Bookkeeping for drain cleaning companies on QuickBooks Online.
Books and Trucks does monthly bookkeeping for drain cleaning companies in QuickBooks Online, from $599 a month, or $995 a month with ServiceTitan reconciliation and job costing, and cleans up all past books free when you start.
Service calls, hydro jetting, camera inspections and after-hours emergencies all have to land in the books correctly. We close your books every month in QuickBooks Online, file your sales tax, and put the numbers in one dashboard.
Checked by the Books and Trucks team.
Booked calls: weekdays, 9am to 5pm Eastern. By phone, or 30 minutes on Teams.
Not ready for a call? Get a free look at your books
Three things drain cleaning owners tell us about their books
“Techs take cards in the field and the deposits never match the invoices.”
“Night calls bring in money, but I cannot see what is left after overtime.”
“I do the books on Sunday night when I should be off.”
How we set up the books for a drain cleaning company
Jetters and cameras as assets
A jetter, a sewer camera or a truck is recorded as an asset with its cost, its loan and the date it went into service. At year end your CPA decides whether to deduct it at once or depreciate it. For 2026 the Section 179 limit is $2,560,000, and property acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025 qualifies for 100 percent bonus depreciation, so the in-service date on the register matters.
Cable heads, nozzles and hand tools expensed
Cutter heads, jetter nozzles, replacement cables and hand augers wear out fast. Under the IRS de minimis safe harbor, a business without audited financial statements can deduct items up to $2,500 per invoice or item, if your CPA attaches the yearly election to the return. We set that limit in your capitalization policy, so small tools go straight to expense and only the large machines reach the asset register.
Sewer line replacements billed in stages
A line replacement or a trenchless repair runs bigger than a service call and usually starts with a deposit. We hold the deposit in a liability account and apply it to the final invoice, the method Intuit describes, and bill any stages as progress invoices on one estimate. Your income then shows when the work is done, and the deposit is never counted twice.
Source: Intuit, Record a retainer or deposit in QuickBooks Online
Repair work and new lines taxed apart
Where a state taxes repairs differently from improvements, as New York does, a cleared line and a new sewer line get different items and tax codes in QuickBooks. The sales tax return then comes straight from the invoices, without sorting jobs by hand at filing time.
Source: 20 NYCRR 527.7 (New York)
Emergency and after-hours calls
Night and weekend calls get their own income account, so you can see what they bring in next to the overtime they cost.
Camera inspections and the repairs they find
Camera inspections and line repairs each get their own income account, so you can see how much repair work your inspections bring in.
Commercial cleaning schedules
Restaurants and property managers on a regular cleaning schedule each have their own customer record, and your dashboard shows which of them are late paying.
Four plans for drain cleaning companies
Every plan side by side, with what each one includes, is on the bookkeeping pricing page. Run more than one trade? We also keep books for plumbing shops and septic and pumping companies.
Three steps, and the first two are free
- 1
A free look at your books
With read-only access, we show you where your books are behind or do not match, within three business days. No charge, no obligation.
- 2
A short call
You tell us how the shop runs today: which software, how many trucks, how far behind the books are. We tell you plainly whether we are a fit and agree the fee in writing.
- 3
Handover in 30 days
We take over from your current setup, clean up all your past books at no charge, and your dashboard is live by the end of the first month.
After that, the month runs the same way every time. We categorize every transaction, reconcile every bank and card account, and file sales tax for the states you work in. Then you get thirty minutes with your accountant on what the numbers say and what to do about them.
We work inside the software you already use
QuickBooks Online
We work inside your own QuickBooks Online file as an accountant user. You keep ownership and full access, and Intuit does not count an invited accountant toward your user limit.
Source: Intuit, Invite accountant users
ServiceTitan
ServiceTitan sends invoices, payments, expenses and sales tax to QuickBooks Online through its own integration. Every month we check that what arrived in QuickBooks matches ServiceTitan, including merchant fees and financing deposits.
Payroll
Drain techs and office staff, including overtime and spiffs, on Gusto, QuickBooks Payroll, ADP or Paychex.
