Fireplace and stove chief financial officer job description
A fireplace and stove chief financial officer funds a business that may buy its fall stock months before customers pay for it. They run the budget and credit line, get sales tax right on showroom sales and installs, and show the CEO where costs can come down.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, other building equipment contractors · BLS, May 2025
Annual pay: 10th percentile $68,550, middle half $81,360 to $177,770, 90th percentile $253,000. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
Reports to
Chief Executive Officer
Department
Administration
Schedule
Weekdays, long days at each close · Standard business hours, longer during closes, some on-call weeks when cash is tight, and limited travel to vendors
Also called
Vice president of finance · Director of finance · Head of finance
Fireplace and stove chief financial officer job description template
This is our Role Blueprint, word for word. Replace the highlighted fields and adjust the example targets and pay to fit your company.
Oversees all financial aspects of the fireplace & stove installation business, ensuring healthy cash flow, proper budget management, and stringent cost control. Provides strategic financial leadership to support operational growth and profitability in a dynamic home services market.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Develops and implements financial strategies aligned with the company’s objectives.
Oversees budget creation, monitoring, and forecasting processes.
Manages cost control measures to optimize expenditures.
Ensures robust cash flow management and financial risk mitigation.
Provides regular financial and performance reporting to the executive team.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Reviews daily financial transactions and monitors cash flow to ensure liquidity.
Analyzes expenses and identifies areas for cost savings and efficiency improvements.
Collaborates with installation teams and project managers to align budgetary requirements with operational needs.
Participates in strategic planning meetings to forecast and adjust financial plans.
Engages with vendors and financial partners to negotiate favorable terms and secure necessary funding.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Budget Variance: Achieve <3% deviation from projected budgets.
Cash Flow Ratio: Maintain a healthy ratio of at least 1.5.
Cost Savings: Realize a minimum of 5% reduction in operational costs annually.
Financial Reporting Timeliness: 100% on-time delivery of monthly financial reports.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, or a related field; Master’s degree or CPA preferred.
Minimum of 7-10 years of progressive financial management experience.
Strong analytical, strategic planning, and problem-solving skills.
Excellent communication and leadership abilities.
Proficiency with financial software and ERP systems.
6. Preferred Experience
Experience in the home services or construction industries.
Prior leadership role in a financial capacity within service-based organizations.
Proven track record in driving financial performance improvements.
Familiarity with cost control in installation or similar project environments.
7. Physical Requirements
Primarily office-based work with periodic site visits.
Ability to lift up to 15 lbs for carrying documents or small equipment.
Occasional visits to manufacturing or installation sites where working in varied environmental conditions is required.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Standard business hours with flexibility for extended hours during financial closing periods.
Limited travel for site visits, vendor meetings, and industry conferences.
Occasional on-call duties during critical financial reporting or cash flow management periods.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Base salary range of $140,000 - $180,000 per year, commensurate with experience.
Performance-based bonuses tied to cost savings and profitability targets.
Comprehensive Health, Dental, and Vision insurance plans.
401(k) plan with company match and additional fringe benefits.
10. Company Culture and Overview
We foster a collaborative, growth-oriented environment that encourages innovation and accountability.
Our culture is built on transparency, professional development, and a commitment to excellence in customer service.
We value inclusivity and strive to create a workplace where every employee can thrive and contribute to our shared success.
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
Showroom sales, installs and service each bring money in on a different schedule and under different tax rules. The CFO keeps the three apart in the books and plans cash around the one season that pays for the year.
Stock is bought before the season pays for it
If you order units, venting, logs, doors and surrounds in spring and summer so they are on the shelf when fall buyers arrive, cash goes out months before it comes back. Display units add to it, since each one is paid for and hooked up long before it earns anything. The CFO sets how much stock goes into fall, uses any early-order terms a maker offers, and tracks what the floor models are worth.
One unit, two sales tax treatments
In Utah, for example, a furnish-and-install job counts as real property work when the unit becomes part of the house, the way a furnace does. The company pays sales tax when it buys the unit and charges the homeowner none. A unit sold for someone else to install is bought tax-free for resale, and the buyer pays the tax. Stock bought tax-free that ends up installed owes use tax. Have a tax adviser sort your products, since inserts, built-ins and freestanding stoves may not all land on one side. Source: Utah State Tax Commission: Publication 42, sales, installation and repair of property attached to real property (Rev. 7/26).
Builder work runs on lien deadlines
If you install fireplaces in builders' new homes, you get paid on the builder's schedule. In Utah, anyone who wants lien rights on a job must file a preliminary notice with the state construction registry within 20 days of starting work. A late notice protects only work done from five days after it is filed, and no notice means no lien. The CFO builds that filing into each builder job and sets a credit limit for every builder account. Source: Utah Code 38-1a-501: Preliminary notice.
