Sage Accounting Review for Groundworkers UK (2026)
Groundworks sits in the middle of the CIS chain. Main contractors and developers deduct CIS from what they pay you, while you may well be deducting it from labour-only subbies, plant operators and gangs you bring in yourself. We tested Sage Accounting’s CIS for real, switching it on in a Standard-tier account and paying a subcontractor through it. Here is what that means for a groundworks business, including the part we could not test.
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CIS comes with the Standard plan, from £4.30/month for the first 6 months (then £43/month, excl. VAT), or a 30-day free trial with card details required upfront.
Paying Your Own Subbies: What We Saw
Every Labour-Only Sub Set Up Properly
Once CIS is on, each supplier gets a CIS tab with the three HMRC rates (Gross 0%, Standard 20%, Higher 30%), a verification number field and a “Verify Details at HMRC” link. Groundworks crews change from job to job, so having the verification step sitting next to the subbie’s record, rather than in a separate HMRC login, is the practical win here.
The deduction we ran: a subcontractor on the Standard 20% rate, and a purchase invoice for £600 of labour.
Sage worked it out automatically: £600 labour, £120 CIS deducted, £480 payable, shown on the invoice itself with a linked explainer.
Labour and Materials in Separate Accounts
Activating CIS creates two ledger accounts, CIS Labour Expense and CIS Materials Purchased, because the deduction applies to labour only. On groundworks invoices that mix labour with supplied materials such as aggregate or pipework, keeping those lines apart is exactly where manual CIS maths tends to go wrong.
The Rest of a Groundworks Workflow
Estimates for Unknown Ground
Sage keeps Quotes (firm price) and Estimates (price may change) as separate document types. With groundworks, where nobody knows what is under the topsoil until you dig, being able to send an estimate that is clearly labelled as one is genuinely useful. Accepting a quote turns it into a matching invoice with nothing re-typed.
Profit on Every Line
Set a cost and each quote and invoice line shows its profit. On jobs where muckaway, plant and aggregate can quietly eat the margin, seeing that before you send the quote is worth having.
Tracking Who Has Paid
Every invoice shows a Created, Sent, Viewed and Paid tracker, and Stripe or GoCardless payment collection can be switched on from the invoice screen. Useful when you are waiting on a contractor’s payment run and want to know whether your invoice has even been opened.
Worth Knowing Before You Sign Up
- CIS cannot be switched off once activated. Sage warns you at the confirmation step, so be sure you need it first.
- The free trial needs a card. The 30-day trial is £0 today but auto-bills afterwards unless you cancel, and the “90% off” offer is a discounted paid plan, not a trial.
- Two-factor authentication is compulsory before you can open Accounting, so set-up takes a few minutes longer.
- CIS starts on the Standard tier, so the entry plan will not cover it.
Honest Pros and Cons for Groundworkers
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Contractor-side CIS deductions calculated correctly in our test | Subcontractor-side CIS not covered in our test |
| HMRC verification link on each subbie’s record | Activating CIS is irreversible |
| Labour and materials kept in separate CIS accounts | Free trial needs card details |
| Separate Estimate document for uncertain ground | Plant hire treatment is down to you to get right |
| UK company, billed in pounds | Accounting only, no crew scheduling or job tracking |
Who Is Sage Best Suited To?
Verdict, Is Sage Accounting Worth It for Groundworkers?
For a groundworks business paying its own labour-only subbies, Sage does the job that matters: we watched it take 20% off £600 of labour, leave £480 payable, and keep labour and materials in separate CIS accounts. The Estimate document suits work where the ground can change the price. We rate it slightly below our builders review because a lot of groundworks income arrives through a main contractor, and that side of CIS is the one we could not test. If paying subbies is your main CIS job, it is a strong choice. If receiving deductions is, trial it carefully first.
Standard plan (the one with CIS) from £4.30/month for the first 6 months, then £43/month excl. VAT.
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