Your dashboard
The X INFIN portal, which we build and run, puts revenue, cash and receivables on one screen. On the QuickBooks and Jobber plans it reads QuickBooks. On the ServiceTitan plan it reads both systems.
What you see every morning
These figures are from the live portal of our HVAC client, a company on ServiceTitan and QuickBooks Online. Drain cleaning companies get the same dashboard, built from their own books. Read their story
Not ready for a call? Get a free look at your books.
Leave your details and we email you within one business day. You give us read-only access, and within three business days you see what is behind and what it would take to fix.
Free guides
Reference pages for trade shop owners
- Contractor sales tax by stateIs labor on HVAC, plumbing and electrical work taxed, and who pays tax on materials? Every state, linked to the state's own guidance.Open the guide
- Chart of accounts for trade shops75 accounts for QuickBooks Online with the right types and detail types, ready to import, plus what ServiceTitan needs mapped.Open the guide
- ServiceTitan to QuickBooks export errorsWhat the common ServiceTitan to QuickBooks Online export errors mean and how to fix them, plus refunds, sales tax and moving from Desktop.Open the guide
- Why Jobber payouts don't match bank depositsHow Jobber Payments payouts, fees, tips and refunds land in QuickBooks Online, the five usual causes of a mismatch, and a monthly checklist.Open the guide
- Jobber to QuickBooks sync errorsWhat the common Jobber to QuickBooks Online sync errors mean and how to fix each one, in the order the sync runs, plus legacy errors.Open the guide
- Jobber Bookkeeping or an outside bookkeeper?What Jobber's own bookkeeping add-on covers, which shops it suits, and when an outside bookkeeper on QuickBooks Online fits better.Open the guide
- How much does a bookkeeper cost for a trade shop?Hourly, in-house, flat monthly firms, Jobber Bookkeeping, QuickBooks Live and six trade specialists, side by side, each price linked to its source.Open the guide
- Housecall Pro to QuickBooks Online: what syncs and how to clear the alertsWhat the one-way sync sends and leaves out, the settings to check first, and the nine sync alerts with the fix for each, from Housecall Pro's own help pages.Open the guide
- Job costing in QuickBooks Online for contractorsThe plan you need, how Projects, labor cost rates, billable expenses and progress invoicing work, and the six things QuickBooks cannot do, from Intuit's own pages.Open the guide
- QuickBooks for plumbers: how to set it upThe plan, a class and income account for each kind of plumbing work, parts and truck stock, deposits, backflow tests, subcontractor 1099s and the monthly close.Open the guide
Sales tax by state
Is your labor taxed? It depends on the state.
Each guide covers labor, materials, filing and the common mistakes for contractors in that state, with every rule linked to the state's own source.
Straight answers before you book
Do you offer a bookkeeping service for drain cleaning companies?
Yes. Books and Trucks offers monthly bookkeeping for drain cleaning companies in QuickBooks Online, from $599 a month, or $995 a month with ServiceTitan, with card deposits matched to invoices, jetters and cameras on the asset register, and all past books cleaned up free when you start.
What does bookkeeping cost for a drain cleaning company?
Our fee is fixed each month and agreed in writing before we start. On QuickBooks Online only, it starts at $599 a month. With ServiceTitan it starts at $995 a month, which covers the books, the monthly ServiceTitan to QuickBooks reconciliation, the dashboard and the monthly call for a shop of about five trucks. More trucks, more transactions, or adding payroll and bill pay move the fee up. Month to month, cancel any time.
Do you work with drain cleaning companies today?
Our trades client today is an HVAC company in the US, on ServiceTitan and QuickBooks Online. A drain cleaning company's books are set up the same way in QuickBooks: service calls, card payments, equipment, sales tax and payroll. You start with a free look at your books, so you can judge our work before you pay anything.
Do we need ServiceTitan to work with you?
No. If you run on QuickBooks Online alone, the QuickBooks plan from $599 a month covers monthly books, bank and card reconciliation, reports, sales tax filings, a dashboard and a monthly call. If you already use ServiceTitan, the ServiceTitan plan from $995 a month adds the monthly ServiceTitan to QuickBooks reconciliation and job costing on every job.
