Bookkeeper for Pool Service Companies

How does the money come in each month?

Most pool service revenue lands as a single monthly subscription billed at the start of the month, and that subscription covers the weekly visits and the chemicals those visits use. The cash flow is steady, and the monthly check does not depend on which exact day a visit happens. The published pricing bands vary by region, but they look like this (https://ezpoolbiller.com/blog/pool-service-pricing-guide/):

• Chemical-only plans, where you drop chemicals without a weekly trip: about $80 to $120 a month.
• Standard weekly service, including the visit and the chemicals: about $120 to $175 a month.
• Full service with testing and equipment check as part of the visit: about $175 to $250 a month.
• Premium packages with spa care or extra features added: about $250 to $400 a month.

Two details explain most of the bookkeeping quirks in this trade. First, the fee is fixed and the visits are assumed, so when a customer skips a week the fee still lands and the books do not change. The bill goes to the month it was invoiced for. Second, repair and one-off work is different money with a different margin, so it has to be logged on its own line.

Repair calls bill at an hourly rate plus parts, equipment sales are their own line, and one-time projects like an opening or a filter install sit outside the subscription. Keeping those apart from the monthly income is step one.

What are the biggest costs to watch?

Chemicals and labor decide your margin, and everything else is small beside them.

Chemicals are a physical inventory that leaves the truck on every stop, commonly running $10 to $14 per visit (https://www.poolfounder.com/how-profitable-is-pool-cleaning-business). When you don't attach that cost to the pool it serves, the spending hides inside one big supply number that tells you nothing. Chemical purchases belong in a COGS account, matched per pool and per route.

Labor is the line that scales. Once you have employees, payroll runs about 30 to 38 percent of revenue, and it becomes the largest single expense in the books (https://www.poolfounder.com/how-profitable-is-pool-cleaning-business). The rest is small by comparison: fuel a few dollars per stop, general liability insurance around $67 a month, and workers compensation around $136 a month (https://www.insureon.com/cleaning-business-insurance/pool-cleaners/cost).

What commonly goes wrong in the books?

The most expensive mistake is growing the route count while the owner actually takes home less money, and the books are the only way to see it coming.

The published trap works like this: solo operators with 50 to 80 pools commonly take home $75,000 to $120,000 a year, while an owner with a small team on 100 to 150 pools ends up with $50,000 to $90,000 (https://www.poolfounder.com/how-profitable-is-pool-cleaning-business). Revenue is higher, the take home is not, and labor ate the difference at 30 to 38 percent. If the information lacks a distinct labor line, the owner is fine until they aren't.

Untracked chemicals do the same damage on a smaller scale. When no per pool cost is ever calculated, chemical overspend drags the whole margin down to between 12 and 15 percent (https://www.poolfounder.com/how-profitable-is-pool-cleaning-business), and it looks like a pricing problem when it is actually a costing problem.

What should be tracked separately?

The subscription is the main line, and every other way you earn money needs its own branch in the chart of accounts.

• Monthly subscriptions: every recurring fee, with the chemicals that are part of the plan.
• Repair work: the hour and the parts charged on repair calls.
• Equipment sales: pumps, filters, and hardware sold on their own.
• One-time jobs: openings, closings, drain and clean, and any work outside the subscription.

Each of those lines needs its own cost of goods so the margin is visible. The route is the costing unit, not the whole company, because one route can be quietly paying for another.

And the accounts themselves have to be separate: a business account, a business card, and a separate bank line for the weekly money. It is the first correction we make in almost every cleanup of a pool schedule.

What numbers should you actually watch?

Four numbers beat a full read of the P&L, and each one backs a decision.

A per-pool profit number only shows up after the chemical expense is attached to that agreement. That is the report that will tell you where the real money lives and where it disappears.

Where does sales tax come into it?

Chemical-only packages are taxable in most states, and a chemistry on a service package is enough. Which entire service is taxable varies strongly from one state to the next, and some places treat the whole full-service bill as taxable while others leave it out (https://www.ezpoolbiller.com/blog/pool-service-tax-guide/).

We track the chemical and equipment revenue on the lines where it belongs, and we record the sales tax you collect within the monthly business. Actually filing sales tax returns is outside our scope, and that part belongs to your tax pro, but the books will be right for them to start.

Related reading: the monthly routine this schedule builds on is covered in our monthly bookkeeping service. Where per-pool or per-route reporting does not show up in a standard statement, custom financial reporting is the place to start.