Do you work with Professional and Field Service clients? Are you looking to expand into a new niche? Read below Master Chef Marjorie Adams’ key ingredients for working with Professional and Field Service clients, and join the conversation on Twitter: #RecipeForSuccess.

What is a #RecipeforSuccess? Developed by QuickBooks ProAdvisors®, the #RecipeforSuccess campaign is designed to help you and your small business clients succeed by providing details on what makes serving a niche market successful.

Master Chef: Marjorie Adams

Professional and Field Service clients can be the obvious HVAC technicians, electricians, pool service companies or plumbers; however, you can extend the reach into any company that sends technicians out in the field. Additional examples include medical device repair, solar panel installation, glass repair, mobile car detailing, generator repair and restaurant equipment repair … the list goes on.

Here are some of the key ingredients and processes to successfully engage Professional & Field Service clients.

Ingredients:

• QuickBooks® Online (QBO) and QuickBooks Online Accountant
• GoPayment
• QuickBooks Full Service Payroll
• Online access to credit card payable account
• Optional: Intuit® Field Service Management

Directions:

Step 1: Set up a GoPayment account to get paid faster.

1. You want to make it as easy as possible for your client to get paid. A GoPayment account is beneficial to professional and field service clients in three ways. They can take payments in the field using GoPayment. This allows technicians to take a payment at the time of service, and also allows you to get lower swipe rates in the field!
2. Set up recurring invoices for the maintenance customers. We can set up recurring monthly sales transactions to record the sale and the processing of their customer’s credit card or ACH.
3. Use e-invoicing to send their customers an invoice and allow their customers to Pay Now! This method does not require your client to handle any credit card or ACH information.

Step 2: Use QuickBooks Full Service Payroll to alleviate the payroll pains.

Let QuickBooks Full Service Payroll handle the setup, payroll processing and tax filings for your client. You can set up worker’s compensation to link to their payroll account, as well as free direct deposit and W-2s to save time and money. The professional and field service company’s customer wouldn’t try to do the repair work on his or her own, so why have a plumber or electrician do payroll? Outsource this service for better productivity – it allows your customers to focus on their business, instead of in their business.

Step 3: Provide online access to the credit card payable account to download purchases made in the field.

By linking the credit card payable account, your client can keep track of what technicians are buying in the field on a daily basis. The ease of importing the transactions, and having QuickBooks tell you which transactions are not already posted in the system, helps ensure all costs are accounted for quickly and accurately.

Step 4 (Optional): Set up Work Order Management App – Intuit Field Service Management

If your client has several technicians, scheduling and dispatching may be a pain. Set them up with the Intuit Field Service Management system that connects to QBO seamlessly. They can create work orders, schedule technicians and import finished invoices into QBO.

Serving Instructions

While these steps have always worked for me, I know many of my peers would also include niche apps in their #RecipeForSuccess for their Professional and Field Service clients. Some examples of apps specifically designed for this industry are below. Go to the Intuit app store for a full list.

• Carpet Cleaners/HVAC/Plumbing/Electrical/Maid = QuickBooks Online + Housecall Pro.
• Plumbers = QuickBooks Online + Kickserv
• Septic Tank Cleaners = QuickBooks Online + ServiceCore

What’s your #RecipeForSuccess? The recipe may be different, but the goal remains the same: a truly satisfying business that you can get excited about and look forward to every day. Good luck!