurate COGS that lowers your taxable income properly.

When Do Customer Deposits Become Taxable Income?

Most fence companies collect a deposit (often 50%) before starting work, with the balance due at completion. Under IRS rules, that deposit is generally taxable income in the year you receive it, not the year you complete the job. This catches many contractors off guard, especially when a December deposit funds a January installation.

The timing matters significantly for fence contractors who book heavily in fall and winter for spring installations. If you collect $40,000 in deposits during November and December but don’t start those jobs until February, that $40,000 hits your 2026 tax return even though you haven’t bought materials or paid crews yet.

There are limited exceptions. If a deposit is a true advance payment for goods and you use the deferral method allowed under IRS Revenue Procedure 2004-34, you may be able to defer some income to the following year. But the rules are specific, and getting them wrong triggers penalties. We help fence company owners structure their deposit collection timing and accounting method to minimize year-end tax surprises.

Are Your Fence Crews Employees or Subcontractors?

Worker classification is the single biggest audit risk for fence companies in Texas. The IRS and the Texas Workforce Commission both scrutinize construction trades heavily, and misclassifying employees as 1099 subcontractors can result in back payroll taxes, penalties, and interest going back multiple years.

The general rule: if you control when, where, and how the crew works, they’re employees. Many fence company owners pay crews as subcontractors because it’s simpler and avoids payroll tax, but the IRS applies a behavioral control, financial control, and relationship test that most fence crews fail as independent contractors.

Here’s what we look at:

• Do you provide the tools and equipment? If your crews use your augers, your skid steer, and your company trailer, they look like employees to the IRS
• Do they work for other companies? A true subcontractor typically has multiple clients and their own business entity
• Do you set the schedule? Telling a crew to be at a specific address at 7 AM Monday is employer behavior
• Do they invoice you, or do you just pay them? Subcontractors should submit invoices from their own business

If your crews should be classified as employees, we set up payroll processing that handles federal withholding, FICA, FUTA, and Texas unemployment insurance correctly. If they genuinely qualify as subcontractors, we make sure you’re issuing 1099-NEC forms by the January 31 deadline and documenting the relationship properly.

How Can Fence Companies Deduct Equipment Using Section 179?

Fence contractors rely on expensive equipment: post hole augers, skid steers, mini excavators, trailers, compressors, and work trucks. Under IRS Section 179, you can deduct the full purchase price of qualifying equipment in the year you buy it rather than depreciating it over several years. For 2026, the Section 179 deduction limit is $1,250,000, which is far more than most fence companies spend on equipment in a single year.

Common fence company equipment that qualifies for Section 179:

• Skid steers and mini excavators used for post hole digging, grading, and debris removal
• Trailers used to haul materials and equipment to job sites
• Work trucks over 6,000 pounds GVWR (many heavy-duty pickups qualify for the full deduction rather than the passenger vehicle cap)
• Power augers, concrete mixers, compressors, and pneumatic tools
• Welding equipment for iron and metal fence fabrication

The key is that the equipment must be purchased and placed in service during the 2026 tax year. If you’re planning a major equipment purchase, talk to us first. Timing the purchase correctly through a tax planning session can save thousands in taxes. A one-time strategy session starts at $197.

Fence Company Tax Mistakes We Fix

After 30 years of working with trade contractors, we see the same costly mistakes from fence company owners who either file their own returns or use a CPA without construction experience:

• Failing to collect W-9 forms from subcontractors before paying them. Without a W-9 on file, you can’t issue a 1099-NEC, and the IRS may disallow the deduction entirely. We see this constantly with fence companies that hire sub-crews for overflow work.
• Ignoring Texas franchise tax obligations. If your fence company is structured as an LLC or corporation, you owe the Texas Franchise Tax (also called the margin tax) on revenue over $2.47 million, and you must file the Public Information Report annually regardless of revenue. The deadline is May 15 each year. Missing it can result in forfeiture of your business entity. We handle franchise tax filings starting at $250.
• Deducting personal vehicle use at 100% when the truck is also used personally. The IRS requires either a mileage log or actual expense allocation. Without documentation, the entire vehicle deduction is at risk in an audit.
• Reporting all income on Schedule C instead of electing S-Corp status. Fence company owners earning over $60,000 in net profit often save $5,000 to $15,000 per year in self-employment tax by operating as an S-Corp with a reasonable salary. We handle S-Corp returns (Form 1120S) for $1,000 to $2,000.
• Not collecting or remitting Texas sales tax on taxable services. While most fence installation labor is not taxable in Texas, the sale of materials can trigger sales tax obligations depending on how your contracts are structured. Getting this wrong in either direction costs you money.

What Fence Company Tax Preparation Costs at AG Freideman

We publish our pricing because we believe in transparency. No surprises, no hidden fees.

• Sole proprietor (Schedule C): $750 to $1,200
• S-Corp or Partnership (Form 1120S/1065 with K-1s): $1,000 to $2,000
• Monthly bookkeeping with bank reconciliation and payroll: $300 to $600/month
• Texas LLC formation: $350 plus $300 state filing fee
• Registered agent services: $149/year (included free with any tax or bookkeeping engagement)