3 ways to improve cash flow in your HVAC business

Cash flow. It’s the most important yet easily neglected part of business management. As a business owner, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the day-to-day running of your business. However, it doesn’t take long for cash flow mismanagement to catch up.

Discover how to ensure cash flow and keep your business running smoothly with these three tips.

1. Ensure business clarity

Can you deep dive into each job, look at dispatch times, track how long it takes to invoice and receive payments? Maybe you can do one, or a couple of things, but not all of them. Business
clarity means having all your business data in one organized place. It means not having to click through a pile of spreadsheets to find the answers you’re looking for.
Many times, this lack of clarity comes from running your business on a variety of software that doesn’t link well. Or, you could still be using paper and data isn’t being updated in your system.
Whatever the situation, businesses who prioritize having their data organized all in one location often have better clarity on where their cash is coming from and going to.
One way to do this is to switch to field service management software where you can collect data from all the workflows of your business. Not only will this help you see where you are making
and losing money, but you’ll also be able to run comprehensive reports that dig into the core issues of your cash flow woes. This insight can then help you to make strategic decisions and help boost profitability.

2. Speed up processes with invoicing software

Once you’ve implemented an all-in-one software, you can focus on making it easier to invoice customers and have them quickly pay you. This cycle is a vital part of good cash flow management, so it’s important to ensure it’s running smoothly and efficiently.
Invoicing software can help you save time when a job is finished. You can set up automatic invoicing for recurring jobs and auto-populate invoices to extract cost information from a document, and integrate with your accounting software to ensure your financial data is accurate.

3. Provide flexible payment options

Next, it’s time to look at how you can make it easier for your customers to pay you. Provide a variety of options so that customers can choose which payment option suits their needs. By doing so, your customers are more likely to pay promptly, improving cash flow.
Another option for payment flexibility is payment automation. For example, if you have recurring maintenance jobs, or your business is working on a larger project, you may be working on a progress billing agreement. In these cases, you can easily set up automatic invoicing and payment
processing to reduce staff stress with less invoice chasing and ensure your payments stay up to date.

Want more cash flow tips?
Request a personalized 1:1 session with a talented simPRO consultant.
Visit simprogroup.com/ca.