A chimney service bookkeeper keeps the ledger at a sweep and repair company where payroll and cash follow the heating season. They hold reline and rebuild deposits until the liner is in, cost special-order liners and caps to the right house, and check fall overtime before payroll runs.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, building services companies · BLS, May 2025
As a Bookkeeper, you will play a critical role in managing the day-to-day financial operations of our chimney and fireplace services company. Your expertise in bookkeeping will contribute significantly to our financial accuracy, helping us maintain a healthy financial status and make informed business decisions.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Handle daily financial entries and maintain an accurate record of all transactions.
Manage and process invoices.
Reconcile accounts regularly to ensure financial accuracy.
Provide monthly financial reports to the Finance Manager.
Assist in preparing annual budgets and financial forecasts.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Record day-to-day financial transactions and ensure all business expenses are accounted for.
Review and verify invoices and check requests.
Set invoices up for payments and track expenses in compliance with company policies.
Reconcile accounts payable transactions and monitor accounts to ensure payments are up to date.
Produce monthly reports and assist with month-end closing.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Invoice processing accuracy: >99%.
Monthly reconciliation accuracy: >99%.
Timeliness of financial reports: 100% on time.
Reduction in financial discrepancies: >10% per quarter.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, or related field.
Minimum of 2 years of experience in bookkeeping.
Strong proficiency in MS Office, particularly Excel.
Excellent organizational and multitasking skills.
Good understanding of accounting and financial reporting principles.
6. Preferred Experience
Previous experience in a similar role within the home services industry would be advantageous.
Proficiency in using bookkeeping software.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to sit for extended periods of time.
Able to work in a standard office environment.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Typical work hours: Monday - Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
No travel or on-call duties.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Salary range: $40,000 - $50,000 per year.
Health, Dental, and Vision insurance.
401k Retirement Plan.
Paid time off and holidays.
10. Company Culture and Overview
At [INSERT COMPANY NAME HERE], we believe in fostering a culture of growth and learning. We understand that our employees are our most valuable asset and thus, provide ample opportunities for career advancement and skill enhancement. Our strong commitment to customer satisfaction and high-quality service has made us a trusted name in the industry.
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].
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
What a chimney company's books hold that others don't
Sweeps are small tickets paid at the door. Relines and rebuilds are large tickets paid in parts, with steel bought for one house. The books carry both, through a payroll that grows every fall.
Reline deposits are owed until the liner is in
Customers who sign for a reline or a crown rebuild often pay part of the price weeks before the crew comes. Post that money to a customer deposits account, which is a liability, tied to the signed proposal. Once the liner is in and the job is invoiced, apply the deposit to that invoice. Until that day the money is a debt to the customer, payable in work or in a refund, and the balance sheet should show it.
Liners and caps bought for one house
Stainless liners are ordered by flue size and chimney height, and multi-flue caps and chase covers are often made to measure. Enter each purchase order against the job it's for, so the cost lands on that reline and not in general supplies. If the job cancels after the order, flag the part. Ask the supplier whether it can go back, and let the CFO decide whether it sits in stock or gets written off.
Fall payroll grows, then shrinks
Crews add helpers for the fall and let some go by spring. Federal law gives employers 20 days from the hire date to report new and rehired workers to the state, and a state may set a shorter deadline. Under the federal rule, a helper who returns after being separated for 60 days in a row or more counts as a new hire again; check your state's rule too. The bookkeeper files each report, or confirms the payroll service did, and checks hours and overtime on every fall timecard. Source: Office of Child Support Services: New hire reporting.
Parts and labor print on separate lines
A reline invoice can mix a steel liner, a cap, mortar and a day of labor, and a sweep may add a rain cap or damper from the truck. Ask your CPA how each of your states treats the steel, the labor and the sweep itself. Then build the price book so every part and every labor charge is its own item, coded the way the CPA decided. Each month, pull a few invoices from every branch and compare the tax charged with that list.
Money comes in from the truck
When a sweep is paid at the door, by card on the technician's tablet or by check, the field app marks the job paid, but the money still has to reach the bank. Each morning, match yesterday's card batch and check deposit to those jobs. Set a rule for how soon a check taken in the field must reach the office, since one left in a truck through a busy fall week is easy to lose.
How much chimney service bookkeepers make
The closest BLS group for chimney service bookkeepers is bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks who work for building and home services companies earned a median of $22.50 an hour ($46,790 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the $50,670 median for bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks in all industries. About 17,470 of the 1,373,680 bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks in that survey work for building services companies.
