By Tammy Hoang, QuickBooks ProAdvisor — Construction Bookkeeping Specialist | Construction Cost Accounting (949) 889-3283 | constructioncostaccounting.com Every HVAC contractor spends money to make money — on units, parts, tools, vans, software, technicians, and more. What most owners don't realize is that HVAC tax deductions aren't decided in April by your CPA. They're decided all year long, in your books, by how each expense gets recorded. Book an expense the right way an

By Tammy Hoang, QuickBooks ProAdvisor — Construction Bookkeeping Specialist | Construction Cost Accounting (949) 889-3283 | constructioncostaccounting.com Ask most HVAC contractors why they offer a maintenance plan, and the answer is some version of 'to keep customers and get the repair work.' That's a good instinct — an HVAC maintenance agreement is one of the most valuable things you can build. But here's the problem: most owners price their plans to win the customer, not

By Tammy Hoang, QuickBooks ProAdvisor — Construction Bookkeeping Specialist Most HVAC maintenance plan programs are sold on instinct. A contractor picks a round number — $199, $250, $350 — because a competitor down the street charges something close, then hopes the math works out by year-end. It usually doesn't, and the books rarely tell a clear story. The problem isn't the idea of recurring revenue. The problem is that the HVAC maintenance agreement was never costed, and the

By Tammy Hoang, QuickBooks ProAdvisor — Construction Bookkeeping Specialist | Construction Cost Accounting (949) 889-3283 | constructioncostaccounting.com If you run an HVAC business, you already know the trade. What trips up most owners isn't the heating and cooling work — it's the financial side. HVAC accounting works differently than the bookkeeping a restaurant or retail shop uses, because an HVAC company has moving parts most businesses don't: three separate revenue st

By Tammy Hoang, QuickBooks ProAdvisor — Construction Bookkeeping Specialist | Construction Cost Accounting (949) 889-3283 | constructioncostaccounting.com An HVAC contractor carries more material value than almost any other trade. A single condenser or air handler can run into the thousands. Add the parts on every truck — capacitors, contactors, motors, filters — and the refrigerant that's both expensive and regulated, and you've got serious money rolling around the county

By Tammy Hoang, QuickBooks ProAdvisor — Construction Bookkeeping Specialist | Construction Cost Accounting (949) 889-3283 | constructioncostaccounting.com Here's the problem with most HVAC contractor bookkeeping: it treats an HVAC business like one company, when really you're running three. You've got install — new systems, replacements, new construction — the big-ticket work that puts five figures on a single job. You've got service — the repairs, the emergency calls, the