IRRIGATION JOBS LOOK PROFITABLE. THE BALANCE SHEET IS STILL THIN.

Because the jobs earn before the money comes in. Labour and material go out on a weekly cycle and collect 45 to 90 days later, with 5 to 10 percent held as retention behind that. In irrigation specifically that distance is widened by two-season cash (startup and blowout bookend the year). None of that reads as a loss on any single job, which is why it goes unaddressed.

Most jurisdictions require annual testing of backflow preventers by certified testers, filed with the water purveyor. The state creates the recurring demand. Price it as a compliance product that covers the certification, calibration and filing overhead, and route it with the rest of your service calendar.

Plan the two windows ahead. Crew count and compressor capacity cap your startups and winterizations, so how tightly you route inside the windows sets the year's service revenue. Fund a shoulder-season reserve, presell the windows on the agreement calendar, and have every system scheduled before the freeze.

Three tiers, and which one you are in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. On Core we build your plan every month and your team does the work: job costing built against the way you estimate, a 13 week cash forecast, monthly WIP, and a monthly meeting that ends in decisions, while your bookkeeper keeps doing the books. On Strategic we build the plan, track it and adjust it every month: our team does the bookkeeping and the bank reconciliations, and the job costing and WIP software is set up and managed for you, on your own online software or ours. On Platinum we manage the money side for you every week: our team handles your bills and receivables the way an in-house controller would, and you approve every payment. We don't do payroll.