Salary, health coverage and a retirement plan come with the template. Overtime depends on what the job involves, not only on the salary, and fall closes run long, so have counsel review the job before September.
Building services companies
$46,790$46,790 median Middle half $40,700–$56,960 10th–90th $32,590–$67,710
All industries
$50,670$50,670 median Middle half $43,520–$61,470 10th–90th $36,000–$74,550
$20k$30k$40k$50k$60k$70k$80k
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
$32,590
$40,700
$46,790
$56,960
$67,710
All industries
$36,000
$43,520
$50,670
$61,470
$74,550
BLS doesn’t publish pay for chimney sweeps 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
Books reline deposits as money owed until the install
Matches purchase orders for liners and caps to the right job
Checks timecards and overtime when crews and hours jump in the fall
Ties out the bank, the card processor and the deposit account monthly
Finds the job behind a card payment or check that came in unlabeled
Teach these on the job
Supplier bill terms: flue tile, stainless liner, top plate, chase cover, rain cap
Your field software and how jobs, deposits and payments sync
Which branches sell which services, and how each is priced
Each state's new-hire reporting deadline where you have crews
The tax setup your CPA chose for parts, labor and sweeps
Sweeps, inspections and repair proposals start in the field service software and flow into QuickBooks or another ledger. Add a payroll service and the supplier portals where liners and caps are ordered, and find out in the interview who has applied deposits to invoices before.
Chimney service bookkeeper interview questions
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 · Reconciling field payments
Technicians take checks and card payments in the field. Two days of payments don't match the jobs completed. What do you do?
A strong answer: Compares the job list with payments and deposits, asks the technicians and office about each gap, follows up with customers if needed and tightens the daily check-in.
Behavioral · Finding supplier statement errors
Tell me about a time a supplier's statement for liners, caps or dampers didn't match your books, such as a missing credit for returned parts. How did you find the cause?
A strong answer: Matched it invoice by invoice, found the specific cause such as an unapplied credit or a duplicate charge, got it corrected and changed the process so it didn't repeat.
Pick the numbers with the CFO. Judge an October against last October, never against a quiet April.
Invoice processing accuracy
Pick one week each month and recheck every liner order, cap order and customer invoice entered that week. Score a miss for any wrong job, amount or tax code, and note who caught it.
Monthly reconciliation accuracy
When the month closes, write down each unmatched line on the bank, card and deposit accounts with its cause. A deposit with no signed proposal behind it counts against the score.
Timeliness of financial reports
Log the date the reconciled reports reach the CFO next to the agreed deadline. When a month runs late, write down why: October timecard corrections, a deposit nobody could match, or a card processor report that came in late.
Reduction in financial discrepancies
Tally the corrections your CPA or CFO makes each quarter, grouped by cause. Hold each quarter up against its twin from a year ago, so fall volume doesn't hide progress.
The template names a Finance Manager. Which role is that in a chimney company?
This bundle has no finance manager. In a chimney company with several branches, the monthly reports usually go to the chief financial officer, or to a controller if there is one. A company with neither may send them to the owner, with an outside CPA reviewing the books. Name that person in the ad.
How much does a chimney service bookkeeper make?
Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks who work for building and home services companies earned a median of $22.50 an hour ($46,790 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $40,700 and $56,960 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
How does a chimney bookkeeper spend spring and summer?
The off-season brings fewer, larger jobs: relines, crowns and masonry. Use it to clear deposits left open from the fall, chase unpaid repair balances, take payroll and tax questions from the busy months to the CPA, and set up new price book items before the next season. It's also the best window for the bookkeeper's own vacation.
Can a bookkeeper from a roofing or masonry company do this job?
Usually, yes. Job costing, deposits and supplier accounts transfer directly. The change is the mix: hundreds of small sweep tickets in a few months, next to a smaller number of large relines with special-order steel. Before their first close, sit them with the CFO to review last October's books: the deposit account, the liner orders and the card batches.
What should a chimney bookkeeper send the CFO each month besides the statements?
A short pack the CFO can read in ten minutes: each branch's sales by service, with sweeps, inspections, relines and masonry apart; the total of open customer deposits, oldest first; special-order parts with no job; unpaid repair balances by age; and, from September to December, payroll by week. Those few pages show which branch is falling behind before the quarter ends.