Our card deposits never match the invoices.
Card processors pay out the total minus their fees, often a day or two later, and several invoices can land as one deposit. We match each deposit to the invoices it pays and record the fees as an expense, so the bank and QuickBooks agree every month.
Can I see what after-hours calls really make?
On the QuickBooks plan, we can give emergency and after-hours work its own income account, so it shows on its own line in your reports. On the ServiceTitan plan, job costing also puts labor, including overtime, and materials against each job, so you can compare a night call with daytime work.
Do you file sales tax?
Yes. We file sales tax for the states you work in. Whether drain cleaning, jetting and repairs are taxed differs from state to state, and we set up QuickBooks to follow the rules where you work.
Can I see revenue per technician?
Yes, when your field software tags the technician on each job. We report revenue and gross margin per technician each month from that data.
How do you handle customer financing payouts?
When a financing company pays you less than the invoice, we record the full sale, the payout and the financing fee separately, so the fee shows as a cost and the customer's invoice closes at zero.
Can you track commercial accounts that pay on 30 or 60 days?
Yes. Commercial customers are invoiced on their terms, and the aging report each month shows who is past due, so you can chase them before the next service call.
Do you handle membership or maintenance plans?
Yes. Membership fees paid up front are held as unearned revenue and recognized as the visits happen, the same way as maintenance contracts.
Our books are months behind.
Most drain cleaning companies who call us are behind, usually because card deposits, financing payouts and after-hours calls never got matched to invoices. The free look shows how far behind things are. When you start with us, we clean up all your past books in QuickBooks at no charge, however far back they go.
Who actually does the work?
A named bookkeeper on our team handles your account every month, from card deposits and financing payouts to the bank reconciliations, and a senior accountant reviews the numbers before your monthly call.
How do you get access?
You invite us as an accountant user in QuickBooks Online, under Settings and Manage users. Intuit does not count accountant users toward your plan's user limit. If you run ServiceTitan, you also add us as a user with reporting access there. You can remove either at any time.
Can you run payroll too?
On the ServiceTitan plan, yes: drain techs and office staff, including overtime and spiffs, on Gusto, QuickBooks Payroll, ADP or Paychex. Spiffs and bonuses you promise in advance count in the overtime rate under federal rules, so we add them to the regular rate in any week a tech works over 40 hours. The QuickBooks plan covers the books, reports, sales tax filings and the dashboard, without payroll or bill pay.
I already have a CPA.
Good. We do the monthly books, your CPA does the tax return, and we send them clean, reconciled books at year-end.
What if it does not work out?
Month to month, cancel any time. You keep your QuickBooks file, every job and customer record in it, and your data.
Is drain cleaning subject to sales tax?
It depends on the state and on what the job leaves behind. New York is a clear example: its sales tax regulation lists sewerage service among the taxable services that maintain real property, and it taxes by end result, so clearing or repairing a line is taxable while work that ends as a capital improvement, such as a new sewer line, is not. Other states draw the line elsewhere. We tag each job type with the right tax code in QuickBooks for every state you work in, and our state guides explain the rules.
Do on-call hours count toward overtime for our drain techs?
Only when the tech cannot use the time as their own. Under the federal rule, a tech who has to stay at the shop, or so close to it that the time is not really free, is working while on call. A tech who only has to be reachable at home is not. Hours on an emergency job always count. On the ServiceTitan plan we run payroll from the hours your techs actually log, so the on-call policy you set is the one that gets paid.
Our techs earn commission. Does that change overtime pay?
Yes. Federal rules count commissions as pay for hours worked, so they go into the regular rate that overtime is figured from, even when the commission is paid later than the hourly wages. A tech on hourly pay plus commission who works over 40 hours is owed extra half-time on the commission too. We keep commission reports from your field software next to the timesheets, so payroll figures the overtime on the full rate.
Talk to us about your drain cleaning books
No obligation.
Booked calls: weekdays, 9am to 5pm Eastern. By phone, or 30 minutes on Teams.