Accounting & Tax Services for Appliance & Home Repair Services

The first thing most repair businesses get wrong isn't a tax question, it's a sales tax question: parts are taxable in nearly every state, but labor often isn't, and the line between them shows up differently depending on where you operate. California's CDTFA rules, for example, treat repair labor and installation labor differently - get it wrong on enough invoices and it adds up fast at audit time.

You need a seller's permit before you sell your first taxable part, and you need resale or exemption certificates on file for any parts you buy wholesale to resell - without them, your supplier may be required to charge you tax you shouldn't be paying twice.

Technicians running routes out of vans means real mileage and vehicle expense tracking, plus tool and equipment reimbursements that need to be handled consistently, not ad hoc, or they turn into a payroll headache.

Warranty work creates its own receivable: work performed now, paid by a manufacturer or extended warranty company later, sometimes much later. If it's not tracked separately, it distorts your actual collections and cash flow.

Payroll usually mixes hourly techs, commission or per-job bonuses, and sometimes on-call pay - all of which need to be set up correctly from day one, not patched together after a Department of Labor question comes up.