Grow your plumbing business without losing control of the numbers
Know which service calls, drain jobs, builds and remodels earn margin, and where cash is waiting. Level compares field records, employer labor costs and the books using approved exports or supported connections. Available software, plan and permissions determine the records we can use; the weekly review helps your team choose the next action.
The Plumbing Problem
Growth does not show gross profit per technician hour.
Emergency-call revenue is not profit until truck time, materials, callbacks and warranty costs are included. In a fictional scenario with $150-350 of labor cost per unpaid callback, 20 callbacks cost $3,000-7,000; $5,000 assumes $250 each. Count callback invoices, labor hours and warranty obligations before treating any of that amount as loss. These inputs are not measured industry averages.
Project draws (staged bills), retainage (money held until contract conditions are met) and punch-list approvals (acceptance of final corrective work) can delay cash. Days sales outstanding (DSO) is matched receivables / annual credit sales x 365, not a measured invoice payment lag. A 45-60 day DSO range is a planning scenario, not a measured plumbing median. At an illustrative $100K of annual credit sales, a comparable 10-day DSO reduction releases about $2,740 once. That calculation cannot use a $100K receivables balance as its sales denominator. Check each invoice's actual due date; Net 30 means payment is due 30 days after the contractual starting event. The legacy 93% Net 30 reference has no verified population or measure here, so it cannot establish how many customers pay on time.
Compare technician output using matched routes, task complexity and productive hours. The illustrative 738 versus 400 visit counts have no matched crew size or reporting period here; supply those before comparing productivity. The 75-85% billable-hour range is a separate planning input. A separate 16.5% nonbillable share leaves 83.5% billable on the same hour denominator (100% minus 16.5%), not a conclusion derived from the visit counts. Drive time, training and administration can support necessary work; they do not prove wasted hours. Billing capture against job-logged hours is a separate measure from utilization against all paid hours.
Owner questions to investigate
Financial questions for plumbing owners
These comments were previously attributed to community discussions, but we do not have the original post links to confirm them. We keep them as discussion starters. They are not Level client testimonials or proof of how common a problem is.
“Did the burdened rate math last night and got $311/hour. Either I'm doing it wrong or every plumber in town is broke.”
r/Plumbing owner, original post not confirmed
What to check: Rebuild employer-loaded hourly cost from wages, employer taxes, benefits and paid hours. Then separately account for productive-hour coverage, vehicles and overhead in the pricing model. A 20-40% underpricing adjustment is a hypothetical sensitivity, not an observed rate among independent plumbers or evidence competitors are wrong.
“Got a $65K commercial job. GC pays in 90+ days. My supplier wants Net 30. I'm $20K out of pocket before I see a cent.”
r/Construction subcontractor, original post not confirmed
What to check: Slow-paying GCs can leave a subcontractor funding the float. For jobs in scope, we model the cash gap so you can decide whether to reprice, negotiate terms or favor direct work.
“We grew 40% last year and somehow have less cash than ever. My CPA says we're profitable. The bank account disagrees.”
r/PlumbingBusiness owner, original post not confirmed
What to check: Profit and cash flow diverge for legitimate reasons (AR growth, retainage, inventory). A 13-week cash forecast lays out expected cash in and out for each of the next 13 weeks. Compare those dates with payroll and supplier bills before deciding what growth needs to fund.
“Service work prints money. Construction work feels like prestige. We can't tell which one is actually keeping the lights on.”
r/Plumbing owner, original post not confirmed
What to check: Compare complete service, project and maintenance costs on the same basis. Cross-subsidy is a question to test with job records, not a verified characteristic of almost every mixed plumbing business.
Analyzed with the CLEAR Framework
Cash · Labor · Earnings · Accounts · Risk, the five pillars we evaluate for every business.
Plumbing Benchmarks and Planning Inputs
Use Level observations as cross-trade context. Other cards are planning scenarios, not measured industry percentiles. Match your business model, period and cost definition before comparing.
Median recorded labor rate
$79/hr
Cross-trade Level median, n=1,770; P75 $116/hr and P90 $148/hr. The source field mixes billing rates, loaded costs and wages; this is not a comparable customer selling price.
Source definition and sampleService Agreement Gross Margin (Median)
37.9%
Cross-trade Level median, n=259 eligible companies; P10 -30.4%, P75 53.5% and P90 70.3%. This is not a plumbing-only estimate. Match covered work and cost allocation.
Source definition and sampleCollection Rate
85.1%
Cross-trade Level median, n=464; P75 is 92.7%. Cash collected / billed revenue, with no published measurement window. A gap is not automatically recoverable cash or permanent loss.
