Guides you can use before, or instead of, a session

The owner numbers sheet

The owner numbers sheet lists the figures Ali asks for before a session, and explains why each one matters. It covers revenue by month, average ticket by job type, how many quotes you close, what your agreements bring in, and how your marketing spend breaks down.

Read it first if you're not sure where your company stands, or if your bookkeeping is behind and you want to know which numbers deserve attention first. Most owners find two or three figures they've never tracked, and that's a useful finding on its own. It pairs naturally with the pricing and margin session.

Maintenance agreement maths

Maintenance agreement maths works through the economics of a maintenance program step by step. It shows how to price a plan above what it costs you to deliver, how renewal rates change the size of your member base over three years, and how many visits your techs can fit into spring and fall.

It's the right read for owners whose program has stalled at a few dozen or a few hundred members. The model in the guide is the same one used in the service-agreement session, so you can run it yourself.

The owner-time audit

The owner-time audit gives you a one-week log sheet and a simple scoring method to see where your hours really go. It then shows how to turn the results into a decision about your first or next hire, and how to cost that role.

This is the guide for owners working long weeks who suspect they're doing jobs someone else should do. It feeds directly into the hiring and owner-time session.

How the guides fit together

The three guides follow the order Ali usually works in. First, know your numbers. Second, build recurring revenue that steadies the year. Third, free the owner's time so the business can grow without the owner doing everything. Read them in that order if you're starting from scratch, or jump to the one that matches your problem.

They don't cover technical, safety or code questions, and they aren't legal, tax or accounting advice. They're business tools, written in plain language for people who run HVAC companies.

How to use the worksheets

Each guide contains at least one table you can copy into a spreadsheet. The quickest way to get value from them is to fill in your real figures straight away, even as estimates, and mark anything you guessed. Gaps are useful: a number you can't find usually points to a decision you've been making blind.

If you have an office manager or a bookkeeper, share the guides with them. Several of the figures, such as callback rates, renewal rates and booked jobs by source, are easier for the office to track than for the owner. A ten-minute monthly review of the same sheet will tell you more about your company than an annual look at the tax return.

When a guide isn't enough

A guide can show you the method. It can't look at your invoices and tell you which job type is losing money, or tell you whether the agency proposal on your desk is fair. That's what a session is for. If you've worked through a guide and want a second pair of eyes on the results, see the session topics, check how sessions are quoted, and then call, text or email Ali with what you found.