A commercial refrigeration office manager runs a branch office: the CSR team, the closed tickets that become invoices, and the chain portals they go through. They keep agreement records, insurance certificates, company licenses and truck papers current, and cover phones or dispatch when calls pile up.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, HVAC and plumbing contractors · BLS, May 2025
You'll run the branch office and the paperwork that turns finished service calls into paid invoices. You'll lead the customer service team, keep tickets moving to billing, manage customer contracts and insurance certificates, and keep the office ready for the next emergency call.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Lead the Customer Service Representatives and set coverage for phones and customer portals.
Move completed tickets to invoicing, checking each for the customer's work order number, signature and required photos.
Submit invoices through customer portals before their deadlines and fix rejected invoices.
Keep service agreement records current: start and end dates, covered equipment and visit schedule.
Send the certificates of insurance, tax forms and vendor packets new customers require.
Track company licenses, vehicle registrations and office vendor contracts.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Clear the previous day's completed tickets for billing.
Check customer portals for rejected invoices and missing check-out records.
Cover phones or dispatch during busy hours.
Answer customer questions about invoices and what their agreement covers.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Days from completed ticket to invoice: [your target].
Portal invoices rejected: [your target].
Billing disputes resolved: [your target].
Calls answered live: [your target].
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
[3+] years managing an office in field service, construction or a trade business.
Experience supervising customer service or administrative staff.
Strong skills with [your field service software], spreadsheets and email.
Close attention to work order numbers, contract dates and each customer's billing rules.
6. Preferred Experience
Experience with grocery or restaurant chain work order and invoicing portals.
Experience with certificates of insurance and vendor setup paperwork.
A bookkeeping or billing background.
7. Physical Requirements
Sit at a computer and on the phone for most of the day.
Lift boxes of files or supplies up to [25] pounds.
With or without reasonable accommodation.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Office-based at [branch], [your hours].
Some early or late hours during busy weeks and month-end billing.
Occasional after-hours backup for dispatch: [rotation].
9. Compensation and Benefits
Pay: [range and hourly or salary basis].
Additional pay: [overtime, bonus or incentive terms, or none].
Benefits: [health, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, and when they start].
10. Company Culture and Overview
[Two or three sentences on what your company does, the area you serve, and the support a new office manager gets in the first 90 days.]
11. How to Apply
[Apply link or email]. Our process: [phone interview, in-person interview, and next steps]. Contact [hiring contact] if you need an accommodation during the application process.
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What changes for an office manager at a refrigeration contractor
The office lives on chain portals, agreement records and the paperwork that keeps the company licensed and its trucks on the road.
Iowa licenses share one renewal date
Iowa's Plumbing and Mechanical Systems Board licenses refrigeration contractors. Its licenses expire June 30 and stay valid through August 31. The board says to renew in July to avoid fees, and reviews can take up to six weeks. Put the company's renewal and each tech's on one summer calendar, and start early. Source: Iowa DIAL: Plumbing and mechanical contractor license.
Heavy trucks need a USDOT number
A company running commercial motor vehicles across state lines registers with FMCSA for a USDOT number, even when it only hauls its own equipment. It must file an update every 24 months, and missed updates can get the number deactivated. Put the due month on the calendar with the truck registrations. Source: 49 CFR 390.201: USDOT registration (eCFR).
Each chain wants different proof on the ticket
One grocery chain wants before-and-after temperature photos. Another needs the store manager's signature and a check-out record, and a restaurant group may want the data plate photo on every repair. Build a short close-out checklist for each account in the field service software. Check tickets against it before they reach billing.
The agreement record follows the equipment
Stores add cases, swap ice machines and close departments during remodels. An old equipment list sends techs to units nobody pays for. Federal rules also have the store owner keep each system's full charge, how it was found, any changes and the install date, for systems with 15 pounds or more of an HFC or a covered substitute. Keep those facts in the agreement record too, and update it each time an install closes or a store sends a change. Source: 40 CFR 84.106(l): Leak repair recordkeeping, full charge (eCFR).
