HVAC & Mechanical
Accounting and tax strategy built for HVAC contractors
HVAC money moves in waves. You bank cash in the busy season, then coast through the shoulder months while the trucks cost the same. We build the books, the tax plan, and the cash forecast around how a seasonal service business actually runs, so more of what you earn stays yours.
What a general accountant misses
The money problems that are specific to HVAC
Install work, service calls, and maintenance plans each behave differently. Blend them together in one set of generic books and you cannot see which side of the business is actually paying you.
Seasonality and cash flow
Summer and winter carry the year, then the shoulder seasons go quiet while payroll, truck payments, and insurance keep running. Without a cash forecast and a reserve, a slow spring turns into a scramble to make payroll.
Install versus service margins
New installs bring big revenue at thinner margins. Service and repair bring smaller tickets at much higher margins. One blended number hides which side is funding the business, so you cannot tell where to push.
Maintenance plans and deferred revenue
A prepaid annual maintenance agreement is not income the day it lands. It is a liability you earn over the year. Book it wrong and your profit looks inflated and your tax bill follows it up.
Trucks, tools, and depreciation
Your fleet and equipment are your biggest capital outlay, and how you depreciate them drives your tax bill. Section 179 and bonus depreciation only pay off when the timing is planned against your income, not left to chance.
Technician labor and overtime
Loaded labor cost, overtime in the peak, and tech productivity decide whether a job made money. Some commercial and government work also carries certified payroll rules that a generic bookkeeper will miss.
How we help
A finance department that speaks HVAC
Books split by profit center
We track install, service, and maintenance separately so you can see the true margin on each. No more guessing which part of the business is carrying the rest.
Maintenance revenue done right
Prepaid service agreements booked as deferred revenue and earned across the term, so your profit and your tax bill reflect what you actually earned, not what you collected.
Truck and equipment depreciation
We plan Section 179 and bonus depreciation on trucks, recovery machines, and tools around your income and your tax year, so a big equipment purchase lands the deduction where it does the most good.
Seasonal cash flow forecasting
A rolling cash forecast that knows your busy season from your slow one, so you fund payroll through the shoulder months and buy equipment when the timing is right.
Entity and owner pay
If the profit supports it, an S-Corp structure and a reasonable owner wage can cut self-employment tax. We run the numbers before we recommend a change, never after.
Year-round tax strategy
Quarterly planning that catches deductions, credits, and entity moves while there is still time to act on them. A plan built before December 31, not a return filed after.
Proven where it counts
One obsession: keeping more of what you earn.
Why Today CFO
Why HVAC owners work with us
We understand seasonal service work
Install, service, and maintenance are three different businesses under one roof. We know how they behave, how they bill, and where the cash actually comes from.
Depreciation planned, not guessed
Trucks and equipment are your largest deductions. We time them against your income so the write-off shows up in the year you need it most.
Run by an operator, not a filer
Tom built and sold a company before starting Today CFO. He has met payroll and carried real risk, and he reads your numbers the way an owner does, not the way a return preparer does.
Straight answers
HVAC accounting and tax questions
How does seasonality change HVAC accounting?
HVAC revenue arrives in waves. You bank cash through the cooling and heating peaks, then coast through the shoulder seasons while payroll, truck payments, and insurance stay flat. Good HVAC accounting plans for that rhythm with a cash forecast and a reserve, so a slow spring does not turn into a payroll problem.
Can HVAC contractors write off new trucks and equipment?
Section 179 and bonus depreciation let you deduct the cost of qualifying trucks, tools, and equipment in the year they are placed in service, instead of spreading it over many years. The timing of a purchase relative to your tax year and your income can change the benefit a lot, which is exactly what we plan around before year end rather than discovering it in April.
How should HVAC maintenance agreements be booked?
When a customer prepays a year of maintenance, that money is not income yet. It is deferred revenue, a liability you earn over the length of the agreement. Booking it as income the day it lands overstates your profit and inflates your tax bill. We set up the books so maintenance plans recognize correctly across the year.
Should my HVAC business be an S-Corp?
For a profitable owner, an S-Corp election can reduce self-employment tax by splitting pay between reasonable wages and distributions. Whether it helps, and by how much, depends on your profit and how you pay yourself. We run the numbers first and only recommend the change when it clearly earns its keep.
What tax strategies are specific to HVAC companies?
The biggest levers are equipment and vehicle depreciation timed to your income, entity structure and owner compensation, retirement plan contributions, and an accountable plan for the truck and phone costs your techs already carry. None of these work as a rushed decision at filing time. They work as a plan built during the year.
See what proactive tax strategy is worth for your HVAC business
Our calculator gives you a personalized estimate based on your revenue, entity type, and business complexity. Find out what you could keep with a plan built around how HVAC actually runs, in under two minutes.
Calculate your savings