HVAC contractors: see what each install and call made — books, payroll and taxes done for you
Free tax review
Find out what we’d handle and what it costs
Thirty minutes by phone; you leave with one written price.
Each month we keep the books, show how much each install and repair call made, track prepaid maintenance plans visit by visit, run payroll and prepare the return. Bookkeeping starts at $375 a month, quoted as a flat fee in writing before we start. Based in Santa Clarita, we work with HVAC contractors in any state.
Typical situations
Do you work with HVAC contractors like me?
Yes, we work with HVAC contractors who install heating and air-conditioning systems, run repair calls and sell prepaid maintenance plans with a small crew. If the shop looks profitable but cash runs short between the summer and winter rush, the books should show why — and that’s where we start.
A shop selling yearly maintenance plans customers prepay
The plan money lands in January and the visits run all year. The miss is counting the whole prepayment as that month’s profit. We work from the plan sign-ups and the January deposits in the bank, so each month’s numbers show the visits actually done. Books plus the return, from $475 a month.
A two-tech installer whose installs all “made money”
Every install feels profitable because the money came in. The miss is equipment, ductwork, refrigerant and the techs’ hours never landing on a specific job. We match the supply-house invoices and the timesheets or dispatch tickets to each install, so the monthly numbers show which installs earned their keep and the next bid is based on what the work really cost. Monthly bookkeeping from $375 a month: what monthly bookkeeping covers.
A company buying furnaces and condensers by the unit
Some units are installed the week they arrive; some sit in the shop or on a truck first. The miss is booking a furnace or condenser as a cost the month it’s bought while it sits in the shop. We carry units on hand apart from materials, and the distributor invoice — with the unit’s model and serial number — is tied to the install ticket when the unit goes in. Monthly bookkeeping from $375 a month.
A contractor paying a new tech on a 1099
The tech starts Monday and the paperwork feels like it can wait. The miss is paying first and sorting out status and the paperwork later — including the 1099, the year-end form that reports what you paid a sub. We collect each person’s paperwork before the first check. That means the W-9, the form with a sub’s legal name and taxpayer ID. It means the license number. And it means the EPA 608 certification, the federal card a tech needs to work on refrigerant equipment. We run payroll for anyone you put on it. Payroll from $95 a month: how payroll runs with us.
A newly licensed HVAC contractor leaving a bigger company
The first van, the gauges and the recovery machine, and the supply-house and refrigerant buys all sit on a personal card. The miss is personal and business spending mixed together, so nobody can say what the business made. We split them out, set up the business and supply-house accounts in the books, build the plan list and quarterly estimates from day one, and look at the entity question together. The return from $650 if you file a Schedule C (the business page of your personal return) or from $850 for an LLC or S-corp: how we prepare the return and how the entity comparison works.
A shop a year behind, with distributor invoices in a box
The maintenance plans are tracked on paper, the plan renewals were never recorded, and warranty credits and supply-house returns sit in the box with the invoices; last year’s return isn’t filed. The miss is a year of work with nothing reliable to file from. We rebuild the year from the bank, the distributor statements and the plan sign-ups, then prepare the return from the finished books. Cleanup from $750: how a catch-up project runs.
Profit by job
How do you know which HVAC installs and repair calls made money?
That’s what job costing is: we match every cost, from units and parts to your techs’ hours, against what each install and call billed, and send you a report each month showing what every one made.
What we set up and keep running:
- We set up your job list and cost codes — installs, repair calls and maintenance visits each on their own lines
- We load each worker’s hourly rate with payroll taxes and benefits, so an hour on a job costs what it really costs
- We split overhead — the shop, insurance, the trucks — across job types, so each kind of work carries its share
- We keep material cost apart from markup, and track supply-house credits and returned parts
- We draw refrigerant and parts off the trucks to the job they went on
What we do each month: we close the books with every cost coded to its job and send the job report, so each install and each day’s repair calls stand on their own numbers. The job report is included in the monthly bookkeeping service. Our post on why a busy contractor can still be broke walks through the idea.
Maintenance plans
How should prepaid maintenance plans and install deposits show up in my books?
A prepaid maintenance plan is carried as money still owed in service visits and earned as the visits happen, and an install deposit is held on its job until the work is billed, so the books show what each month’s work actually earned.
What we do:
- We keep a plan list with each customer’s start date, visits due and visits done
- We reconcile the plan balance at each monthly close, so the books always show what’s still owed in visits
- We cost each plan’s visits like any job, so the plan’s real margin is visible
- We hold install deposits on the job as customer deposits until the job is billed
What each install made and the prepaid maintenance plans are both handled inside monthly bookkeeping. When a plan’s or a deposit’s money counts for the tax return is a separate question — it’s answered in the FAQ below.
Subcontractors
What do I need from a sub before I pay them?
Before you pay a sub, you need a signed W-9 and, where your state licenses the work, the sub’s license number; we collect both. For an HVAC contractor, a sub is the duct fabricator, the electrician brought in for the disconnect, the insulation crew, or the crane service that sets a rooftop unit.
