Home Services
Small jobs add up fast but tracking them is another story. We capture every payment and show which services actually make money.
The Industry
Home service businesses run on volume. A handyman might complete four or five jobs in a single day. A cleaning service hits multiple houses before lunch. A locksmith responds to emergency calls at all hours. Each job has its own materials, its own labor time, and its own payment method. One customer pays cash at the door. The next writes a check. The third sends money through Venmo. Some commercial clients want net 30 invoicing. Keeping track of all this while actually doing the work is where things start to slip.
Materials come from everywhere. A handyman stops at Home Depot twice in one morning for different jobs. A cleaning service buys supplies from Costco, Amazon, and the local janitorial distributor. Receipts pile up in the truck, in pockets, in kitchen drawers. By the end of the month, nobody can remember which purchase went with which job. The hardware store runs and supply costs blur together into one big expense category that hides whether individual jobs actually made money.
Who This Covers
Who This Covers
Cleaning services, handymen, locksmiths, pressure washers, junk removal companies, carpet cleaners, window cleaners, appliance repair technicians, gutter cleaning services. Any home service business in Metro Detroit handling multiple jobs per day with materials and labor to track.
What Makes It Complex
What Makes It Complex
High volume of small jobs with different pricing structures. Materials purchased from retail stores that need allocation to specific work. Mix of cash, check, and digital payments that need capturing. Travel time between jobs eating into margins. Commercial contracts with different payment terms than residential customers. Variable job scope that makes accurate estimating difficult.
What We Handle
Every payment needs to hit the books. Cash collected on a job is income whether it goes through a bank account or not. We set up systems so nothing falls through the cracks. Bank and credit card reconciliations catch deposits and payments. Job tracking shows revenue by service type so you can see which work generates the best margins. Materials get allocated to jobs instead of sitting in a generic expense bucket where they hide true profitability.
For handymen and repair technicians, vehicle expenses are a significant cost that often gets undertracked. Mileage, gas, repairs, insurance. We capture these properly for tax purposes. Commercial cleaning contracts or property management work needs invoicing and receivables tracking. We handle accounts receivable so you know what’s outstanding and follow up before balances age past 30 days. Payroll runs smoothly if you have helpers or a crew working multiple locations.
Job Costing and Revenue Tracking
Job Costing and Revenue Tracking
Every job recorded with labor time and materials used. Revenue tracked by service type and customer. You can see if drain cleaning makes more money than appliance installation. You can compare weekly residential cleaning to one-time deep cleans. QuickBooks configured to track job-level profitability. Pricing decisions based on actual cost data instead of guesswork.
Expense Management and Tax Prep
Expense Management and Tax Prep
Materials allocated to jobs instead of lumped into generic categories. Vehicle expenses captured with proper documentation for mileage deductions. Hardware store receipts organized and categorized by job or service type. Tax returns that capture equipment depreciation, supply costs, and vehicle expenses. Quarterly estimates based on actual income patterns.
What Goes Wrong
Cash payments are the first thing to slip. A customer hands you $200 at the door. You pocket it, intending to record it later. Later never happens. Over a year, unreported cash creates a gap between what you actually earned and what your books show. This causes problems when applying for equipment financing, selling the business, or handling an audit. It also means you can’t see your true revenue when making decisions about pricing or whether to add another truck.
Materials get expensed when purchased instead of allocated to jobs. You buy $80 in parts at Home Depot for a specific repair. It goes into a generic supplies category. The job itself shows only labor revenue with no offsetting cost. You think you’re making 60% margins when you’re actually at 35%. Hardware store runs add up to thousands per year. Without proper tracking, you can’t see which job types eat more materials and which ones are genuinely profitable.
Income That Disappears
Income That Disappears
Cash payments not recorded. Checks deposited but not matched to jobs. Venmo and Zelle payments that land in personal accounts and never show up in business records. At year end, the books don’t match reality. Reconstructing the numbers takes hours of comparing bank statements to calendars trying to remember who paid what.
Costs Without Context
Costs Without Context
Materials purchased but never allocated to specific work. Vehicle expenses underreported or missing documentation entirely. No visibility into job profitability because costs aren’t tied to revenue. Pricing stays flat for years even as supply costs rise. You stay busy but can’t figure out why there’s nothing left at the end of the month.
What Changes
All income gets captured and categorized. Cash, check, card, Venmo. Every payment recorded and tied to a job or service type. You can see exactly what you earned last month and compare it to three months ago. Revenue by service type shows which work is worth pursuing and which might need repricing. When you apply for a loan or meet with your CPA, the numbers are clean and defensible.
Job profitability becomes visible. Materials, labor time, and travel all factor into understanding whether a particular service makes sense at your current rates. You can price a bathroom repair or a weekly cleaning contract based on what it actually costs you. Tax preparation captures vehicle deductions, equipment depreciation, and material costs that often get missed. Your books tell the real story of how the business is performing.
Clear Revenue Picture
Clear Revenue Picture
All income recorded regardless of payment method. Revenue tracked by service type and customer category. Monthly financials that show actual performance without gaps or guesswork. Clean records that support loan applications, equipment financing, and tax filing. No more scrambling in April to reconstruct the year.
Profitable Pricing
Profitable Pricing
Job costing shows true margins by service type. Materials and travel time factored into profitability calculations. You know which services to promote and which ones need a rate increase. Pricing decisions based on real data. Tax returns that capture all legitimate deductions so you keep more of what you earn.
Metro Detroit's Small Business Bookkeeper
The Next Step:
A Short Conversation
Tell us about your business and your current bookkeeping situation. We'll listen, answer your questions, and give you a clear quote.
