Floor sanding and polishing benchmarks and examples
These benchmarks indicate an expected range of income for tradespeople in the flooring industry based on the labour and materials used. They apply to tradespeople who work directly with household customers.
These benchmarks have been developed in consultation with the Australian Timber Flooring Association.
You can use these benchmarks to:
compare your performance to the rest of the flooring industry, and
check that your tax records accurately reflect your income.
Tax agents can use the benchmarks to assist them in preparing and lodging tax returns and business activity statements for their clients.
Andrew runs a flooring business and does mostly household jobs.
On average, Andrew charges $25 per square metre. He always uses a sealer coat before applying two coats of finish and has an average spread rate of 11 square metres per litre.
Andrew’s records show that he purchased 300 litres of sealer during the year. Using the benchmarks, he estimates that he has completed 3,300 square metres with income of $82,500 for the year.
Andrew’s records show that he has completed 2,800 square metres with income of $70,000 for the year. This is much less than he expected. Andrew reviews his quote book and finds five jobs where he received cash payment and used the quote as a tax invoice. This is an additional 400 square metres and $10,000 in income.
Recalculating his figures, Andrew has completed 3,200 square metres and earned $80,000 for the year. This is within the benchmarks. Andrew contacts his tax agent for advice on how to keep better records.
Kim has a flooring business with one employee. He does high quality household work and charges $32 per square metre. Using one coat of sealer and two coats of finish per job, he has an average spread rate of 10 square metres per litre.
Kim’s records show that he has purchased 1,100 litres of finish during the year. Based upon his business practice of applying two coats of finish per square metre he uses the benchmarks to estimate that he has completed 5,500 square metres with income of $176,000.
Kim’s records show income $173,000 for the year. This is within the benchmarks and accounts for work done for friends at a discounted rate. Kim is happy with his record keeping.
Subscribe
