Skilled Trades
You're great at the work. The bookkeeping, taxes, and payroll are a different story.
The Industry
An electrician runs three service calls before lunch. A panel upgrade for $2,800, a ceiling fan install for $350, and a troubleshoot that turns into a rewire for $1,200. Good morning on paper. But what did those jobs actually cost? Parts from the supply house, drive time between stops, the apprentice riding along, insurance on the truck, and the warranty callback from last week that was free. Most trade businesses price based on flat rates or rough estimates but rarely go back to check whether those numbers still hold up once actual costs are factored in.
Plumbers, HVAC techs, welders, electricians. These businesses juggle quick service calls and longer project work, sometimes on the same day. Parts get charged to the business account without being tied to a specific job. The truck is a mobile workshop and a daily expense that nobody calculates accurately. Seasonal swings hit hard in Phoenix. HVAC shops sprint through summer and slow to a crawl in winter. The accounting needs to handle all of this or the numbers you’re looking at don’t tell you much.
Who This Covers
Who This Covers
Electricians, plumbers, HVAC contractors, welders, pipefitters, and similar skilled trade businesses across Phoenix and the Valley. Whether you’re a one-truck operation or running a crew of ten, the bookkeeping challenges are similar.
What Makes It Complex
What Makes It Complex
Service calls mixed with project work. Flat rate pricing that may not reflect current costs. Parts purchased at the supply house that never get tied to jobs. Vehicle expenses, tool purchases, and licensing fees. Seasonal demand swings. Apprentices and helpers who may be employees or subcontractors depending on how they’re classified.
What We Handle
Job costing ties every dollar to a specific job or service type. Materials from the supply house get allocated to the right job instead of sitting in a general expense bucket. Labor gets tracked per technician per job so you can see which types of work are actually profitable after real costs. Flat rate pricing gets validated against what jobs actually cost to perform, so you know whether that $350 ceiling fan install makes money or just keeps the truck moving between bigger jobs.
Payroll handles varying hours across technicians, overtime during busy seasons, and proper withholdings. Tax prep captures vehicle mileage, tool purchases, licensing costs, and equipment depreciation that tradespeople routinely leave on the table. QuickBooks gets configured to match how your business actually works, with job types, customer categories, and reports that answer real questions instead of generating pages of data you’ll never look at.
Job Costing and Financial Tracking
Job Costing and Financial Tracking
Every expense coded to a job or service type. Materials, labor hours, drive time, subcontractor costs. You see what each type of work actually costs versus what you’re charging. QuickBooks set up for trades with job-level profitability reports that show where the money is and where it isn’t. Historical data that makes your pricing accurate instead of hopeful.
Payroll and Tax Prep
Payroll and Tax Prep
Payroll processed on schedule with overtime calculated correctly and tax deposits handled. Tax returns that capture vehicle depreciation, tool and equipment purchases, licensing fees, and trade-specific deductions. Quarterly estimates set up so you’re putting money aside throughout the year instead of scrambling in April. Worker classification reviewed so your helpers are set up properly.
What Goes Wrong
Flat rate pricing that was set three years ago when copper was cheaper and fuel was $3.50 a gallon. Nobody has gone back to check whether those rates still cover actual costs. The $185 service call fee might have worked in 2021, but material prices, insurance premiums, and vehicle costs have all climbed since then. You’re busier than ever but the bank account doesn’t show it because margins eroded quietly while volume stayed strong. Without job-level cost tracking, you can’t tell which work is profitable and which work is just keeping you busy.
Tax time reveals the rest of the damage. A full year of mileage that was never logged. Tools bought with cash and no receipt saved. An apprentice paid as a subcontractor when the IRS would call them an employee. The work van that should have been depreciated differently. Quarterly estimates weren’t set up, so now there’s a five-figure bill due in April and no cash set aside. These aren’t unusual situations. This is what happens to most trade businesses that try to handle their own books between service calls.
Pricing Based on Outdated Numbers
Pricing Based on Outdated Numbers
Costs go up every year. Materials, fuel, insurance, wages. If your flat rates haven’t been updated to reflect what jobs actually cost today, you’re working harder for less. A job that made you 30% margin two years ago might be running at 15% now and you wouldn’t know it without tracking costs by job.
Tax Surprises and Missed Deductions
Tax Surprises and Missed Deductions
No quarterly estimates means a big bill in April with no money saved. Vehicle mileage not logged all year. Equipment that could have been depreciated under Section 179 but wasn’t. Tools and supplies purchased with cash that disappeared from the records. You end up overpaying on taxes and still owing money you didn’t plan for.
What Changes
You see which job types make money and which ones barely break even. That HVAC install work might run 35% margins while service calls on older units run 12% after accounting for drive time and parts. Pricing decisions come from real cost data instead of guesswork or matching what the competition charges on Google. You bid work knowing what it actually costs you to perform it, not based on what it cost two years ago when everything was cheaper.
Tax estimates get calculated quarterly so April is not a crisis. Every deduction you’re entitled to gets captured throughout the year instead of scrambled for in March. Payroll runs without you spending your evening calculating hours and tax withholdings. Your books close every month and show you actual numbers you can use. You make decisions about hiring, equipment purchases, and pricing based on financial data rather than a gut feeling and whatever happens to be in the checking account.
Pricing and Profitability You Can Trust
Pricing and Profitability You Can Trust
Job cost data shows what each type of work actually costs after materials, labor, drive time, and overhead. You stop guessing and start pricing based on real numbers. Unprofitable work gets repriced or dropped. Profitable work gets prioritized. You grow revenue in the areas that actually put money in your pocket.
Clean Books and No Tax Surprises
Clean Books and No Tax Surprises
Monthly closes that give you a clear picture of how the business is performing. Quarterly tax estimates that keep you current with the IRS. Every vehicle, tool, and equipment deduction captured properly. Payroll handled without burning your nights and weekends. Financial statements that a bank will actually accept when you need financing for that next truck or piece of equipment.
Your Valley of the Sun Bookkeeper
The Next Step:
A Quick Conversation
Tell us what's going on with your books. We'll listen, ask a few questions, and give you a clear quote with no surprises.
