Specialist HVAC Business Brokers, United Kingdom
enquiries@hvacbusinessforsale.co.uk • 01285 704466

Cash, stock, work in progress and retentions at completion

What the buyer of your HVAC business actually receives

Follow one HVAC installation from deposit to retention release, and see which lines of your balance sheet a buyer may question.

For sellers 16 pages 17-minute read Checked Mon 12th Oct 2026

Get the guide

Who this guide is for

For the owner of a heating, ventilation or air conditioning business who expects an offer and wants to know what cash and working capital goes with the sale. It suits firms that do installation work with deposits, stage payments and retentions.

What you will take from it

  • List every deposit, open job, debt and retention with its date, so a buyer can see what is owed and when it arrives.
  • Count stock at cost on the day, with refrigerant by gas and weight, and reconcile every supplier statement.
  • Work out your working capital at each of the last 12 month ends before you discuss a target with a buyer.

What is inside

  1. Money you have earned and cannot bank yet
  2. The deposit
  3. Work in progress
  4. Applications and invoices
  5. Retentions and their release
  6. Stock, including refrigerant
  7. Creditors and the supplier account
  8. Cash and debt at completion
  9. The working capital figure
  10. Brackenfold's working capital in one picture

The tool: working capital estimator

One page with eight amount lines to fill in from your latest month end and a total to add up. Type into the PDF and save it, or print it.

It comes as its own file as well as a page of the guide.

Two pages from the guide

Page 8 of the guide
Page 8 of 16
Page 14 of the guide
Page 14 of 16

Get the guide

Tell us who you are and the guide opens on this page, with the working capital estimator as its own file.

PDF 16 pages 459 KB

Your details go to Simon Read's team at HVAC Business Sales. We do not sell them or share them for marketing. Privacy policy.

Simon Read

Prepared by Simon Read

Founder & Managing Director, Reads Advice Partners Ltd

Simon founded Reads M&A Advisory to specialise in trades such as HVAC, electrical, fire safety and facilities management, and has spent many years selling businesses to independent buyers, trade companies and private equity-backed groups across the UK.

Checked Mon 12th Oct 2026. The Autumn Budget is scheduled for Wed 28th Oct 2026, and we review every guide after it.

Start with a free first conversation: 01285 704466. Meet the team.

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See what your business could sell for

Type in your own figures and see a price range on screen, then start with a free first conversation.

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