Glossary

An additional insured is a person or business added to someone else's liability policy by endorsement, so that policy answers a claim against them too. In field …

Average ticket is the mean revenue per job over a period — total revenue ÷ the number of jobs (invoices or tickets) in that period. It tells you what a job is w …

Billable hours are the hours a technician spends on work the customer pays for — the time that appears on an invoice. They stand in contrast to non-billable hou …

The break-even point is the level of sales at which total revenue exactly equals total cost, so profit is zero — the threshold a business must clear before any …

A certificate of insurance (COI) is a one-page summary of an insurance policy, issued by your broker or agent, that lists the insurer, the policy numbers, the c …

A certified applicator is a person authorized to apply or supervise the application of restricted use pesticides (RUPs). Federal law requires certification for …

A change order is a documented amendment to an existing work order or contract that adds, removes, or modifies the agreed scope of work — and adjusts the price …

Churn rate is the share of customers — or of recurring revenue — that you lose over a period. Customer churn = customers lost during the period ÷ customers at t …

Combined chlorine is the portion of available chlorine that has already reacted with ammonia and nitrogen compounds and now sits in the water as chloramines. Th …

Conducive conditions are site conditions a wood-destroying organism inspection records as likely to lead to infestation, separate from damage already found. Cal …

Cost of goods sold (COGS) is the direct cost of delivering the services and products you sold in a period — principally the materials and parts consumed and the …

Customer acquisition cost (CAC) is what it costs, on average, to win one new customer. The formula is CAC = total sales and marketing spend ÷ number of new cust …

Customer lifetime value (CLV, or LTV) is the total profit a customer is expected to generate over the entire relationship, not just on the first job. A common f …

Effective hourly rate is the revenue you actually realize per hour of work, as opposed to the list rate you quote. In the common form it is total revenue ÷ tota …

An EPA registration number is the identifier printed on every EPA-registered pesticide label that tells you which company holds the registration and which produ …

First-time fix rate (FTFR) is the share of jobs that are fully resolved on the first visit, with no return trip required. It is calculated as jobs resolved on t …

Flat-rate pricing charges a fixed, agreed price for a defined job, set in advance from a price book or menu, regardless of how long the work actually takes or w …

Free chlorine is the portion of total chlorine in pool or spa water that has not reacted with ammonia or other nitrogen compounds and is available to sanitize. …

A fuel surcharge is a separate, temporary line on a quote or invoice that rises and falls with the price of fuel, letting a route business pass through part of …

Gross margin is the share of revenue left after subtracting the cost of goods sold (COGS) — the direct materials and direct labor that delivering the work consu …

Integrated pest management (IPM) is an approach to pest control that combines inspection, monitoring, prevention, and targeted intervention. It is used in place …

Labor burden is the full cost of employing a worker on top of their base wage — payroll taxes, workers' compensation, health and other benefits, paid time off, …

Markup and margin both describe the gap between what a job costs and what you charge, but they divide that gap by different bases — which is why the same dollar …

Monthly recurring revenue (MRR) is the predictable revenue a business can count on each month from its active recurring agreements. You calculate it by summing …

Net-30 payment terms mean the full balance of an invoice is due 30 days after the invoice date. It is a form of trade credit: the customer receives the work now …

Overhead recovery is the practice of building each job's share of fixed indirect costs — rent, insurance, office staff, software, vehicle ownership, and the lik …

Pest exclusion is the practice of sealing a structure's entry points so that rodents, wildlife and insects cannot get in. The work starts with a perimeter and i …

A re-entry interval, or restricted-entry interval (REI), is the period after a pesticide application during which entry into the treated area is restricted. To …

A re-service is a return visit between scheduled service dates, performed at no additional charge, when pests reappear after a treatment. It is the contract pro …

Recurring billing charges a customer's stored card or bank account automatically on a fixed schedule — usually monthly — so a service operator collects on each …

A registered technician holds a state credential to apply general use pesticides and, under direct supervision, restricted use pesticides. The worker has not co …

A restricted use pesticide (RUP) is a product EPA has classified for restricted use, which limits who may buy it and who may apply it. Federal rule provides tha …

Retainage is a percentage of each progress payment that an owner or general contractor withholds and does not pay out until the job is finished and accepted. It …

Route density is how tightly a service operator's stops cluster together — how many jobs a crew completes per route-day relative to the driving between them. De …

A scope of work is the written description of what a job actually includes: the tasks, the areas or assets covered, the frequency, and what is excluded. It is t …

Seller's discretionary earnings (SDE) is the profit figure a small owner-operated business is actually valued on. It starts from net profit and adds back the ow …

Snow trigger depth is the measured amount of snow or ice that must build up on a site before a snow contract sends a crew out, such as a 2 inch trigger. It is n …

Technician utilization is the share of a technician's paid time that is actually spent on billable work. It is calculated as billable hours ÷ total available (p …

A termite bond is a renewable termite warranty: the customer pays for a treatment, then a yearly renewal, and the company re-treats if covered termites return. …

Time and materials (T&M) is a billing model where the customer pays for the actual labor hours worked, charged at an hourly rate, plus the actual cost of materi …

A tipping fee is what a disposal facility charges to accept a load. The US EPA defines it as a fee for unloading or dumping waste at a landfill, transfer statio …

Taylor Technologies defines total alkalinity as 'the buffering capacity of water to resist pH changes,' measured in ppm (mg/L). In pool and spa water, TA acts a …

A trip charge is a fixed fee that covers the cost of sending a technician to a customer's location — the drive, the fuel, and the vehicle and labor time spent g …

The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act is the federal law requiring anti-entrapment drain covers in the United States, with added public pool rules. …

A WDO inspection is a visual inspection of a structure for wood-destroying organisms, written up by a licensed operator on a state-prescribed report. It is most …

A work order is the document that authorizes and describes a specific job: who the customer is, the location, the scope of work to be done, the parts and labor …