How it runs for HVAC, plumbing, electrical and landscaping companies
Your dedicated accountant builds the chart of accounts, sets up the classes and tax codes, configures the integration, and runs a test month in parallel before cut-over. Migrations from QuickBooks Desktop or spreadsheets include opening balances agreed to the last tax return.
What is accounting software setup and migration?
Accounting software setup is the configuration of a new ledger: chart of accounts, tax codes, bank feeds, items, users and apps. Migration is moving existing books from another platform or spreadsheet into that ledger so history, open items and balances carry across. Both end with a file that agrees to the old records and is ready for live posting.
What we handle for HVAC, plumbing, electrical and landscaping companies
- Chart of accounts with department income and cost lines for install, service and maintenance
- Class list for trucks or crews, mapped from the field software
- Field-software services mapped to QuickBooks items, with parts and labor separated
- Sales-tax codes set by state and locality, labor and parts treated correctly
- Migration from QuickBooks Desktop or spreadsheets with opening balances agreed
The KPI that matters here
The integration posts a full test month with zero mapping errors before cut-over.
Field services compliance notes
Sales tax on services by state
Taxability of labor, parts and maintenance agreements is set state by state, and some states also tax at the city or county level. We map your service items to the right tax codes in QuickBooks Online and reconcile the tax collected against the liability each period. Filing stays with you or your tax preparer; we supply the reconciled workings.
Job costing
Materials, technician hours, subcontractor bills and permit fees are coded to the job they belong to, so a large install can be reviewed against its estimate. Progress payments on installs are held as customer deposits until the work is complete, which keeps revenue in the month it was earned.
Technician commissions
Commission plans based on sold revenue, gross margin or spiffs are documented once and calculated the same way every pay period. We accrue the commission in the month of the sale and reverse it when payroll runs, so the P&L does not spike on payday.
Inventory on trucks
Van stock is an asset until it is used, and unrecorded stock is a common reason field-service margins look wrong. We record a monthly count per truck, post the adjustment, and flag trucks whose usage is far above the fleet average for the owner to look into.
Field services software we work in
- QuickBooks Online
- Gusto
- ServiceTitan
- Jobber
- Housecall Pro
- All 50 platforms
More for HVAC, plumbing, electrical and landscaping companies
Other services for field services
Software setup and migration in other industries
Frequently asked questions
Should we use QuickBooks Online or Desktop for a field-service company?
Most field-service companies now choose QuickBooks Online because ServiceTitan, Jobber and Housecall Pro integrate with it directly and your accountant can work in the same file remotely. Desktop still suits some multi-warehouse inventory setups. We work in either, and our QuickBooks Online software page lists what we set up for each.
How long does the setup and integration take?
A straightforward setup with one field-software integration usually runs three to five weeks, including a parallel test month. Migrations from Desktop or from a spreadsheet add time for history and opening balances. We agree a cut-over date at the discovery call and run the old and new systems side by side until the test month ties.
What goes wrong most often with field-software integrations?
Unmapped services posting to a default income account, tax codes that treat labor as taxable everywhere, and payments syncing without the processor fee. Each one makes the ledger look different from the dispatch board. The setup maps every service, sets tax codes by jurisdiction and configures the payments sync so fees post separately from the first day.
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