Bellcrest Lending Group, a small-business funding service in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, explains funding for plumbing and HVAC contractors: equipment financing for vans and tools, lines of credit for parts and commercial jobs, and working capital planning. It uses Fond du Lac County plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractor figures from County Business Patterns 2023 and Nonemployer Statistics 2024.
At a glance
- Employer establishments
50 employer locations, Fond du Lac County, WI (CBP 2023)
- Fewer than five employees
27 of the 50 employers (54.0%, CBP 2023)
- Annual payroll
$88.1 million paid to 925 employees (CBP 2023)
- Businesses without paid employees
21 with no payroll (Nonemployer Statistics 2024, NAICS 2022)
Plumbing and HVAC Across Fond du Lac County, WI: 2023 and 2024 Census Counts
For plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors (NAICS 238220), County Business Patterns counted 50 employer establishments in Fond du Lac County, WI in 2023, with 925 paid employees and $88.1 million in annual payroll; 27 of them, or 54.0%, had fewer than five employees, and 19 used a ZIP 54935 address (ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023; the ZIP is not the city limits). That works out to about 18.5 employees per establishment and about $95,223 of payroll per employee (our arithmetic).
Nonemployer Statistics, a separate Census program built on NAICS 2022 codes, counted 21 businesses without paid employees in plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors (NAICS 2022 23822) in the county for 2024, with $2.3 million in combined receipts, or about $107,714 each (our arithmetic). The two programs count different businesses, so this page keeps them apart.
Business loans for plumbing business in Fond du Lac, WI
Plumbing businesses fund service vans and their shelving, drain cameras, jetters, pipe threaders and a parts stock. Each van is a rolling store, so the business carries inventory in several places at once. Equipment financing fits the van and tools; inventory or a line fits the parts.
Payroll was about $95,200 per employee for these contractors in the county in 2023 ($88.1 million across 925 employees, our arithmetic), so wages are a large fixed cost between billing cycles.
Plumbing business working capital loans for Fond du Lac County, WI businesses
Working capital loans for plumbing businesses cover payroll and materials while commercial customers pay on 30-day or longer terms. Residential service calls are often paid at the door, but new-construction and commercial jobs bill by milestone, which opens a gap.
Working capital in Fond du Lac, WI lists what partners review.
Plumbing business working capital requirements: what Fond du Lac, WI owners should know
How much working capital a plumbing business needs depends on how much it pays out before collecting. Add up the weekly payroll, materials bought per week and other fixed costs, and multiply by the number of weeks between paying out and getting paid. That product is the gap to cover.
Illustration only, invented figures: a shop with $18,000 weekly payroll, $7,000 weekly materials and a six-week average collection period needs about $150,000 of working capital tied up at any one time (($18,000 + $7,000) times 6, our arithmetic).
HVAC business line of credit loan around Fond du Lac, WI
HVAC businesses buy equipment, such as furnaces, condensers and rooftop units, ahead of installs, and pay technicians before invoices are settled. A revolving line fits that pattern: draw for the equipment order, repay when the customer pays. Fond du Lac County, WI had 50 plumbing, heating and air-conditioning employers in 2023, 27 of them with fewer than five employees (County Business Patterns).
Business lines of credit explains draws and renewals.
Plumbing business working capital plan in Fond du Lac, WI
A working capital plan maps money in and out for the next three to six months: payroll dates, supplier terms, expected customer payments, and planned purchases like a van. It shows when the gap peaks and how large it gets, which sets the size of a line or loan.
- List every recurring outflow and its date.
- List expected customer payments by date, using real payment history.
- Add one-time purchases.
- Track the running balance week by week.
- The lowest point is the size of the gap to fund.
Plumbing business working capital calculation: what Fond du Lac, WI owners should know
The standard calculation is current assets minus current liabilities. For a plumbing contractor, current assets are cash, receivables and parts stock; current liabilities are supplier balances, payroll and taxes due, and loan payments due within the year.
Illustration only, invented figures: $35,000 cash, $110,000 receivables and $40,000 parts stock make $185,000 in current assets (our sum); $95,000 in current liabilities leaves $90,000 of working capital (our arithmetic). A partner may also compute days sales outstanding from receivables and sales.
Customer Financing Programs for Fond du Lac, WI HVAC Jobs
Homeowners can pay for a replacement furnace or air conditioner through a third-party consumer financing program offered by the contractor. Those programs are separate from business funding: the program pays the contractor, sometimes minus a fee, and the homeowner repays the program. The fee and payout timing belong in the contractor's cash flow plan.
Bellcrest does not arrange consumer financing for homeowners.
Records Fond du Lac County, WI Plumbing and HVAC Contractors Bring
- Bank statements and an accounts receivable aging report.
- Open contracts with billing schedules.
- Tax returns and year-to-date financials.
- Van or equipment quotes.
- A cash flow plan, if one exists.
Related pages: contractor funding, excavation business loans, all industries and Census counts for Fond du Lac County, WI.
By Bellcrest Lending Group ยท Updated