How much commercial refrigeration office managers make
The closest BLS group for commercial refrigeration office managers is First-Line supervisors of office and administrative support workers. First-Line supervisors of office and administrative support workers who work for plumbing, heating, and air-conditioning contractors earned a median of $34.07 an hour ($70,860 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s about the same as the $69,500 median for First-Line supervisors of office and administrative support workers in all industries. About 11,910 of the 1,436,680 First-Line supervisors of office and administrative support workers in that survey work for HVAC and plumbing contractors.
HVAC and plumbing contractors
$70,860$70,860 median Middle half $56,520–$85,630 10th–90th $45,490–$108,020
All industries
$69,500$69,500 median Middle half $55,950–$85,090 10th–90th $45,610–$104,710
$25k$50k$75k$100k$125k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
HVAC and plumbing contractors
$45,490
$56,520
$70,860
$85,630
$108,020
All industries
$45,610
$55,950
$69,500
$85,090
$104,710
BLS doesn’t publish pay for refrigeration contractors on their own. These figures cover plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors, which include them. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Leading a small CSR team and setting phone coverage
Learning each chain's billing rules and holding the team to them
Spotting a ticket that will be rejected before it goes out
Keeping licenses, registrations and certificates on one calendar
Clear writing with facilities contacts and store managers
Teach these on the job
Your field service software and its billing steps
Each customer's portal and invoice deadlines
Refrigeration equipment names used on tickets
Your insurance agent's certificate process
Federal and state vehicle registration steps
Expect the field service software, the chains' work order and invoicing portals, a shared calendar for renewals, and the accounting system the bookkeeper uses. Certificate requests usually go through your insurance agent's online system, so the office manager needs a login there.
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 · Rejected portal invoices
Several invoices were rejected by a chain's portal for missing check-out records. What do you do?
A strong answer: Lists them, gets the records from dispatch and technicians, resubmits before deadlines, and fixes the step so check-outs happen every time.
Behavioral · Leading CSRs
Tell me about a time you improved how CSRs handled urgent calls from restaurants or stores.
A strong answer: Names the problem (missed urgency questions, slow handoff to dispatch), the change (script, training, coverage), and the result.
Treat the template's targets as samples. Track each branch for a few billing cycles. Then pick targets the team can hit, and raise them once it does.
Days from completed ticket to invoice
Use the ticket close date and the invoice date in your software, and average the gap by account each week. Keep portal accounts apart from direct-billed ones, so one slow chain doesn't hide another.
Portal invoices rejected
Count rejections from each portal each month and tag each with its reason, such as a missing photo, a wrong work order number or a price above the approved amount.
Billing disputes resolved
Log each dispute with its open date, the account and the outcome. Track how many close each month and how long the open ones have waited.
Calls answered live
From the phone system, compare calls a person picked up with calls that rolled to voicemail or the answering service, by hour, to see where coverage runs thin.
What physical work comes with a refrigeration office manager job?
Most of it is desk work. The template's lifting line fits tasks such as unloading the office supply delivery, carrying a carton of printed agreement renewals to the mail, and shifting boxes when the file room is cleared out. Put those tasks in the ad. Then a candidate can judge them and ask about an accommodation if they need one.
How much does a commercial refrigeration office manager make?
First-Line supervisors of office and administrative support workers who work for plumbing, heating, and air-conditioning contractors earned a median of $34.07 an hour ($70,860 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $56,520 and $85,630 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
What should the office manager do when a chain changes its portal?
Get the chain's new steps in writing and test one invoice before the old system shuts off. Update the close-out checklist and retrain whoever submits invoices. Watch rejections closely for the first billing cycle. Ask the chain's vendor team who to call when something breaks, and keep that contact on file.
What vehicle paperwork does a refrigeration office manager track?
Registration and plates for every truck, insurance cards in each one, and lease or title records. Under 49 CFR 390.5, a truck that carries your goods between states is a commercial motor vehicle once its rating or real weight, alone or with a trailer, hits 10,001 pounds. Note each truck's rating. The HR manager keeps the driver files. The office keeps the company and vehicle side.
When should the branch office manager pick up the phones?
When the hold queue grows, when a CSR is out, or when a hot afternoon brings a wave of warm-box calls. The office manager should know the call script and the dispatch board well enough to step in. Plan coverage so billing doesn't stop every time the phones get busy.
