A carpet cleaning chief financial officer manages the money behind a fleet of vans with truck-mounted machines. The CFO decides how each rig is bought and paid for, tracks fuel and margin by service line, and chases the slower money from commercial accounts and insurance-paid water jobs.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, building services companies · BLS, May 2025
Carpet Cleaning / Floor Care - Chief Financial Officer
Company Name:
[INSERT COMPANY NAME HERE]
Department:
Finance
Reports to:
[Chief Executive Officer]
Location:
[INSERT LOCATION HERE]
1. Position Summary
As the Chief Financial Officer, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the financial success and growth of our carpet cleaning and floor care services. You will be responsible for managing budgets, financial forecasting, and tracking financial performance, providing key insights that influence strategic decision-making.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Develop financial strategies by forecasting capital, facilities, and staff requirements.
Monitor financial performance by measuring and analyzing results, initiating corrective actions, and minimizing the impact of variances.
Prepare financial reports by collecting, formatting, analyzing, and explaining information.
Ensure the company is compliant with all financial regulations and legislation.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Manage the preparation of the company's budget and financial forecasts.
Report financial status by developing forecasts, financial statements, profit projections, and analyses.
Participate in corporate policy development as a member of the senior management team.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Budget Adherence: Maintain variance within 5%.
Forecast Accuracy: Within 10% of actuals.
Cost Reduction: Achieve a 5% annual reduction in operational costs.
Revenue Growth: Achieve a growth rate of 15% annually.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Minimum of a Bachelor's degree in Finance or Accounting.
10+ years of experience in a senior financial managerial position.
Strong interpersonal, communication, and presentation skills.
Advanced proficiency in MS Excel and financial software applications.
6. Preferred Experience
Prior experience as a CFO, preferably within the home services industry.
Experience with financial modeling and analysis.
7. Physical Requirements
This role is primarily office-based and may require occasional lifting of office supplies up to 20 lbs.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Typical work hours are Monday to Friday, 9 am - 5 pm.
Occasional travel may be required for meetings with investors and industry events.
9. Compensation and Benefits
The salary range for this role is $150,000 - $200,000 annually depending on experience.
Benefits include Health, Dental, Vision, 401k, and potential for performance-based bonuses.
10. Company Culture and Overview
We are a team of dedicated professionals committed to delivering top-tier home services. We foster a culture of growth, encouraging employees to develop their skills and advance their careers within our company. We are passionate about customer satisfaction and strive to exceed expectations at every turn.
11. How to Apply
If you meet the above criteria and want to be part of a growth-oriented company focused on customer satisfaction, please send your resume to [INSERT EMAIL HERE] or apply online at [INSERT WEBSITE LINK HERE].
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Each van is a small cleaning plant: a vehicle, a machine bolted inside it, hoses, chemicals and fuel. The CFO's job is to know what each one costs to own and run, and what it brings in.
A rig is two purchases, not one
The van wears out on the road and the truck mount wears out by engine hours, so they rarely age at the same pace. The CFO decides whether to finance them together or apart, whether a sound machine moves into a new van, and how long each loan should run. A loan that outlasts the machine leaves you paying for a rig that's already been replaced.
Year-one write-offs depend on the rig
Under IRS Notice 2026-11, property a business acquires and starts using after January 19, 2025 can qualify for a full first-year write-off, which the 2025 tax law made permanent. A truck mount can qualify. Vans are less simple: IRS Publication 946 caps depreciation on trucks and vans rated at 6,000 pounds gross vehicle weight or less, unless they're built out for business, such as with permanent shelving and painted company signs. Plan each rig with the CPA, since a big deduction now leaves less later. Source: IRS Notice 2026-11: Additional first year depreciation under section 168(k).
The machine burns fuel while the van sits still
IRS Publication 510 says fuel burned in a separate motor that runs special equipment, such as a pump or generator, counts as off-highway business use, even when it comes from the van's tank. Fuel the van's own engine burns to drive equipment through a power take-off does not. A truck mount with its own engine may fit the first case; one driven by the van's engine fits the second. Have the CPA confirm which applies to each rig before you claim a fuel tax credit or refund. Source: IRS Publication 510 (12/2025): Excise taxes, off-highway business use.
Water jobs pay on the insurer's clock
A flooded-carpet job billed to a homeowner's insurer can take weeks to pay, and the deductible still has to come from the homeowner. The CFO sets who collects the deductible and when, ages every open insurance balance, and counts the water line's profit after the wait, not on the day the van pulls away.
Commercial contracts trade price for steady work
An office or apartment account may pay on net terms and push for a lower price per visit in return for a year of work. The CFO prices those contracts on real cost: night or weekend labor, drive time, and the cleaning method the scope calls for. At each renewal, they check what the account actually earned before agreeing to the next price.