For payments made in 2026, a sub who isn’t a corporation and is paid $2,000 or more during the year gets a 1099-NEC, with the forms due by February 1, 2027 — the line was $600 for 2025 — and we file them from the W-9s we collected.
What we do:
- We hold payment setup until the W-9 and license are on file
- We track what each sub is paid during the year, so January isn’t a scramble
- We file the 1099s in January from that file
- We keep the techs on payroll and the subs on 1099s apart from day one
If you only need the 1099s filed, without the monthly books, that starts at $95; for monthly clients it’s part of the quote.
Our post on when a sub or supplier gets a 1099 has the 2026 rules in detail.
Catch-up work
What does a catch-up look like when an HVAC contractor’s books are behind?
For an HVAC contractor whose books are behind, a catch-up is a cleanup project from $750, followed by the return and quarterly estimates prepared from the reconciled numbers.
What we ask for
Bank and card statements, install contracts and service invoices, the list of active maintenance plans with what each customer prepaid and when, supply-house statements and receipts, any subs’ W-9s, payroll reports and last year’s return.
How the cleanup runs
We trace bank deposits to their jobs and sources, code costs to the jobs they belong to, and rebuild the missing months from the bank and job records.
What you get
A clean set of books, a profit-and-loss and balance sheet, the plan list brought current, and the return and quarterly estimates for the year.
Cleanup is billed half to start and the balance on delivery — see what a cleanup project delivers.
The monthly close
What do you check every month in an HVAC contractor’s books?
Every month our team reconciles the bank, codes every cost to its job, keeps the maintenance-plan balance current and sends the job report with the month’s numbers.
- Every bill, part and labor hour charged to the install or call it belongs to
- Bank and card accounts reconciled
- Finished service calls and installs matched to invoices, so no completed ticket goes unbilled
- Supply-house statements matched to receipts, credits and returns logged
- Manufacturer warranty-part credits matched back to the job they came from
- Maintenance-plan money earned against visits done
- Customer deposits matched to the work billed
- Equipment on hand kept apart from materials
- Sub payments tracked against the 1099 line
- Payroll journals tied to the job labor
Each month you get the P&L, the balance sheet, the job report and a short note on what needs attention — how the monthly service runs.
California
What’s different for an HVAC contractor in California?
In California, four rules change an HVAC contractor’s books: unlicensed workers doing licensed work are presumed employees, individual subs go on a state report, a C-20 has to carry workers’ comp — the insurance that covers someone hurt on the job — even with no employees, and units are taxed differently from ductwork.
- The license presumption. The CSLB — the Contractors State License Board — issues the C-20 license for warm-air heating, ventilating and air-conditioning work, and a person doing that work without their own license is presumed to be your employee, not a sub. We check each person’s license against the work and keep the file with the W-9. Our post on whether a crew member should be an employee or a sub has the detail.
- The DE 542. California has its own report for subs who are individuals, sole proprietors or single-member LLCs: the DE 542 goes to the EDD, the Employment Development Department, within 20 days once you’ve paid or contracted for $600 or more with one of them. We file it when the sub is set up.
- Workers’ comp. A C-20 has to carry workers’ comp even with no employees. We book the policy as a standing cost of the license.
- Sales tax. Ducts and sheet metal are materials, taxed when you buy them and part of the job’s cost; air-conditioning units and furnaces you furnish and install are fixtures, taxed as a sale. We check supplier invoices and keep units and materials on separate job lines. Our post on sales tax on the supplies contractors buy has the 2026 detail.
Pricing
How much does accounting for an HVAC contractor cost in 2026?
In 2026, bookkeeping for an HVAC contractor starts at $375 a month, books plus the year-end return from $475 a month, payroll from $95 a month, the return alone from $650 for a Schedule C filer or from $850 for an LLC or S-corp with the owner’s personal return included, and a cleanup from $750. Each is a flat fee quoted in writing before we start.
Tracking what each install made, 1099 filing and license checks sit inside the quote; there’s no separate charge for them. What moves a quote: open installs and repair calls a month, crew size and payroll frequency, the number of subs, bank and card accounts, how far behind the books are, how many prepaid maintenance plans are active, and how much equipment and refrigerant rides the trucks. The quote is the price.
Books
from $375/mo
- Equipment, parts and labor coded to each install and call
- Maintenance plans carried and earned monthly
- Subs’ W-9s, license checks and 1099s
- Monthly P&L, balance sheet and job report
Books plus the return
from $475/mo
- Everything in the books
- The year-end return filed from the books we keep
- Quarterly estimates from real numbers
The return alone
from $650
- Schedule C from your records
- From $850 for an LLC or S-corp, the owner’s personal return included
- How we prepare the return
How it works
What happens after you book?
The 30-minute call comes first; then the engagement letter, a portal invite and a short checklist built around your installs, your plan list and your crew.
The 30-minute call
About six questions: how your work splits between installs and repair calls, how many techs you have and whether they’re on payroll, whether you sell prepaid plans, how much equipment and refrigerant rides the trucks, and how far behind the books are. It ends with one price, in writing.
The engagement letter
Sent during the call and signed when you’re ready. Signing books a short onboarding call, and the secure-portal invite comes from that call.
