Anyone else realize they were breaking even or losing money after expenses?
I had a phase where we looked “busy” on paper, fully booked, money coming in, but when I actually broke down the numbers, some jobs were barely breaking even. Once I factored in true payroll burden (taxes, workers comp), supplies, insurance, and transaction fees, it was a wake-up call. There were jobs we were doing that felt productive day-to-day but weren’t contributing to profit at all. For us, it came down to tightening up pricing, being more intentional about which jobs we accepted, and really understanding our numbers on a per-job basis (not just overall revenue). Curious if anyone else has gone through this and what changes made the biggest impact for you?What would your business look like if 70% of clients were on auto-pay with no cards expiring?
A year ago I looked at my numbers and realized something frustrating: I was spending hours every week chasing payments and updating expired cards. Between follow-ups, declined payments, and cards expiring every few months, it felt like billing was taking almost as much energy as running the actual jobs. So we made one change in our process: we started moving clients to auto-pay as the default. At first it was slow. A few clients said yes, a few ignored it, and a few needed reminders. But over time it snowballed. Now about 70% of our clients are on auto-pay. The difference in the business is huge. Invoices get paid automatically. Cash flow is predictable. My admin time dropped dramatically because we’re not chasing payments or dealing with expired cards all the time. It also makes scheduling easier because we know jobs turn into actual revenue without the follow-up. What surprised me most is clients actually prefer it. They like not having to remember to pay or deal with invoices every visit. If I could go back, I would have pushed auto-pay much earlier. It turns billing from a weekly stress into something that basically runs in the background.When is it time to hire an accountant?
I am wondering at what point some of you guys have hired an accountant? Did you hire one to grow? To maintain what you have? Or are you simply using one to file taxes at the end of the year? I am thinking about hiring an accountant to manage my finances for me and see where things go, but wondering when is the right time.How can I create an invoice for the deposit?
When doing certain commercial work the client will ask us to send them an invoice for the deposit. This isn't typically how Jobber works as the invoice isn't created until the job is closed usually. What is the best way to send a customer an invoice before having the quote signed, deposit paid, or the job completed? Hope that makes sense. Thanks in advance!How Much Should You Really Be Charging?
The number one question I receive is tied directly to the fact, most contractors are still guessing when it comes to pricing. Overhead. Profit. Labor rate. Trip fees. They think just because they throw a number they hear their competitors use, thats all that they need. It may work, but how and what do you divide these funds is just as important for your business health. If you don’t know how to do the math, you’re not building a business. You’re surviving check to check and think you need more work, when you do not. So here’s the plan: This Tuesday & Thursday on IG, I’m walking you through our Contractor Price Builder Worksheet FREE on instagram live. We will cover: - How to calculate your real hourly rate - The difference between markup and margin - Why profit is a non-negotiable - And how to price with confidence Join the session. Bring your numbers.How do I record payment when a customer has already given me a deposit?
I am charging a customer $120/month for exterior rodent control and they paid me in full for the year. I applied that payment to the account but when I try to record each months service off of the credit, I can't seem to be able to. Jobber is telling me that the invoice must exceed $0.50. The balance is showing on the account but I can't figure out how to make the monthly charge come off of the balance. HELP!When should businesses increase prices to keep up with rising payroll costs?
When's the last time you updated your pricing model to match your payroll reality? For example, our direct payroll (before tax) is 38% while our indirect payroll is 10%. As of January 2, we increased rates for all recurring clients by 4% to offload the indirect percentage. Going forward, we increased all first-time services by 5%. Thoughts?
