Chimney service chief financial officer job description
A chimney service chief financial officer plans cash for a company that takes in most of its sweep revenue in a few cold months. They price sweeps, relines and masonry so each line earns its keep, manage the credit line, and keep insurance, deposits and audits in order.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, building services companies · BLS, May 2025
The CFO plays a crucial role in our home services business by overseeing budgets, financial strategies, and cost control systems. This role directly contributes to the company's financial health and long-term sustainability, thereby ensuring we continue to deliver exceptional chimney and fireplace services to our customers.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Develop, implement, and monitor the company's financial strategies and policies.
Provide financial reports and interpret financial information to managerial staff while recommending further courses of action.
Analyze costs, pricing, variable contributions, sales results, and the company’s actual performance compared to the business plans.
Oversee the company's financial and accounting systems, ensuring regulatory compliance.
Liaise with auditors for annual audit reviews and ensure timely completion of audits.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Monitor day-to-day financial operations such as payroll, invoicing, and other transactions.
Track the company's financial status and performance to identify areas for potential improvement.
Seek out methods and practices to minimize financial risk to the company.
Maintain relationships with key partners and stakeholders.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Revenue Growth Rate: >10% annually.
Gross Margin: >50%
Cost Reduction: >5% annually.
Audit Completion: 100% on time.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, or related field.
Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or related certification.
Minimum 10 years of experience in a senior financial managerial position.
Advanced proficiency in financial software systems and databases.
Exceptional communication, leadership, and decision-making skills.
6. Preferred Experience
Previous CFO or financial leadership role experience in the home services industry.
Experience in strategic planning and execution.
7. Physical Requirements
This role primarily involves office work with minimal physical requirements.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Standard office hours from Monday to Friday.
Occasional travel for company-wide meetings and industry conferences.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Salary range: $150,000 - $200,000 per annum.
Performance-based bonuses.
Comprehensive benefits package including health, dental, vision, and 401k.
10. Company Culture and Overview
At [Company Name], we believe in fostering a strong culture of growth, where every team member is valued, and their contributions are recognized. We encourage continuous learning and development to help our employees level up and succeed. With a customer-centric approach, we strive to deliver the best chimney and fireplace services in the market.
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
A chimney company's cash comes in waves: many small sweep tickets in the fall, then fewer and larger repair jobs the rest of the year. Most of the CFO's planning sits between those two.
The low point comes before spring repairs pay
If sweep revenue bunches up from September to the holidays, late winter is the low point. The schedule thins, but masons, reline crews and the office still draw pay, and liners and caps get bought ahead of spring jobs. Map that dip a year ahead, size the credit line to it, and tell the owners how much fall cash has to be held back.
Deposits on big jobs can be capped by law
On a California home improvement job, the down payment can't top 1,000 dollars or one tenth of the price, whichever is less, and the board's guide says ordering special materials doesn't change that. Later payments can't run ahead of the work done. A contractor with a performance and payment bond the board approves is exempt from those limits. Otherwise a custom stainless liner is the company's money until it is installed. Check each state you work in. Source: California Contractors State License Board: What is a contract?.
Sweeps open the door and repairs carry the margin
A sweep is mostly labor and drive time at a modest price. Relines carry steel liner kits, and masonry carries hours that rain can stretch. Blend them and a healthy company looks fine while one line loses money. The CFO reports margin by line and by branch, with technician hours charged to the job they were spent on.
Insurance looks at the roof and the report
A chimney company carries risk on both ends of the job: a worker on a roof, and a fire or a home sale that follows an inspection. Before renewal, the CFO checks how sweeping and masonry payroll are classed for workers' comp, whether the general liability policy covers inspection findings, and whether signed reports and video are kept long enough to defend a claim.
How much chimney service chief financial officers make
The closest BLS group for chimney service 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.
The template pairs a salary with performance bonuses and benefits. Consider tying the bonus to cash and margin targets, not to sales alone.
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 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
Builds a rolling cash forecast for a business with one sharp peak a year
Sets up job costing that splits sweeps, inspections, relines and masonry
Manages a seasonal credit line and the lender reports that come with it
Reads insurance renewals line by line and pushes back on class codes
Explains a margin problem to a branch manager in plain terms
Teach these on the job
How a Level 1 sweep and a Level 2 inspection differ in time and price
Your liner, cap and masonry suppliers and their terms
Each state's limits on deposits and home repair contracts
Your field service software's job and payroll data
How technicians' bonuses are figured today
Expect an accounting system tied to field service software, so that every sweep, inspection and repair carries its own revenue, labor and materials. A spreadsheet model for the cash forecast and lender reports sits on top. Whether job costing already works or still has to be built changes the job, so settle that before you hire.
Chimney service chief financial officer 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 · Setting prices
Labor costs rose, and the owner wants to raise sweep prices. How would you decide how much, and on which services?
A strong answer: Calculates cost per job type, looks at competitor pricing and booking demand, tests changes, considers plan members and plans how to explain it to customers.
Behavioral · Putting controls in place
Tell me about a control you put on field payments, technician discounts or prepaid sweep plans that caught a real problem. What was it?
A strong answer: Names the control, such as daily payment reconciliation by technician or discount approvals, what it caught and how it changed behavior.
Set these with the CEO from your own books. A chimney company's October and April look nothing alike, so line up every month beside its twin from the prior year.
Revenue Growth Rate
Growth by line and branch, read by season. A warm fall can flatten sweep revenue while repair sales grow, and the reverse can mask a weak repair year.
Gross Margin
Revenue less technician labor, materials and other job costs, figured line by line and then rolled up. Recheck reline margin whenever liner kit prices change.
Cost Reduction
Track overtime in the fall, unbilled return trips, liner and cap prices against last year, and idle crew hours in the off-season. Cutting safety gear or training doesn't count.
Audit Completion
The audit or review your lender or owners require, finished by its deadline with no late adjustments. Count open items from last year's auditor letter that are now fixed.
Career path
BookkeeperKeeps the daily books, invoices and payroll entries.
ControllerCloses the month, owns job costing and runs the audit.
Chief financial officerPlans cash, credit, pricing and risk for the whole company.
Watch for the chimney triggers: branches in states with different contract and deposit rules, liner stock bought months ahead, a credit line that carries you to spring, or a plan to buy sweep shops whose books live in route sheets. Until then, a controller and an outside accountant can keep the books. Once the owners need branch margins and someone to face the bank, the role earns its cost.
How much does a chimney service 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.
Is the template's gross margin target realistic for a chimney company?
It depends on the mix and on how you count labor. A company heavy on sweeps and inspections, with technician pay counted as job cost, will land in a different place than one heavy on relines. Set the target by line, from your own last two years, then roll it up.
How should a chimney CFO plan for the slow months?
Build the forecast week by week from last year's bookings, the repair backlog and known supply buys. Some companies book next year's sweep at this year's visit or offer spring sweep pricing. That pulls cash and work into the slow months, as long as crews can handle it and the price still covers the visit.
How should a chimney CFO check the books of a sweep shop for sale?
Rebuild revenue from the job records and the reminder list, not only from tax returns. If the owner ran a route, put a paid technician in the model in their place. Look for deposits taken on relines not yet installed, liners on order, and open complaints or warranty work. Price the deal on what's left.
