Trades & Services

Financials that show which jobs actually make money.

Real job costing. Crew and truck profitability. Recurring vs. project revenue. We do accounting and fractional CFO for plumbing, HVAC, electrical, landscaping, cleaning, and other trades — the way trades books should be done.

§ 01Why trades are different

Job costing is the whole game.

If you can't tell which jobs make money and which lose it, you're flying blind. Most general bookkeepers can't do real job costing — so trades owners end up running their business off "the bank account looks okay this week," which is how growth quietly becomes a cash crisis.

01

True job-level P&L

Materials, labor (loaded with burden), subs, equipment — all coded to the job. You finally know which jobs, which crews, and which service lines actually make money.

02

Crew & truck profitability

Per-crew gross margin, billable hours utilization, and equipment cost per job. The data that tells you whether to add a crew, fire one, or buy another truck.

03

Recurring vs. project revenue

Service contracts, maintenance plans, recurring routes — tracked separately from one-off project revenue so you see the real recurring base of the business.

04

WIP & over/under billing

For project-heavy shops (HVAC install, electrical retrofit, landscaping installs) — proper work-in-progress accounting so revenue ties to job stage, not invoice date.

05

Equipment & fleet

Trucks, trailers, mowers, excavators — tracked by asset, with depreciation, maintenance, and proper allocation to jobs. We work with Section 179 and bonus depreciation alongside your tax CPA.

06

Multi-entity if you have it

OpCo + equipment-holding LLC, real estate sub, multiple service lines — we handle the entity sprawl that happens as a trades business matures.

§ 02Trades we serve

If you run trucks, we probably know your business.

Plumbing & HVAC

Service + install. Recurring maintenance contracts. Multi-truck operations.

Electrical

Residential service, commercial install, low-voltage. Project-billing complexity.

Landscaping & lawn care

Routes, seasonality, equipment cycles, snow removal cross-over.

Cleaning & janitorial

Recurring contract revenue, labor optimization, multi-site.

Roofing

Insurance work, project WIP, supplier relationships.

Pest control

Recurring routes, chemical inventory, multi-state if you've grown.

Painting

Crew profitability, bid accuracy, residential vs. commercial mix.

Other trades

If you run trucks and crews, the math is similar. Talk to us.

§ 03Where this gets strategic

The cash crunch that comes with growth.

Trades businesses growing fast almost always hit a cash wall. Materials get bought before customers pay. Payroll runs every two weeks regardless. New trucks need cash today and earn cash next quarter. We help you see it coming and plan around it — instead of finding out the hard way.

See our fractional CFO offering →

  • Cash forecast that anticipates seasonal dips
  • Hire / truck / location decisions modeled before you commit
  • Pricing analysis — are your bids actually winning the right work?
  • Service mix analysis — what's the highest-margin work you should chase?
  • Lender-ready financials and supporting schedules when you need to fund growth
§ FAQ Trades & Services-specific questions

What trades & services owners ask before signing.

Do you integrate with ServiceTitan / Jobber / Housecall Pro?
Yes. We work with the major trades platforms — ServiceTitan, Jobber, Housecall Pro, Service Fusion — pulling job-level revenue and cost data into the books cleanly. We adapt to your existing setup; we don't force a re-platform. Your field-ops software stays your field-ops software; we just make sure the numbers tie.
Can you do real job costing?
Yes. Real job costing — labor with burden, materials, sub costs, equipment allocation, all coded to the job. Most general bookkeepers can't do this; it's table stakes for us in trades.
What about union shops with prevailing wage?
We can support prevailing wage and certified payroll reporting where the work calls for it, and we coordinate with your tax CPA and benefit administrators on union shop nuances. If you're doing public works or government contracts, we'll keep the financial side clean for the people who file the actual reports.
Do you handle workers' comp audits?
We don't run the audit, but we make sure your books are structured so the auditor finishes in days, not weeks. Wages by class code, sub-contractor 1099 documentation, ready to hand over.
We're seasonal — does that matter?
It matters a lot, and it's a good reason to bring us in. Seasonal businesses live or die on cash forecasting through the slow months. We plan for it instead of reacting to it.
Section 179 and equipment financing?
Your tax CPA handles the Section 179 election; we structure your fixed asset register and financing so they have exactly what they need at year-end and you understand the cash impact going in.

Ready to talk to people who actually know your industry?

30-minute call. No obligation. We'll tell you straight whether we can help — or who can.