Warranty calls have a cost too
When a unit fails under the maker's warranty, someone still drives out, finds the problem and puts in the part. Track what each warranty call costs you, from drive time to diagnosis, against what the maker pays back. If a brand's payback doesn't cover the visit, that gap belongs in the brand's margin, and it is a number the CEO needs when brands are reviewed.
How much fireplace and stove chief financial officers make
The closest BLS group for fireplace and stove chief financial officers is chief executives. Chief executives who work for other building equipment contractors earned a median of $157,100 a year ($75.53 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 100 of the 204,350 chief executives in that survey work for other building equipment contractors.
Salary, with bonuses the template ties to cost savings and profit. Don't let the bonus reward thin stock in August; empty displays in October cost more than the savings.
Other building equipment contractors
$157,100$157,100 median Middle half $81,360–$177,770 10th–90th $68,550–$253,000
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
Other building equipment contractors
$68,550
$81,360
$157,100
$177,770
$253,000
All industries
$75,700
$129,540
$213,990
$356,200
$507,730
BLS doesn’t publish pay for fireplace and stove installers on their own. These figures cover other building equipment contractors, 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
Has run finance for a business that carries inventory and also does installed work
Builds a cash forecast around a spring stock build and a fall peak
Knows when a sale is retail and when it is a construction contract for sales tax
Keeps inventory counts and values a lender can rely on
Sets credit terms for builder accounts and acts before lien deadlines pass
Teach these on the job
Each maker's ordering calendar, freight terms and warranty claim steps
Your point-of-sale, inventory and service software
How showroom sales, installs and service are coded in your books
Preliminary notice and lien rules for builder jobs
How floor models are valued and marked down
Expect a retail point-of-sale and inventory system for the showroom, field service software for installs and service, and an accounting system that ties them together. Unit counts should agree across all three each month; a gap means a sale, a delivery or an install is recorded in one place and missed in another.
Fireplace and stove 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 · Protecting deposit cash
Customers pay deposits on special-order units months before install. How do you account for and protect that cash?
A strong answer: Treats deposits as owed to customers until the work is done, tracks them by job, keeps enough cash to cover orders or refunds and never counts them as profit.
Behavioral · Install job costing
Tell me about a time you set up job costing so managers could see profit on each install, not just product margin. How did they use it?
A strong answer: Tracked labor hours, venting and parts, permits and return trips by job, shared results by install type each month, and managers changed pricing or crew plans because of them.
Use the template's figures only until you have your own. Draw each target from your recent years, and expect the stock build and the fall rush to swing monthly numbers far more than yearly ones.
Budget Variance
Actual against budget by department: showroom, installs, service and any outdoor line. Explain gaps in stock purchases and installer overtime first, since those tend to move the most in a hearth year.
Cash Flow Ratio
Cash from operations measured against the bills due within a year, read each month. Expect it to sag while stock is built and recover after the fall; the test is whether it recovers on schedule.
Cost Savings
Look for savings in freight on maker shipments, card fees on showroom sales, and venting parts bought for jobs and never used. Tally each saving by brand, so the yearly brand review sees what each line really costs to carry.
Financial Reporting Timeliness
Monthly statements delivered by the agreed day, with stock counted and jobs in progress valued. A close that skips the stock count isn't on time; it's incomplete.
Career path
BookkeeperPosts showroom sales, deposits, maker invoices and payroll.
ControllerCloses each month, counts stock and files sales tax returns.
Chief financial officerPlans cash around the stock build and the fall, and owns sales tax.
How much stock should a hearth company carry into the fall?
Enough to install what sales will book before the holidays without waiting on freight, and little more. Build the number from last year's sales by model, the lead times each maker quotes, and which units sold off the floor versus by special order. Check again in late summer. A slow start to fall orders is the time to cancel or push back an order, not December.
How much does a fireplace and stove chief financial officer make?
Chief executives who work for other building equipment contractors earned a median of $157,100 a year ($75.53 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $81,360 and $177,770 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
How should a fireplace company price service and cleanings?
Start from your costs: the technician's hourly cost with taxes and benefits, drive time, and the parts and supplies a typical visit uses. Gas units, pellet stoves and wood stoves take different amounts of time, so price them apart. Then check each price against a season of real tickets and adjust it before the next fall.
What should a hearth CFO check before the company adds a new brand?
First the buy-in: display units and the venting and gas to run them, opening stock and training. Then the terms: when payment is due, who pays freight, return rules, and how warranty labor is paid back. Model the first two seasons, cash tied up in displays included, and set the result beside what your current brands earn once warranty visits are counted.
What tasks sit behind the CFO template's 15-pound lifting line and varied conditions?
Carrying files, a laptop or sample boxes between the office, the warehouse and the showroom. Now and then, a walk through a cold warehouse to count stock, or a visit to a job site to see a large install. Include them in the posting and note how often each comes up, so candidates can weigh it.
