Growing Your Business
Are You Ready to Grow Your Margins and Run a Tighter Operation?
Know which jobs make money, which techs are performing and where you are leaving cash on the table every single week.
Planning a Sale or Reporting to Investors
Are you Ready to Maximize What Your Business is Worth?
PE-backed, preparing for a transaction or reporting to a sponsor. You need clean data and reporting that stands up under scrutiny.
Growing Your Business
You Work Hard. Are You Making the Right Decisions With the Right Data?
Most HVAC operators leave money on the table every week. Not because they are doing anything wrong. Because they cannot see clearly enough to act.
Technician Performance
You Know Who Your Best Tech Is. But Do You Know Why?
Billable hours versus supply house runs versus windshield time. Most operators are guessing.
Owner · Operations Manager
Job Profitability
That Big Install Last Week Felt Like A Win. Was It?
After parts, labor and drive time, did it actually make money? Most businesses find out weeks later. Compass tells you in real time.
Owner · CEO · Sales Leader
Cash Flow
ServiceTitan Has The Field Data. QuickBooks Has The Books. Neither Talks To The Other.
Lost every month to manual reconciliation. By the time the numbers are ready, the decisions are already made.
CFO
Inventory And A2L
A2L Is Not Just A Compliance Issue. It Is A Cash Issue.
A2L refrigerant now costs three times what R-410A did two years ago. Without a cash model behind your inventory, you are carrying that risk blind.
Operations
The Challenges We Hear Most
Running Blind in a Business that Cannot Afford to Be.
Whether you are a CEO, COO or CFO, the problems are the same. You are making critical decisions without the clarity you need to make them confidently.
Technician Productivity Is Impossible To Manage When You Cannot See It.
ServiceTitan Has The Field Data. QuickBooks Has The Books. Neither Talks To The Other.
You Have No Idea Which Customers, Agreements Or Job Types Are Actually Driving Your Margins.
A2L Inventory Decisions Are Capital Calls Made On Gut Feel.
What Compass Delivers
Better Data. Faster Decisions.
Compass connects your systems and puts the right information in front of the right person. Every Monday morning.
From cash flow visibility to sponsor reporting, we turn your data into clarity that builds confidence, credibility, and profitability without adding headcount.
CEO · Owner
A Clear Picture Of The Whole Business. Every Week.
Instead of chasing five different people for numbers that may or may not be accurate, you open one view. Revenue by segment. Which job types made money last week and which did not. Whether your cash position is healthy going into the slow season. When something looks off you see it immediately and act on it, not three months later when the damage is already done.
Margin by segment · Cash position
COO · Head of Operations
Performance In The Field, Visible And Measurable.
You can see exactly how many billable hours each technician generated versus time spent driving, waiting at supply houses or doing paperwork. You can see which routes are efficient and which are not. Which jobs are taking longer than they should. Who your best performers are and what they are doing differently. Every staffing, scheduling and routing decision is backed by actual data, not instinct.
Technician productivity · Billable vs drive time
CFO · VP Finance
Month-End That Does Not Eat The Month.
The data from ServiceTitan reconciles automatically to your books. Your cash flow model updates every week based on actual revenue, actual payroll commitments, and actual inventory positions. When your investor or board asks for a report, it is ready. When they ask why margin moved in a particular month, you can explain it immediately. You show up to every board call with authority, not apologies.
Automated reconciliation · Cash flow model
The Whole Leadership Team
One Source Of Truth. Always Current. Always Explainable.
All three of your leaders are currently making decisions with incomplete or delayed information. Compass fixes that at the same time because it is working from the same underlying data. The difference is just what each person sees on the surface. Whether you are family-owned or PE-backed, planning a sale or focused purely on performance, the clarity is the same. And it makes every decision in the business sharper.
ServiceTitan · QuickBooks
Planning a Sale or Reporting to Investors
The Businesses That Sell for the Most, Built the Data Infrastructure First.
More than 50 PE platforms are actively acquiring HVAC businesses right now. The ones commanding the highest multiples have the cleanest data and the strongest recurring revenue.
Board Reporting
Your Sponsor Asks Why Margin Moved. You Are Building the Answer in Real Time.
By the time numbers are ready the decisions have already been made. You should never be caught off guard by your own data on a board call.
CFO · VP Finance · PE-Backed Operators
valuation readiness
Diligence Finds What You Did Not Know Was Missing.
Clean financials, segment margin and a cash flow model. Most HVAC businesses cannot produce this quickly. The ones that can command a premium.
CEO · CFO · M&A Advisors
investor reporting
Lean Team. High Expectations. Every Board Pack is a Scramble.
Your sponsor expects institutional reporting. Compass runs the function so your team focuses on running the business.
COO · CEO · PE-Backed Teams
multiple arbitrage
The Data Gap Between Median and Elite is Worth Millions at Exit.
Net margin 5.3 to 8% versus 15 to 25%. CLV $15,340 versus $47,200. Not a better business. Better visibility into the one you already have.
CEO · CFO · Shareholders
10x
Exit multiple for operators with clean data and strong recurring revenue. Elite companies consistently achieve 10x or more.
50+
PE platforms actively acquiring HVAC businesses right now. The highest multiples go to the cleanest operators.
