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QuickBooks bookkeeping for plumbers

A plumbing business often earns from maintenance work orders, new home rough-ins and drainage jobs at the same time, and each side has its own customers, costs and payment terms. We keep those lines of work apart in your QuickBooks file and report what each brings in against what it costs.

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  • By Book Keeping Pros
  • Sources checked 15 Oct 2026

What QuickBooks bookkeeping looks like for a plumbing business

Agencies, builders and householders all pay plumbers on different terms, so the books keep each payer and each line of work in view.

  • Maintenance, new homes and drainage each given their own class, if your QuickBooks subscription includes class tracking, giving each line of work a report of its own.
  • Repair orders from property and strata managers invoiced with the order number and property address, then followed until the agency pays.
  • Rough-in and fit-off claims to builders invoiced for each house, with any amount a builder holds back tracked against that house and treated however your accountant wants.
  • Hot water units you keep in stock tracked as inventory, where your plan includes it, so QuickBooks lowers the quantity on hand as each unit is invoiced.
  • Jetters, pipe cameras and locators recorded when bought, and their finance repayments entered from the lender's statements following your accountant's instructions.
  • Bills from plumbing supply stores given the class of the work they were bought for, so drainage parts don't inflate the cost of maintenance.
  • Bank and card statements compared with QuickBooks every month, with every difference traced: an amount that hasn't cleared, a keying mistake, or something the bank needs to correct.

Businesses in Plumbing Services (ANZSIC class 3231)

Actively trading businesses across Australia
31,380 businessesAustralian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, June 2025, checked 15 October 2026
Of those, classified as non-employing
14,647 businessesAustralian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, June 2025, checked 15 October 2026
Of those, with 1 to 4 employees
13,351 businessesAustralian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, June 2025, checked 15 October 2026

Businesses by main state or territory

  1. New South Wales10,494 businesses
  2. Victoria9,096 businesses
  3. Queensland5,763 businesses
  4. Western Australia3,045 businesses
  5. South Australia1,794 businesses
  6. Tasmania545 businesses
  7. Australian Capital Territory384 businesses
  8. Northern Territory256 businesses
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, June 2025. Counts of Australian Businesses, data cube 2: Businesses by main state by industry class by employment size ranges (8165DC02.xlsx). Checked 15 Oct 2026.

Businesses by number of employees

  1. Non-employing14,647 businesses
  2. 1 to 4 employees13,351 businesses
  3. 5 to 19 employees2,936 businesses
  4. 20 to 199 employees444 businesses
  5. 200 or more employees3 businesses
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, June 2025. Counts of Australian Businesses, data cube 2: Businesses by main state by industry class by employment size ranges (8165DC02.xlsx). Checked 15 Oct 2026.

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Questions plumbers ask about QuickBooks

Can I see whether drainage pays for the jetter and the camera?
With class tracking in use, drainage income and the costs of running that equipment carry the drainage class, and the class report sets them side by side. Your accountant can tell you whether drainage needs separating.
Should the hot water units I keep in stock be tracked in QuickBooks?
They can be, if inventory is on your plan. Units you hold are entered as inventory items, and QuickBooks lowers the quantity as they're invoiced, which helps show when it's time to restock. Units bought for a specific job are simpler to charge straight to it. Which way suits the business is worth deciding with your accountant.
A property manager wants the work order number on every invoice. Can you check for it?
Yes. As we match agency payments, we look for invoices missing an order number or property address and send them to you to reissue, so the agency can process them.
Builders hold back part of my fit-off claims. How is that tracked?
Whatever a builder holds back stays against that house until it's released, booked following your accountant's lead. When the builder releases it, the payment is matched to the original claim.
Agencies pay on their own terms. How do I keep track of what's overdue?
Each month we send you the aged receivables, with each agency and builder on its own line and their overdue work orders and claims listed, showing which property managers need a call. Each payment is matched on arrival.

Sources

  1. Counts of Australian Businesses, data cube 2: Businesses by main state by industry class by employment size ranges (8165DC02.xlsx)

    Australian Bureau of Statistics. Actively trading businesses at 30 June 2025, released 16 December 2025. Checked 15 October 2026.

    Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits, June 2021 to June 2025, licensed under CC BY 4.0 Licence: CC BY 4.0.

  2. Correspondence, GCCSA 2021 to GCCSA 2026 (CG_GCCSA_2021_GCCSA_2026.csv)

    Australian Bureau of Statistics. ASGS Edition 4, July 2026 to June 2031, released 22 July 2026. Checked 15 October 2026.

    Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 4, licensed under CC BY 4.0 Licence: CC BY 4.0.

  3. Get started with class tracking in QuickBooks Online (Australia)

    Intuit Australia Pty Ltd. Current at 16 October 2026, released 16 October 2026. Checked 16 October 2026.

    QuickBooks is a trademark of Intuit Inc. Licence: Intuit Australia legal terms (facts quoted with attribution, no endorsement implied).

  4. Set up and track your inventory in QuickBooks Online (Australia)

    Intuit Australia Pty Ltd. Current at 16 October 2026, released 16 October 2026. Checked 16 October 2026.

    QuickBooks is a trademark of Intuit Inc. Licence: Intuit Australia legal terms (facts quoted with attribution, no endorsement implied).

  5. Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online (Australia)

    Intuit Australia Pty Ltd. Current at 16 October 2026, released 16 October 2026. Checked 16 October 2026.

    QuickBooks is a trademark of Intuit Inc. Licence: Intuit Australia legal terms (facts quoted with attribution, no endorsement implied).

  6. Run an accounts receivable ageing report in QuickBooks (Australia)

    Intuit Australia Pty Ltd. Current at 16 October 2026, released 16 October 2026. Checked 16 October 2026.

    QuickBooks is a trademark of Intuit Inc. Licence: Intuit Australia legal terms (facts quoted with attribution, no endorsement implied).