7 Non-Financial HVAC KPIs That You Aren't Tracking (But Should Be)

If you’re like most of the HVAC business owners we know, you probably check your revenue and expenses regularly. 

Maybe you even track profit margins. 

But what about the other stuff—the non-financial numbers that tell you if your business is actually running well?

These kinds of KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) might not show up on your P&L, but they absolutely impact your bottom line. The good news? They’re easy to track once you know what to look for. 

Let’s break down our top non-financial HVAC KPIs—no fancy accounting talk, just actionable tasks that will make a difference in your day-to-day.

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1. Customer Retention Rate

For every business out there, getting new customers is expensive. But keeping the ones you already have? That’s where the real money is.

Think about it: If a homeowner calls you to fix their air conditioning this summer, are they calling you again for their winter heating tune-up? Or are they shopping around every time?

Here’s an easy way to check: Look at last year’s customer list. How many of them have used you again this year? If the number’s low, ask yourself:

• Are we reminding them about maintenance?
• Do we offer service agreements or memberships?
• Are our techs leaving a good enough impression that they’d call us first next time?

A simple fix:

‍Sending out automated service reminders. A lot of people just forget to book maintenance—if you remind them, they’ll likely come back.

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2. First-Time Fix Rate

How often do your techs fix the problem on the first visit?

If they’re making multiple trips to the same house, your business is likely losing money. More time, more gas, more frustration—for both you and the customer.

Some common reasons this number isn’t great:

• The tech didn’t have the right part on the truck.
• The customer didn’t give clear information when booking.
• The tech misdiagnosed the issue.

An easy way to improve this? 

Stocking the most commonly needed parts in service trucks. If your team always has what they need, you cut down on return visits, which means more jobs done in less time.

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3. Average Response Time

How long does it take from the moment a customer calls to when your tech shows up? If it’s too slow, people move on.

Let’s say a homeowner’s air conditioning unit dies in the middle of July. If another company can get there today and you can’t get there for three days, you’ve lost that job.

We’ve seen some of our HVAC clients shave hours off their response time just by tweaking their scheduling process—using routing software, setting aside “emergency slots,” or making sure techs aren’t driving back and forth across town all day.

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4. Employee Productivity

Are your techs working all day, or just on the clock?

A productive tech should be spending most of their day doing billable work—not driving all over town, sitting in traffic, or waiting for parts.

A quick test: Look at how many hours each tech worked last week versus how many they actually billed customers for. If they were on the clock for 40 hours but only billed for 25, that’s a problem.

A simple improvement? Group jobs by location. If your techs aren’t wasting half their day driving across town, they can handle more jobs—and make you more money.

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5. Communication & Accountability

This one’s huge for us. If your team doesn’t know what’s expected of them, they’re basically guessing—and that’s a recipe for lost profit.

Think about it:

• Do your employees understand their role in protecting margins, or are they just focused on fixing units?
• Does the office team know the impact of slow scheduling or unclear job details?
• Are managers actually following up on performance, or just assuming everyone is “doing their best”?

Without clear communication and accountability, you end up with pricing guesswork, scheduling issues, and staff who don’t see the big picture.

Our recommendation? Set up a simple “scoreboard” for your team—something visual (even a whiteboard in the shop) that tracks key numbers. 

Things like:
✅ First-time fix rate
✅ Callback percentage
✅ Service agreement sales

When employees see real numbers tied to their work, they start to pay attention.

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6. Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)

Are your customers actually happy with your service? If you don’t know, you should.

This is super simple to track: After every job, send a quick survey. 

Just one question:
“How was your service today?” (Give them a 1-5 rating scale.)

If you start seeing low scores, look for patterns:

• Is it a certain team member? Maybe they need better training.
• Is it a long wait time? Maybe your scheduling needs a tweak.
• Are people saying the price felt too high? Maybe they didn’t understand the value of what they got.

Sometimes, just a quick call to an unhappy customer can turn things around—and keep them from leaving a bad review.

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7. No Clear Forecasting or Budgeting Plan

One of the biggest reasons home service businesses struggle with cash flow? They don’t plan ahead. If you’re only looking at your numbers when money gets tight, you’re always playing catch-up instead of making strategic decisions.

Think about how unpredictable this industry can be. Material prices fluctuate. Labor costs rise. Slow seasons hit harder than expected. Without a forecasting system, you don’t see these problems coming until it’s too late.

Here’s what this looks like in real life:

• You’re booking plenty of jobs, but profits are shrinking because material costs went up and your pricing didn’t keep up.
• You’re hit with a slow season, and suddenly you don’t have enough cash to cover payroll.
• You don’t realize how much callbacks are eating into your margins until you’re already behind on revenue goals.

We recommend that you start tracking expected vs. actual costs and revenue every month. This isn’t about predicting the future with 100% accuracy—it’s about spotting trends early and making adjustments before they turn into financial disasters.

A simple monthly check-in where you review your numbers, update projections, and adjust pricing or spending accordingly can keep you ahead of the game. It doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does have to be consistent.

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Where Should You Start?

We get it—tracking efficiency & productivity isn’t exactly why you got into the HVAC business. But if you want to run a profitable company, you need to know what’s working and what’s costing you money.

So don’t overcomplicate it. Pick one KPI from this list and start tracking it this month. Maybe it’s response time, maybe it’s first-time fix rate—just choose one.

Once you get a handle on that, move on to the next.

And if you need help figuring this stuff out, that’s exactly what we do with our clients here at Atlas Accounting Group. 

Let’s chat and make sure your business is running as efficiently (and profitably) as possible.

Simply use the calendar below to book your first introductory call. 

We look forward to helping however we can. Until next time! 

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