The vocabulary.
The words that show up in a warranty rejection, a supplier statement or a payroll dispute, defined the way an owner would explain them. No pitch attached.
- Warranty labor reimbursement
- What a manufacturer pays a contractor for the labor of replacing a part that failed under warranty. The part is covered separately. Labor is claimed, and it is the piece most often left unfiled.Warranty and rebate recovery
- Filing window
- The period a manufacturer allows between the service date and the claim being submitted. It is measured from when the work happened, not from when anyone got to the paperwork, and it varies by manufacturer and program.Warranty and rebate recovery
- RA number
- Return Authorization number. The reference a manufacturer issues so a failed part can be sent back and matched to a claim. Without it the part is usually just a part, and the claim usually fails.Warranty and rebate recovery
- Equipment registration
- Recording a unit's serial number and install date with the manufacturer, normally within a set window of installation. Unregistered equipment often carries a shorter warranty term, which is discovered at the worst possible moment.Warranty and rebate recovery
- Dealer tier
- A status level a manufacturer assigns based on volume or training, carrying pricing, rebate and support benefits. Tiers are reassessed on a schedule, and a tier can lapse without anyone in the shop being told.Warranty and rebate recovery
- Spiff
- A one time payment from a manufacturer to the technician or the company for selling specific equipment. Usually claimed separately from the sale, often on a different deadline, and frequently never matched to the technician who earned it.Technician pay and commissions
- Co-op funds
- Marketing money a manufacturer sets aside for a dealer, usually accrued as a percentage of purchases and claimable against approved advertising. Unclaimed co-op typically expires at the end of a program year.Purchasing and vendor credits
- Credit memo
- A supplier's record that money is owed back to you, from a return, a pricing correction or an overcharge. It is not cash. It is a credit against future purchases, and most carry an expiry.Purchasing and vendor credits
- Core charge
- A deposit added to the price of a part that is refunded when the old unit is returned. A core that never goes back is a charge that never comes off.Purchasing and vendor credits
- Underbilling
- Invoicing less than the job actually consumed in parts, labor or time. It produces no complaint and no dispute, which is exactly why it is rarely caught.Invoice and job reconciliation
- Job costing
- Assigning the real cost of a job, including labor burden, truck and overhead, against what it billed. Without it, a company can grow revenue and lose margin at the same time and not know which jobs did it.Invoice and job reconciliation
- Callback
- A return visit to a job already completed and billed, at the company's cost. Callbacks are the clearest signal in the data of where the real cost of a job is hiding.Invoice and job reconciliation
- Service agreement
- A recurring contract for scheduled maintenance, often called a membership or a maintenance plan. It is usually a home services company's most valuable asset and its easiest one to lose by forgetting to deliver a visit.Memberships and service agreements
- Truck stock
- Parts carried on a vehicle rather than held at a branch. Consumed on a job and logged later, if at all, which is where the gap between the work order and the invoice usually opens.Invoice and job reconciliation
- Certificate of insurance
- Proof of coverage a general contractor, property manager or municipality requires before work starts. Routinely requested at short notice and routinely the reason a crew waits.Permits, licensing and compliance
- Permit and inspection
- Municipal authorisation to perform work and the sign off that closes it out. Requirements vary by jurisdiction and by scope, and an unclosed permit can sit open long after the customer has paid.Permits, licensing and compliance
- Field service management platform
- The software a home services company runs on: scheduling, dispatch, invoicing and customer records. ServiceTitan, Jobber, FieldEdge and their peers. It runs the business; it does not chase what the business is owed.
- Back office
- Everything that happens after the truck leaves. Claims, reconciliation, purchasing, compliance, payroll and renewals. It produces no revenue by itself and it is where revenue quietly leaks.
Start with the count.
Twenty minutes and read access to your data. We come back with a real number for what is sitting there unclaimed, unreconciled or unfiled. Then you decide whether any of it is worth doing.