Texas HVAC lives and dies by the thermometer: July can't hire techs fast enough, and October can't cover payroll. We're the CPA firm that flattens that curve — cash-flow planning off your own seasonal history, service-agreement revenue done right, and equipment strategy timed to your strongest year, not your calendar year.
Every HVAC owner knows this shape by feel. We put it in your books — a rolling forecast built from your own history — so the spring and fall dips are funded before they arrive.
A set-aside target funds shoulder-season payroll and the next quarterly estimate while cash is strongest — a number, not a vibe.
Maintenance agreements turn one-time customers into recurring revenue that keeps techs busy in March and October. We track the count, the renewal rate, and the unearned balance.
Q4 is when fleet and equipment purchases can still be timed against this year's income — §179 and bonus depreciation, decided on numbers before December 31.
These are the four things we most often find when a new HVAC client hands us their books:
A year of maintenance visits sold in one check looks like a great month — until the visits come due with no revenue left against them. Booked wrong, agreements distort every month's P&L and can distort the tax bill too.
Install, service, and agreement work carry very different margins. When the books lump them together, an unprofitable segment can hide inside a busy one for years.
Vans and service trucks are usually the biggest deduction opportunity an HVAC company has — and the most commonly mistimed one. Deducted in the wrong year, the same truck is worth a fraction of the tax savings.
Seasonal income plus flat quarterly estimates means overpaying in the dip and underpaying in the peak. We recalculate from actuals each quarter, so the payment fits the season it covers.
Two trucks can run the same ten-hour day and produce completely different profit. Job costing is how you find out which day you want more of.
We split your books three ways — install, service, agreement — then break margin down by crew and truck. Suddenly the questions answer themselves: is the install division carrying the service department, or the other way around? Is the flat-rate book priced right? Which tech's truck pays for itself, and which one doesn't? Your dashboard updates monthly, in plain English.
More on analysis & forecasting →Business and owner returns prepared together and signed by a CPA or EA — with agreement revenue and asset schedules handled correctly.
Tax Preparation →Monthly closes reconciled to the bank, with install, service, and agreement work tracked as the separate businesses they are.
Bookkeeping →§179 and bonus depreciation on fleet and equipment, timed to your income — plus quarterly estimates that follow your seasonal curve.
Tax Planning →A rolling cash forecast built on your seasonality, agreement metrics, and margin by segment — updated monthly, readable in five minutes.
Analysis & Forecasting →Modeled on your actual profit and seasonal swing — including what reasonable owner pay looks like in a business this cyclical.
Entity & S-Corp Analysis →Seasonal hires, apprentices, overtime through the summer surge, and subcontractor 1099s — plus Texas franchise and sales tax filings.
Payroll →By planning in the peak, not the dip. We build a rolling cash-flow forecast off your own seasonal history, set a summer set-aside target so spring and fall payroll is funded before the slowdown arrives, and time tax payments and equipment purchases around the curve instead of against it. Maintenance agreements are the other half of the answer — recurring revenue that flattens the trough.
A service agreement is cash collected now for work performed over the coming year — so booking it all as income the day the check clears overstates this month and understates the months you actually run the tune-ups. We set up your books so agreement revenue is recognized as it's earned, track the unearned balance as the liability it really is, and address the tax treatment of the advance payments deliberately rather than by accident. You also get a number most HVAC owners never see: agreement count and renewal rate, month by month.
Generally yes — work vans, service trucks, recovery machines, and shop equipment are depreciable business assets, and Section 179 and bonus depreciation can accelerate the deduction significantly, with more generous limits for many trucks and vans above the 6,000-pound loaded weight class. The strategy question is timing: a fleet addition deducted in a strong year is worth far more than the same deduction wasted in a soft one. We plan purchases before year-end, when the timing can still be chosen.
Once net profit clears a threshold, an S-corp election often reduces self-employment tax meaningfully for an HVAC owner. But the right answer depends on your profit level, how much of it is owner labor versus crew and equipment, and the payroll compliance you're taking on. We run the analysis with your actual numbers — including your seasonal income swing — before recommending an election.
Usually into jobs that were never priced to make money — and without job costing, you can't see which ones. We split your books so install, service, and agreement work each show their own margin, then break it down by crew and truck. Most owners discover that one segment is quietly subsidizing another; once you can see it, you can reprice it, staff it differently, or stop selling it.
Yes — clean-ups and catch-ups are core work for us, on QuickBooks Desktop and Online. We reconcile every account to the bank, correct miscoded transactions, separate materials from subcontractors from equipment, and hand back statements a lender will accept. Then we keep the books closed monthly so busy season never buries them again.
Virtual or in-office, your choice — most HVAC clients handle everything through the secure portal between calls. Every tax return prepared and signed by a licensed CPA or Enrolled Agent.
Grab a spot on the calendar or call between service calls. Tell us how you run — service-heavy, install-heavy, or both — and we'll tell you honestly whether we're the right fit.
Book a Free ConsultA paid, flat-fee strategy consult: we review last year's return and your current books for mistimed depreciation, agreement handling, and entity fit — and hand you a prioritized action list either way.
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