How much carpet cleaning chief financial officers make
The closest BLS group for carpet cleaning chief financial officers is chief executives. Chief executives who work for building and home services companies earned a median of $130,000 a year ($62.50 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the $213,990 median for chief executives in all industries. About 430 of the 204,350 chief executives in that survey work for building services companies.
Salary plus a yearly bonus, often weighted toward cash flow and how close the year lands to budget.
Building services companies
$130,000$130,000 median Middle half $102,340–$208,630 10th–90th $93,610–$275,020
All industries
$213,990$213,990 median Middle half $129,540–$356,200 10th–90th $75,700–$507,730
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Building services companies
$93,610
$102,340
$130,000
$208,630
$275,020
All industries
$75,700
$129,540
$213,990
$356,200
$507,730
BLS doesn’t publish pay for carpet cleaning companies on their own. These figures cover services to buildings and dwellings, which include them. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
The pay line in the template above is an example from our Role Blueprint. Set yours from these figures and what local companies pay.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Builds cost-to-own models for vehicles and equipment
Forecasts cash through slow months and the busy weeks before holidays
Prices recurring contracts from job cost data
Has financed a fleet of vehicles and equipment with lenders
Works with a CPA on depreciation and fuel tax claims
Teach these on the job
How truck mounts are powered and serviced
How insurers review and pay water extraction invoices
Your scheduling software's job and invoice data
The bid formats your commercial accounts use
Your chemical and parts buying terms
The CFO works in the accounting system, a fleet register listing each van, truck mount, loan and engine-hour reading, fuel card reports, and job data exported from your scheduling software. Candidates will want to know how many rigs are financed and whether water and commercial work run as their own lines, so put both in the ad.
Two of the 6 questions we'd ask, and what a strong answer sounds like. Ask every candidate the same questions, and rate each answer on your own before you compare notes.
Situational · Insurance receivables
Restoration jobs billed to insurance take a long time to pay, and the owner wants to grow that work. How do you plan for it?
A strong answer: Models how much cash the growth ties up, sets up a credit line, uses direct-payment authorizations where allowed, tightens documentation so claims aren't delayed, and tracks aging weekly.
Behavioral · Finding pricing problems
Tell me about a time you found a service or job type that was losing money. What did you change?
A strong answer: Describes the analysis (cost per job or per hour by service), what it showed, the price or scope change, and the margin before and after.
Treat the template's four targets as a starting point. Agree on each with the CEO from your last two years of results and your loan terms.
Budget Adherence
Actual against budget each month, line by line, with fuel, chemicals, machine repairs and tech labor shown on their own lines. Explain any large miss before the next month closes.
Forecast Accuracy
Compare each month's cash forecast with what came in. Track insurance and commercial balances apart from payments taken at the door, since they cause most of the misses.
Cost Reduction
Count only savings that hold for a full year on named costs, such as fuel per job, chemicals per job or repairs per machine. A cheaper chemical that brings spots back isn't a saving.
Revenue Growth
Growth by service line and branch. Flag growth that needs another van before the existing vans are full, since the new rig's payments start right away.
Career path
Senior accountantHandles fleet loans, fixed assets and month-end entries.
ControllerRuns the monthly close, payroll and job costing.
Chief financial officerOwns cash, capital, lenders and forecasts.
Should a carpet cleaning company lease or buy its truck mounts?
It depends on cash and how long you keep machines. Buying can cost less over a long life if the unit is serviced well. Leasing keeps cash free and may bundle service. Compare the total paid over the term, what you own at the end, and whether the lease limits engine hours or moving the unit to another van. Talk to the CPA before signing, since the choice changes how the cost is deducted.
How much does a carpet cleaning chief financial officer make?
Chief executives who work for building and home services companies earned a median of $130,000 a year ($62.50 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $102,340 and $208,630 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
How does a carpet cleaning company claim a fuel tax credit?
IRS Publication 510 covers it. Small yearly amounts are taken only as a credit on Form 4136 with the income tax return; larger amounts can be claimed as refunds during the year on Form 8849. When the separate motor shares the van's tank, make a reasonable estimate backed by your records: figure the fuel used to drive the van, idling included, and the rest is the motor's. Fuel lost to spills doesn't count, and a credit or refund on fuel you already deducted goes back into income.
What does a carpet cleaning CFO need from operations each month?
Engine hours and repair bills for each machine, fuel by van, chemical purchases by branch, job counts by service line, and re-cleans. With those, the CFO can show which vans pay for themselves, which machines are due for replacement, and which services lose money once drive time is counted.
Which insurance questions should a carpet cleaning CFO ask each year?
The coverage that surprises carpet cleaners is for the customer's own property. Ask your agent how the liability policy treats a rug taken back to the shop, a sofa that bleeds dye or carpet that shrinks, since some policies limit damage to property in your care. Then check commercial auto on vans with a machine bolted inside, and keep a list of the insurance certificates each commercial account wants.