Source definition and sampleBilling Speed
7 days
Cross-trade Level post-completion invoicer median. The broader n=733 sample, including progress billing, has a 1-day median. These are different populations, not a promised collection date.
Source definition and sampleBilling Capture
97.1%
Cross-trade Level median, n=963; P75 100%. Invoiced hours / hours logged on jobs. This is not productive hours / all paid hours or technician utilization.
Source definition and sampleQuote Conversion
73.9%
Cross-trade Level median, n=794 companies with at least 20 decided quotes; P75 83.2%. Won / (won + lost), excluding pending quotes. All-issued-quote conversion uses a different denominator: median 38.1%, P75 47.7%.
Source definition and sampleContent reviewed . Read the revision history.
What Level Does for Plumbing
Service vs. Project Margin Analysis
A mixed service-and-project business needs separate contribution schedules before you can test whether one line supports another. We separate the two so you can price and staff each line independently.
Cash Flow Forecasting for Mixed Revenue
Model service receipts, project draws and retainage separately. A $50K hypothetical open-project balance is unclassified until tied to the accepted billing: is it a project draw, held retainage or another receivable? Supply its contractual due or release terms before assigning a payment date. The forecast distinguishes expected timing from confirmed available cash.
Technician Productivity Tracking
Revenue per tech, callbacks per tech, average ticket size, drive time ratio. Compare output on matched routes and task mix, then use the findings to coach, train, or adjust routes.
Flat Rate vs. Time & Material Analysis
Should you move to flat rate pricing? For which services? We model the revenue impact of pricing changes before you make them, using your actual job data and cost structure.
Collections & Retainage Management
Commercial plumbing jobs have retainage, slow-paying GCs, and change order disputes. We set up AR aging views and retainage release tracking, and draft follow-up actions for your office to review and send where your software supports it. Aged and disputed items become visible; collection remains subject to the customer's payment and dispute resolution.
Growth & Exit Readiness
Clean books and supported recurring revenue help a buyer examine the business. We prepare the underlying records for your actual buyer or lender; this does not establish or guarantee a valuation premium. We prepare records for a private-equity (PE) buyer or lender on your actual timetable, even if an exit is 5 years away.
Bookkeeper, your CPA, vs. Level
Comparison illustrates engagement scopes, not a survey of providers. Confirm each firm's actual services, cadence and contract; Level features depend on the agreed scope and available records.
| Capability | Bookkeeper | CPA | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Record transactions | ✓ | No | ✓ |
| Tax-ready books and CPA handoff | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Job-level profitability | No | No | ✓ |
| Cash flow forecasting | No | No | ✓ |
| Compare verified benchmarks or planning scenarios | No | No | ✓ |
| Monthly strategy calls | No | No | ✓ |
| AR aging & collections tracking | No | No | ✓ |
| Crew utilization analysis | No | No | ✓ |
| Exit readiness preparation | No | No | ✓ |
| Understands plumbing operations | Varies by firm | Varies by firm | ✓ |
Your bookkeeper records the past. Your CPA files taxes. Level helps your team connect work, costs and cash to the decisions ahead, using the records and review scope agreed for your engagement.
Work from the tools you already use
Accounting tools hold your books; operating tools hold jobs, sales or service records; payroll and payment tools show labor costs and money movement. We compare the relevant records to answer your financial question. These are systems to evaluate, not a promise of a native connector for every product. Access and setup vary by software, plan and permissions. We use approved connections or exports and request read-only access where supported.
Operating review
Plumbing decisions the numbers should explain
The margin, cash, and operating questions we check first when reviewing your numbers.
Do emergency calls and scheduled work consume the same capacity?
Revenue per job can conceal different travel, after-hours and crew requirements.
Does the flat-rate menu cover the actual mix of service calls?
A menu built around a quick repair can underprice diagnostic visits, return trips and parts-heavy work.
What funds the interval between crew payroll and customer payment?
The dates for earned labor, payroll funding and receipts can differ.
Simple pricing
Three tiers, one ladder.
$500+/mo
Bookkeeping
The clean data layer: monthly books, reconciliations, and organized financials AI can work with.
$1,500-$5,000/mo
Scale
The full AI operating layer: custom agents, weekly actions, and benchmarks to grow margin per hour.
Custom
Platform / Multi-Office
Multi-branch benchmarking and scorecards for PE-backed and multi-location groups.
Book a call
Book a free 15-min Plumbing audit.
We'll review your plumbing records and compare supported measures with relevant references or planning inputs. No commitment.
Or have us reach out instead.
Share your details and Level will follow up to arrange your plumbing financial review.
No commitment. Real numbers, not generic advice.