Who We Serve · Service-Based · HVAC & Field Services
HVAC and the trades run two businesses at once — job-costed installs and recurring service — with inventory and hard seasonality on top. We keep books that separate install from service margin, handle service-agreement deferred revenue, and give you the cash visibility a seasonal business needs.
Field service accounting means keeping books that job-cost installations accurately, track recurring service and maintenance-agreement revenue (deferred over the term), handle parts and truck-stock inventory, and separate the two very different margin profiles — then turning that into technician economics and seasonal cash forecasting. Managing to the bank balance is especially risky here, because a strong season can hide prepaid service you still owe.
We handle the bookkeeping and tax, and give owners the install-vs-service clarity and cash visibility the business actually runs on.
The segments within this space we work with — each with its own financial texture.
The dual install-and-service model, maintenance agreements, and pronounced summer/winter seasonality.
Job-costed project work plus service calls, with parts inventory and technician utilization to manage.
Businesses spanning several trades that need per-trade margin visibility, not one blended number.
Operations adding crews and trucks, where fully-loaded technician cost and utilization drive margin.
The attributes a generalist bookkeeper misses — and that shape how a trades business should be accounted for.
Two distinct businesses — job-costed installs and recurring service — that have to be tracked separately.
Accurate cost capture on installs, so project margin is real rather than a guess.
Prepaid maintenance plans are deferred revenue recognized over the term, not income on receipt.
Demand swings hard by season, so a 13-week cash forecast is essential, not optional.
Inventory and truck stock tie up working capital and need real tracking.
Fully-loaded tech cost and billable-hour utilization — where trade margin is won or lost.
The measures that tell an owner whether the crews, the jobs, and the season are actually working.
Want the deeper how-to, not the service?
A 20-minute call, no obligation. We’ll tell you honestly whether we can help — and what install-vs-service clarity and seasonal cash visibility would change for your business.
Talk to an expertA field service business runs two models at once — job-costed installations and recurring service — with parts inventory and hard seasonality on top. Books have to separate install margin from service margin, handle maintenance-agreement deferred revenue, and support a seasonal cash forecast. A generalist who reads it as one blended business misjudges all of that.
Yes. Prepaid maintenance agreements are deferred revenue recognized over the term of the agreement, not income when collected. Tracking them correctly keeps the financials honest and reflects the recurring-revenue base that makes a trade business valuable.
Yes. We integrate your field service management platform with QuickBooks so install job costs, service revenue, deferred agreement revenue, and inventory all record correctly, and the FSM platform and books actually agree.
Yes. HVAC and the trades swing hard by season, so we build and run a 13-week rolling cash forecast so a strong summer becomes planned runway for a slow shoulder season, rather than a false sense of health.