Processes matter for your snow and ice business

It's not just about snow equipment costs, or being able to mobilize dozens of shovelers on short notice. Most of the margin erosion in this industry comes from disorganized back offices, unclear expectations, and weak internal systems. Margin slippage from missed billing, crew confusion and underpriced jobs will eat away at your profit.

This is why processes matter. Whether you’re running 2 plow trucks or 50, improving your internal operations is one of the few things you can control in a chaotic business environment.

If you want to protect your bottom line, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. You just need to tighten a few bolts. Here are six ways to do that.

1 - Know what every job really costs

You can’t price your next storm right if you don’t know your numbers today. When you’ve made it through one season and are getting ready to start selling for the next, take a hard look at what it took to service each site. Be sure to include materials, labor, subcontractors, fuel, machine hours, site complexity, and customer interactions in your metrics.

Remember, it’s not just about the hard, tangible costs. Consider creating personalized factors to help evaluate subjective, qualitative issues. One idea: build difficulty scales for both site complexity and customer relationships. You might be surprised which accounts are making you money and which ones are dragging you down.

2 - Invoice like you mean it

Cash flow keeps you in business. If you’re waiting weeks, or worse, months to get paid, your billing system probably needs a serious tune-up. Clean invoices, clear service logs, and photo proof go a long way. Better yet, get it all out the door fast, while the storm is still fresh in your client’s mind.

Once you’re spreading mulch and scheduling weekly lawn mowing, you’ve already lost most of your collections leverage. A snow invoice when it’s 70°F? That’s a tough sell. Quick billing is critical. Most companies delay at least a week, buried in snow ops and scrambling for field reports. Build your process so that invoices go out quickly and consistently.

Use an aging sheet as a standing report to track unpaid balances and make it visible to the team. Consider tying collections to compensation. Give your account managers a reason to push for payments by rewarding paid invoices, not just billed ones. The job isn’t done until the check clears.

3 - Make communication a system, not a guess

Storm nights are not the time for “I thought you were covering that lot!” Your crews need real-time info, clear routes, and simple checklists they can follow without calling you 10 times. Whether it’s a shared spreadsheet or an app, set up a system that’s easy to follow, especially when things get hectic. Keep it simple, keep it consistent, and train for ideal and worst-case conditions.

4 - Scrub your contracts

A good contract should protect you, not just get the client who signed. Are your service levels clearly defined? Are your triggers clear? Who’s on the hook for slip-and-falls or damage claims? What’s required to submit an invoice, and what are the payment terms? A little legal review now can save a lot of heartache later. Don’t let vague language put your profit and reputation at risk.

5 - Fix it now, not in December

The offseason is your chance to breathe and to build. Train your team. Tune up your equipment. Revisit your pricing model. Set up systems that make things smoother when the flakes start flying. It’s not always glamorous work, but this is where the real money gets saved. The time to sell next season’s work is already here or just around the corner. It’s better to get it done now than scramble later to figure out how to serve what you’ve already sold.

6 - Invest in simple reporting

When it comes to understanding your business, a gut feeling only goes so far. Whether it’s weekly cost summaries, route profitability snapshots, or client-by-client breakdowns, a little visibility goes a long way. It doesn’t need to be fancy, just consistent. Build simple reports you can review regularly and use to guide decisions. If your books are months behind or your reports are too clunky to use, it’s time to fix that. The right information, delivered at the right time, can be the difference between staying busy and staying profitable.

Fortify for the storms ahead

There’s no magic button that guarantees profit in this business; but there are ways to build a company that runs smoother, handles surprises better, and keeps more of what it earns. That’s what strong processes do. They fortify your business and protect your bottom line.

When the weather turns, the labor market shifts, or costs spike, you want to be standing on solid ground. The right systems give you something to rely on when everything else is unpredictable.

Help is readily available to get moving in the right direction. You and your leadership team are responsible for your success, but that doesn’t mean you have to do it all alone. If you’re ready to improve the way your business runs behind the scenes, you have options. You can build a stronger team, connect with peers in the industry, or bring in consultants who know what to look for and how to fix it. You’ve done the hard work. Now make it count. Let’s turn those drifts of white into stacks of green. 

Benjamin Meck, CPA, CFP, ASM is an advising partner of Greendrift Advisors and the Deputy Managing Director of Accounting Services for Baldwin Management, LLC. Contact him at 
bmeck@greendriftadv.com.