The language of the trades, in plain English.

A

• A2L refrigerant

  A refrigerant classified by ASHRAE Standard 34 as lower toxicity (A) and lower flammability (2L), such as R-454B and R-32.

• Accounts receivable

  Money customers owe you for work you've already done and invoiced.

• AI receptionist

  Software that answers calls in natural conversation, books appointments and passes calls to staff when needed.

• AIM Act

  The American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020, which directs EPA to phase down HFC refrigerants like R-410A by 85% by 2036.

• Apprentice

  A trainee learning a trade on the job under licensed or experienced workers, often while taking classroom training.

• Arrival window

  The time range you promise a customer for the technician to show up, such as 8–10 am or 12–4 pm.

• Average ticket

  Average revenue per completed job, usually tracked separately for service calls, maintenance and installs.

B

• Billable hours

  Hours a technician spends on work you can charge a customer for, as opposed to drive, shop or training time.

• Booking rate

  The share of real job opportunities (calls, web requests, texts) that the office turns into a booked appointment.

• BTU (British thermal unit)

  A unit of heat energy: the amount needed to raise one pound of water by 1°F.

C

• Call-to-book rate

  Booked jobs divided by all inbound calls, including calls that were never a chance to book.

• Callback

  A return visit, usually unpaid, because the original repair or install didn't hold. Also called a recall.

• Capacity

  The number of jobs or billable hours your team can deliver in a given day or week with the people and trucks you have.

• CFM (cubic feet per minute)

  A measure of airflow volume: how many cubic feet of air move through a system or duct each minute.

• Change order

  A signed approval that changes the scope or price of a job after the original estimate was accepted.

• Churn

  The rate at which members or recurring customers cancel or lapse over a period.

• Close rate

  The share of estimates or options presented that the customer says yes to.

• Comfort advisor

  An HVAC salesperson who visits homes to design and quote system replacements.

• Commission

  Pay calculated as a percentage of a sale, common for comfort advisors and some service techs.

• Cost per lead

  What you spend on a marketing channel divided by the number of leads it produced.

• CRM

  Customer relationship management: the system that holds your customer records, history and communication in one place.

• CSR (customer service representative)

  The office team member who answers calls, books jobs and handles customer questions.

• Customer acquisition cost

  The total sales and marketing spend needed to win one new paying customer.

D

• Days sales outstanding (DSO)

  The average number of days it takes to collect payment after a sale.

• Deferred revenue

  Money collected for work you haven't done yet, such as a prepaid annual maintenance plan.

• Dispatch board

  The office's view of every tech, job and time slot for the day, used to assign and move work.

E

• EPA 608 certification

  The federal certification required under Section 608 of the Clean Air Act to service equipment containing refrigerant or to buy most refrigerants.

F

• Field service management (FSM)

  Software that runs the daily operation of a trades business: booking, dispatch, the tech app, estimates, invoicing and payments.

• First-time fix rate

  The share of jobs fixed on the first visit, with no second trip for parts, help or a missed diagnosis.

• Flat-rate pricing

  Charging a fixed, upfront price per task from a price book instead of billing hours plus parts.

G

• Good-better-best

  Presenting three options at different prices and levels of value, so the customer chooses instead of saying yes or no.

• Google Local Services Ads

  Google's pay-per-lead ads for local service businesses, shown at the top of search results with a verification badge.

• Gross margin

  Revenue minus the direct cost of doing the work (labor, parts, equipment), as a share of revenue.

H

• HSPF2

  The seasonal heating efficiency rating for heat pumps under the U.S. DOE test procedure in effect since January 1, 2023.

J

• Job costing

  Tracking the real cost of each job (labor, parts, equipment, subs, permits) against what you charged.

• Journeyman

  A licensed or experienced tradesperson who has finished an apprenticeship and can work without direct supervision.

L

• Lead source attribution

  Recording where each customer came from so you can tell which marketing produces booked, profitable jobs.

M

• Maintenance agreement

  A contract where the customer pays a set fee for scheduled maintenance visits and usually some perks.

• Manual J

  ACCA's standard method for calculating a home's heating and cooling loads, room by room.

• Markup

  The amount added to your cost to get your selling price, expressed as a percentage of cost.

• Membership

  A customer-facing name for a maintenance plan, bundling tune-ups with perks like priority service and member pricing.

• Membership conversion rate

  The share of eligible non-member customers who join a membership after a visit.

N

• NATE certification

  A voluntary, industry-recognized certification for HVACR technicians from North American Technician Excellence, a nonprofit.

• Net profit

  What's left after every cost of the business, direct and overhead, has been paid.

O

• Offline mode

  A mobile app's ability to keep working with no cell signal and sync the data once the connection returns.

• Overhead recovery

  Building your fixed business costs into your prices so every billable hour pays its share of overhead.

P

• Performance pay

  Paying technicians partly based on the work they produce, such as a percentage of revenue, instead of only by the hour.

• Price book

  Your company's list of tasks, parts and equipment with set prices that every tech and CSR quotes from.

• Progress billing

  Invoicing a large job in stages, such as a deposit, a payment at rough-in and the balance at completion.

• Purchase order

  A document you send to a supplier to order parts or equipment at an agreed price, often tied to a specific job.

R

• Recurring monthly revenue (RMR)

  Predictable revenue you collect every month from memberships, agreements and other subscriptions.

• Refrigerant leak rate

  The annualized percentage of a system's full refrigerant charge lost through leaks, used to decide when EPA leak repair rules apply.

• Renewal rate

  The share of memberships or agreements up for renewal in a period that the customer keeps.

• Review velocity

  How many new online reviews your business earns per week or month.

• Route optimization

  Ordering and assigning jobs so techs spend less time driving and more time working, while keeping promised arrival windows.

S

• SEER2

  The seasonal cooling efficiency rating for air conditioners and heat pumps under the U.S. DOE test procedure in effect since January 1, 2023.

• Service call fee

  A set charge for sending a technician to diagnose a problem, sometimes credited toward the repair if the customer goes ahead.

• Speed to lead

  How quickly your business responds to a new inquiry, such as a web form, text or missed call.

• Spiff

  A small cash bonus paid for a specific sale or action, such as selling a membership or generating a replacement lead.

• Static pressure

  The resistance to airflow in a duct system, measured in inches of water column (in. w.c.).

• Subcooling

  How many degrees liquid refrigerant is below its condensing (saturation) temperature at a given pressure.

• Superheat

  How many degrees refrigerant vapor is above its boiling (saturation) temperature at a given pressure.

T

• Tap to pay

  Taking a contactless card or phone wallet payment directly on the technician's phone, with no separate card reader.

• Temperature split

  The difference between return air and supply air temperature across an HVAC system. Also called delta T.

• Text-to-pay

  Sending an invoice as a text message with a link the customer taps to pay by card or bank transfer.

• Time and materials

  Billing the customer for actual labor hours at an hourly rate plus parts and materials used.

• Tonnage

  The cooling capacity of an air conditioner or heat pump, where one ton equals 12,000 BTU per hour.

• Truck stock

  The parts and materials each technician carries on the truck so common repairs can be finished on the first visit.

U

• Utilization

  The share of a technician's paid hours spent on billable work at customer sites.

W

• Work order

  The record of a single job: what the customer needs, where, who is assigned, and what was done.