Access and documents
Read-only bank feeds or the QuickBooks file, your open-jobs list, your license number and your workers’ comp certificate. We send a short checklist so nothing is missed.
Behind first, then monthly
If the books are behind, the cleanup comes first, then the first monthly close and job report.
You see the return before it’s filed
The return comes to you before anything is filed, and questions during the year go to the same team that keeps the books.
Communication
You’ll know where the books and the return stand.
The person who answers the phone can pull up your plan list and last month’s install report while you’re on the line, so a question about a job gets answered on that call.
The same-day rule
Call or email during business hours and you’ll hear back the same day — twelve months a year.
HVAC contractors are welcome
One truck or five, installs or mostly repair calls, anywhere in the US — the free call ends with a straight answer on whether we’re the right fit.
Admitted to practice before the IRS
Our team of IRS representation specialists is admitted to practice before the IRS. If an IRS letter shows up, forward it: how we handle IRS letters.
The N&T Tax & Advisory Group team
We keep the books, run payroll and prepare the return — the install report, the payroll and the return all start from the same job list.
Bookkeeping · Profit by job · Payroll · Tax preparation · Tax planning · IRS representation · Direct line: (661) 554-4495
Reviews
Rated 5.0 on Google
★★★★★ Twelve reviews, every one five stars, every one verifiable. Read all of them on Google →
"Alex helped me resolve a complicated tax situation that had been causing me a lot of stress. He was extremely knowledgeable, responsive, and efficient throughout the entire process."
Kevin B. — via Google
"Working with Alex was straightforward. I hadn't looked at my books all year, but he made my life easy and handled the whole profit and loss at the end of the year so I could get my taxes done."
Levon B. — via Google
"I came to this company with previous tax years and bookkeeping that were done incorrectly. They're very knowledgeable about what they do and help me get everything in order at a very reasonable price."
Sayra A. — via Google
Where we work
Do you work with HVAC contractors outside California?
Yes — based in Santa Clarita, we work remotely with HVAC contractors in any state, and across Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley.
Install contracts, supply-house statements and the plan list come through the secure portal, and we go over each month’s install report by phone and screen share. If your work falls under another state’s rules, we cover that in your quote. If you also run whole jobs as a general contractor, our page for general contractors covers that side of the work.
What we don’t do
We handle the money side: the books, tracking what each job made, payroll, quarterly estimates and the returns. Bids and estimates, change orders, lien waivers, permits, chasing subs’ insurance certificates, and legal advice on contracts or worker status are outside our work, and we don’t license or certify workers or prepare reviewed, compiled or audited statements for bonding or banks.
Worth reading
What can you read before you call?
Short articles from our blog, for when you want the detail behind this page.
Your Contractor Vehicle Tax Deduction in 2026: Standard Mileage vs. Actual Expenses for Heavy Work Trucks
EquipmentContractor Equipment Depreciation: Expensing vs. Depreciating That New Machine in 2026
EntityLLC vs S-Corp for Contractors: Where the 2026 Tax Savings Actually Come From
Quarterly taxesHow to Pay Quarterly Taxes: 2026 Contractor Guide for Trades Leaving W-2 Withholding Behind
FAQ
What do HVAC contractors ask before booking?
Do I have to send 1099s to the subs I hire?
Generally yes, if the sub isn’t a corporation and you paid them $2,000 or more in 2026; we prepare the 1099-NECs from the W-9s on file and file them by February 1, 2027. For payments made in 2025 the line was $600.
Can a new tech be paid as a 1099 sub?
Not always: worker status is a legal question about how the work is run, and California adds a license rule. We look at each new person’s paperwork before the first check and put anyone you treat as an employee on payroll. This isn’t legal advice; gray cases go to an employment attorney.
How do I know which installs made money?
The monthly job report shows each install’s equipment, parts and labor against what it billed, so an install that ran over shows up while there’s still time to price the next one differently. The first report arrives after your first monthly close, and repair calls are shown next to installs so you can see which side carries the month.
When do I pay tax on maintenance plans customers prepay?
Generally, a prepaid plan is income in the year you receive it. If your return uses an accrual method — income counted when it’s earned, not when it’s paid — you can elect to report the part earned in the year you receive it and the rest the next year, never later. In the books, the plan is earned as the visits happen, and we reconcile the two at year end.
My books are a year behind. Can you catch them up?
Yes — that’s a cleanup project from $750. We put the year back together from your bank statements, install and service invoices, plan sign-ups and supply-house records, and the return is prepared from those numbers once they tie to the bank.
Should an HVAC contractor be an LLC or an S-corp?
Either can fit; the choice turns on how the business is taxed, and we model both options on your figures before you form or elect anything. A California LLC owes $800 a year in state tax. The entity-selection page shows how the comparison works.
Ready to know which installs actually made money?
One free 30-minute call about your installs, your maintenance plans and your crew. You’ll leave knowing what we’d handle and what it costs — whether or not you hire us.
Rather talk now? Call (661) 554-4495 — reach us during business hours and you’ll hear back the same day.
Our team of IRS representation specialists is admitted to practice before the IRS. This page is general information, not tax advice for your specific situation.