Fractional CFO for HVAC Contractors
Seasonal revenue swings, service agreement margins you can't see, and technicians costing more than they bill. We fix the financial blind spots that keep HVAC companies from scaling.
The HVAC Problem
Most HVAC owners know they're busy. Few know if they're profitable.
Service agreements look profitable at renewal but lose money after overhead allocation. Many HVAC contractors misprice their maintenance contracts — our data shows SA margins ranging from -30% to +70%, with a median of 37.9%. We've audited contractors running negative 23% margins on their entire SA book — losing $3.8 million per year on maintenance contracts they thought were profitable.
Summer and winter peaks mask the cash flow crunch in shoulder seasons. The typical HVAC contractor has 45-60 day DSO, but same-day invoicers in our data show meaningfully higher collection rates. Every 10 days you shave off DSO on $100K in receivables frees $2,740 in working capital.
91% of active jobs have no cost data filled in — meaning most HVAC contractors literally cannot calculate their job-level margin until after the job closes. Your CPA sees revenue and expenses. They don't see which technicians, trucks, or job types are making money vs. bleeding it.
From the HVAC subreddits
What HVAC owners actually say (when nobody's selling them anything)
We pulled these verbatim from r/HVAC and adjacent trade subs. Not surveys. Not testimonials. Just the financial conversations owners have with each other at midnight.
“Personal credit cards max out to keep the ball rolling. Banks won't lend because I'm maxed out. I've got over $1M in receivables and can't make payroll.”
r/HVAC contractor
What this is really about: Classic AR-financed-on-personal-credit pattern. The fix isn't more debt — it's faster billing, tighter collection, and pricing that funds the working capital cycle.
“Sold a $13K install last week. Materials came in 22% over the quote. Labor took 14 hours instead of 9. I think we made money but I genuinely don't know.”
r/HVAC contractor
What this is really about: Without job costing, every install is a guess. We've audited HVAC contractors whose 'profitable' jobs were actually losing 8-15 points after real labor cost.
“Service agreements are the lifeblood of the business but I have no idea which ones make money. The PMs hate the cheap ones.”
r/hvacadvice owner
What this is really about: Median SA gross margin in our data is 37.9% but the spread is enormous: -30% to +70%. A 15-minute SA audit usually finds 10-25% of the book that should be repriced or dropped.
“ServiceTitan promised it would change my life. Six months in I'm paying $2,400/mo and still don't have job-level margin reports I can trust.”
r/HVAC owner
What this is really about: Software doesn't fix discipline. Most ServiceTitan implementations fail because the chart of accounts, item list, and labor costing weren't fixed first. Same applies to FieldEdge, Sera, and Successware.
Analyzed with the CLEAR Framework
Cash · Labor · Earnings · Accounts · Risk — the five pillars we evaluate for every business.
HVAC Industry Benchmarks
How do the best HVAC businesses perform? Data from our analysis of 2,200+ service businesses.
Median Bill Rate
$79/hr
Top quartile: $111/hr. Top 10%: $148/hr.
Service Agreement Margin
37.9%
Top quartile: 53.5%. Bottom 10% are negative.
Collection Rate
80.8%
Top quartile: 90.6%. That gap is $100K+ at $1M revenue.
Billing Speed
7 days
Real median excluding progress billers. Top quartile invoices before completion.
Billable Hour Ratio
97.1%
Top quartile: 100%. Every unbilled hour is lost revenue.
Quote Conversion
73.9%
Top quartile: 83.2%. Are you closing the right jobs?
What Level Does for HVAC Businesses
Service Agreement Profitability Analysis
We break down every maintenance contract by customer, equipment type, and visit frequency. You'll see which agreements make money, which ones lose money, and exactly where to reprice.
Seasonal Cash Flow Forecasting
HVAC is the most seasonal trade. We build rolling 8-week cash forecasts that account for your install season, maintenance cycles, and shoulder-season dips — so you never scramble for payroll.
Technician-Level Job Costing
Every tech has different callback rates, completion times, and upsell patterns. We track profitability by technician so you can coach, train, or re-route work to your most productive crew.
Install vs. Service Margin Breakdown
Most HVAC companies know their total margin. Few can separate install margins from service margins from maintenance margins. We split them so you can price each line of business correctly.
Equipment Replacement ROI
When is it cheaper to repair vs. replace fleet vehicles, tools, and HVAC inventory? We model the break-even so you stop guessing.
Growth & Exit Readiness
PE firms are buying HVAC companies at 5-8x EBITDA. We prepare your books, clean your reporting, and build the financial story buyers want to see — whether you're selling in 1 year or 5.
Bookkeeper vs CPA vs Level
| Capability | Bookkeeper | CPA | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Record transactions | ✓ | — | ✓ |
| File taxes | — | ✓ | — |
| Job-level profitability | — | — | ✓ |
| Cash flow forecasting | — | — | ✓ |
| Benchmark against industry | — | — | ✓ |
| Monthly strategy calls | — | — | ✓ |
| AR aging & collections tracking | — | — | ✓ |
| Crew utilization analysis | — | — | ✓ |
| Exit readiness preparation | — | — | ✓ |
| Understands HVAC operations | Rarely | Rarely | ✓ |
Record transactions
Bookkeeper
CPA
Level
File taxes
Bookkeeper
CPA
Level
Job-level profitability
Bookkeeper
CPA
Level
Cash flow forecasting
Bookkeeper
CPA
Level
Benchmark against industry
Bookkeeper
CPA
Level
Monthly strategy calls
Bookkeeper
CPA
Level
AR aging & collections tracking
Bookkeeper
CPA
Level
Crew utilization analysis
Bookkeeper
CPA
Level
Exit readiness preparation
Bookkeeper
CPA
Level
Understands HVAC operations
Bookkeeper
CPA
Level
Your bookkeeper and CPA handle critical functions. Level fills the strategic gap between recording transactions and filing taxes.
We connect to the tools you already use
15-minute setup. Read-only access. Your data stays secure.
From clients
What HVAC operators say after working with us.
“We had 600+ service agreements and I genuinely did not know which were profitable. Sam built a per-agreement P&L that included drive time, callbacks, and parts. Turned out our top-quartile agreements were running 51% margin and the bottom were -8%. Cleaned up the bottom in two quarters, net margin went up 6 points.”
“Install side was hiding the service side. On paper we were doing fine but service was actually carrying install — install jobs were running -3% gross. Sam separated the books by line of business so we could finally see it. Repriced installs and walked away from two big GCs. Cash position better than it's been in a decade.”
“Tech utilization was the thing nobody was tracking. We thought we needed more guys. Sam pulled scheduling data and showed billable hours were 64% — industry top quartile is 88%. Fixed dispatch + standardized morning truck loading. Got to 79% in 90 days. That's the difference between hiring and not hiring two techs at $90K each.”
Simple pricing
Three tiers, one ladder.
$99/mo
Books
Clean monthly books, tax-ready year-end. Same flat rate for catch-up.
$1,500+/mo
Fractional CFO
Cash forecasting, profitability analysis, monthly strategy calls.
$3,000+/mo
CFO + Operations
Dedicated CFO, AI-native workflows, dashboards, and integrations.
Book a call
Book a free 15-min HVAC audit.
We'll review your HVAC numbers, benchmark them, and tell you what to fix first. No commitment.
Or have us reach out instead.
Drop your info and we'll review your HVAC financials within a few hours. Free audit included.
No commitment. Real numbers, not generic advice.