Rebate Job Float Calculator

What it does. See how much cash your rebate jobs tie up, what the float costs you monthly, and the most rebate jobs per month your reserve can safely carry.

Detailed Overview

When a rebate program pays the contractor instead of the homeowner, every rebate you take off a quote is your money out the door until the program pays you back. This calculator turns that invisible balance into four numbers: how many jobs are on float at any time, the peak dollar balance, what carrying it on a line of credit costs, and the maximum monthly rebate volume your cash reserve can actually sustain.

Purpose

Contractors price rebate jobs on margin and forget the balance sheet. At six jobs a month with a $4,000 average rebate and a six week reimbursement wait, a shop is quietly lending the program more than $30,000 at all times. Growth makes it worse: doubling rebate volume doubles the float, and a program pause or bounced documentation extends it. The calculator exists so an owner can see the exposure before peak season, not during it.

When and Where to Use It

• Before committing to a rebate or incentive program that pays the contractor after installation.
• When planning how many rebate-eligible heat pump jobs to sell per month this heating season.
• When sizing a line of credit or a cash reserve for the year ahead.
• After any program rule change, since new rules usually mean new processing times.
• In a weekly numbers review, alongside your actual float ledger.

Inputs

1. Average rebate you float per job. The dollar amount you subtract from the customer invoice and wait to recover.
2. Rebate jobs per month. Your current or planned monthly volume of program jobs.
3. Weeks from submission to reimbursement. Slider from 2 to 16 weeks. Published utility processing windows run 4 to 8 weeks; bounced documentation restarts the clock.
4. Line of credit APR. What borrowed money costs you if the float rides your credit line.
5. Cash reserve for float. The cash you can commit to carrying rebates without touching payroll or parts money.

Three presets (1-2 truck shop, growing shop, heat pump specialist) load representative scenarios in one click.

Outputs

• Jobs on float: how many jobs are awaiting reimbursement at steady state.
• Peak float balance: the headline number, your cash working as the program’s bank.
• Carrying cost: monthly and annual interest if the float sits on your line of credit.
• Max sustainable pace: the most rebate jobs per month your reserve can carry at the selected wait time.
• Float vs. reserve bar and verdict: green under 70% of reserve, amber to 100%, red beyond it, each with a short action list.

Context: Where This Tool Lives in HKIA’s Content

• Built to accompany the Business Edition article “Instant Rebates: The Kitchen-Table Advantage Nobody Is Using,” which covers the sales side of guaranteed rebates.
• Pairs with “Your Heat Pump Job Is Now a Three-Trade Project,” where milestone billing and documentation discipline shorten the effective wait.
• Extends the cash flow themes in “Cash Flow for HVAC Contractors: Payment Terms, DSO, and Getting Paid Faster.”
• Pairs naturally with the Three-Trade Readiness Scorecard (the cash dimension of that scorecard points here) and the Missed Call Revenue Calculator for owners auditing where money leaks.

Math & Logic

Jobs on float = jobs per month x (wait weeks / 4.33), where 4.33 is the average weeks per month.

Peak float = jobs on float x average rebate. Carrying cost = peak float x (APR / 12) per month.

Max sustainable pace = cash reserve / (average rebate x wait in months).

The verdict compares peak float to reserve: 70% is the green ceiling so a slow month or a single program pause does not immediately force borrowing.

Defaults (6 jobs, $4,000, 6 weeks, 9% APR, $40,000 reserve) model a small shop leaning into rebate work and land deliberately in the amber zone, matching the Business Edition worked example.

Limitations

• Steady-state model. It does not simulate seasonal ramps, one-time program pauses, or a backlog clearing all at once.
• Assumes the full rebate is floated on every job. Programs that pay homeowners directly, or platforms that advance the rebate, reduce or eliminate the float.
• Carrying cost assumes the float rides a line of credit at the stated APR. Cash-funded float costs opportunity, not interest, which the tool does not price.
• Not financial advice. It is a planning aid; size real credit facilities with your bank and accountant.

Sources Used

• Efficiency Smart, published home energy rebate processing guidelines (4 to 6 week processing), 2026.
• Mass Save, rebate application processing guidance (6 to 8 weeks), program materials.
• U.S. Department of Energy, Home Energy Rebates Program Notice 26-2, 2026.
• LGA CPAs, contractor working capital benchmark (minimum 10% of annual revenue).