45%
Maintenance agreement penetration for elite operators versus 15 to 25% at the median. Recurring revenue drives valuation.
| Metric | Industry Median | Elite Top 5% |
|---|---|---|
| Net profit margin | 5.3% to 8% | 15% to 25% |
| Gross profit margin | 40% to 45% | 50% to 55% |
| Maintenance agreement penetration | 15% to 25% | 45% or more |
| Customer lifetime value | $15,340 | $47,200 |
| Technician turnover | 20% | Under 8% |
| Technician billable hours | 55% to 65% | 75% to 85% |
| EBITDA valuation multiple | 5x to 7x | 10x to 20x or more |
Quarterly
The 2026 HVAC Industry Briefing Report.
What is moving in the industry and one thing you can act on this week. Written for HVAC owners and operators.
- A2L regulatory updates and what they mean for your cash
- Technician productivity benchmarks from top operators
- Maintenance agreement metrics and exit multiple movements
- PE deal activity and what buyers are watching in 2026
How it Works
Up and Running from 30 Days.
No Long Ramp.
No Long Ramp.
Three phases. Clean data and your first deliverables before your next reporting cycle
01
Connect and Validate
We connect your systems, including ServiceTitan, QuickBooks and your distributor feeds, validate your data, and establish a single source of truth across finance, operations and sales. No version chaos. No manual reconciliation.
Clean, connected data in week one.
02
Build Your Reporting Layer
We build the dashboards, models, and reporting templates your leadership team needs, refined with your team until they match exactly what your business and your investors expect. Operational metrics for your COO. Cash flow and board packs for your CFO. Profitability by segment for your CEO.
Investor-ready reporting before your next close.
03
Ongoing Analytics, Every Month
We run your reporting, KPI reviews, cash flow updates, and performance analytics every month. Your team focuses on running the business. We keep the data picture current and explainable at all times.
Continuous clarity that scales as you grow.
Proven Track Record
We Have Done This in HVAC Many Times
Blue Ops has supported HVAC platforms at every stage of the investment lifecycle, from post-close onboarding to Goldman Sachs exits. Here is what that looks like in practice.
HVAC
12 Companies Unified Into A Single Investor-Grade Platform
Consolidated data across 12 operating companies into an investor-grade analytics platform, standardizing reporting across migrating systems. Prebuilt decision-grade analyses supported six weeks of diligence.
The Outcome - Successful Exit
- 12 Operating Companies Unified
- Single Source Of Truth Validated To P&L
- 6-Week Diligence Fully Supported
HVAC
Founder-run business professionalized for PE ownership
Retained to professionalize a founder-run distributor with no CFO, no audit history and no prior debt entering a PE environment for the first time. Owned the full 100-day plan from opening balance sheet to board reporting.
The Outcome - Successful Exit
- Opening balance sheet and NWC true-up
- Lender compliance established
- Monthly board pack with analytics
HVAC
PE-grade finance function built from scratch in 100 days
Engaged immediately post-acquisition to stand up the finance and analytics function for a newly formed platform. Delivered a 100-day plan spanning ERP, reporting, treasury, lender management and interim CFO leadership.
The Outcome - PE-Grade Finance Function Live Within 100 Days
- Interim CFO leadership provided
- 13-week cash flow implemented
- KPI dashboards and audit support delivered
HVAC
Multiple entity platform made exit-ready with unified analytics
Engaged alongside an investment bank to accelerate sale readiness for a 25+ entity platform. Consolidated fragmented data across dozens of acquired businesses into a single investor-grade reporting platform.
The Outcome - Successful Exit
- Multiple entities consolidated into single platform
- Unified analytics across operations and finance
130+
Transactions supported in 2025
100+
Total deals supported across the platform
10+
Years of HVAC industry expertise
Sila· UIC· UCG
HVAC platforms supported to successful exit
News: Timely Intelligence on What Matters the Most
EPA’s Revised Refrigerant Rule Draws Praise, Criticism and Lawsuits
Changes to EPA refrigerant rules have prompted both industry support and legal challenges, with manufacturers warning that the interaction between declining supply and continued demand could push refrigerant prices and service costs higher. This is exactly the type of niche regulatory issue we want: a rule change that can directly alter technician economics, repair pricing and customer replacement decisions.
HVAC Price Increase List: August 2026
Manufacturers are implementing a broad new round of HVACR increases across equipment, controls, sheet metal, motors, valves and parts. Many increases are in the mid-single digits, but certain categories reach well into double digits. For contractors, the immediate issue is quote validity, inventory purchasing, price pass-through and job-level margin — not headline inflation.
Skilled labor shortages have become a defining risk for the trades that home services businesses depend on
Data center and infrastructure projects are pulling electricians and HVAC technicians away from home services, especially in smaller markets. As labor shifts toward higher-paying projects, capacity and technician retention have become strategic issues—not just operational ones—and are key areas buyers scrutinize during due diligence.
HVAC and cooling engineer demand has surged 67% since 2022
Robotics technician demand is up 107% and industrial automation roles have grown 51% over the same period, according to a Randstad analysis of more than 50 million job postings. Wages are climbing in step, with advertised pay for HVAC engineers up 10 to 15% over the past four years as the labor shortage deepens. For home services operators, that means technician retention, ramp up time, and capacity planning are now front and center in the deals sophisticated buyers are underwriting.
