HVAC/R contractors carry a lot of money between buying and getting paid. A changeout means buying a condenser, a furnace or air handler, a coil, a line set and a thermostat before the homeowner's financing funds. Commercial jobs mean rooftop units and controls bought weeks before the general contractor pays, often with retainage held back. Contractors who can't get good terms from you will find them elsewhere, and their equipment business goes with them.
That makes credit part of what you sell, especially going into the busy season.
Online credit applications
The old credit application is a PDF that gets printed, half filled out, signed in the wrong spot and emailed back missing a page, while the new contractor stands at the counter wanting to charge a system.
The app has an online credit application with signature. The customer fills it out on their phone or computer and signs it there. Your credit manager reviews it and can approve terms with one tap. It's complete and on file, and the account can start buying on terms the same day you approve it. For a new contractor who just went out on their own, that speed earns a lot of loyalty.
Tax exemption certificates, tracked
HVAC/R distributors sell to plenty of exempt buyers: contractors buying for resale on some jobs, schools, hospitals, churches, government buildings and other nonprofits. Each one needs a valid certificate on file, and certificates expire. Most distributors only find the gaps during an audit, when it's too late to collect the tax from the customer.
Tax exemption certificates in the app list every exempt account and show whose certificate is missing or expired, so your office can fix gaps on its own schedule.
Offering better terms, safely
Better terms win business, as long as you can see the risk. HVAC adds a twist: the business is seasonal, and a contractor's cash can look very different in March than in August. A few things in the app help:
- Complete, signed applications from the first day.
- The collections helper shows who owes money and how late, so a slow payer shows up early.
- Pay links on every invoice make it easy to pay the day a job's money comes in.
- Customer health flags accounts that are slipping or at risk, which often shows in buying before it shows in payments.
- Budgets and approvals let the contractor's owner control what techs and installers charge.
That last point matters in HVAC. A service company may have a dozen techs charging parts to one account. When the owner can set a monthly budget per tech and approve what goes over, they're comfortable carrying a bigger line with you, and you're comfortable giving it.
Terms as a reason to stay
A contractor who gets approved quickly, can see every invoice and can pay with one tap when the job funds has a reason to keep you as their main supply house, especially for equipment, where the dollars are biggest. The app helps you offer terms without taking on risk you can't see, and it works with your existing ERP so terms and certificate status live where your team already works.
A good habit to start: send the credit application link to every new contractor before the season starts, and have your office work the missing and expired certificate list once a week. When the first heat wave hits, those accounts are ready to buy.
See how it works with your own HVAC/R catalog.