Who We Help · Solar & EV Charger Installers · Bookkeeping
Solar & EV installer bookkeeping: rebates, deposits and go-live day
A solar or EV charger sale produces cash on three different dates, and none of them is the day the panels go up. We book the signing deposit as a liability, the progress payment as a billing against work performed, and hold revenue until the utility has actually authorized the system to run. Incentive money gets the same discipline: whether it belongs on your invoice or only in the customer's mailbox is a bookkeeping decision we make before the contract is signed, not after the rebate cheque arrives.
By the AnalytIQ Accounting team · Last reviewed: August 12, 2026
Three dates, three entries
A residential system is sold on one date, physically mounted on another, and switched on weeks later once an inspector and a utility both sign off. We treat the signing deposit as a liability, not revenue, because the crew has not yet touched the roof. The progress payment due when panels, racking and the inverter are mounted and the electrical rough-in has passed inspection is billed against the job, but we still hold full revenue recognition until commissioning, when the local utility has approved net metering or interconnection and the system is legally permitted to operate. A system sitting finished but uninspected on a roof is labour delivered, not a completed sale, and treating it as one overstates the month it happened to finish in.
The job-cost ledger in QuickBooks Online tracks each install as its own project: panels, inverter, racking, the charger unit, permit fees and labour all code to the address, with Dext capturing supplier invoices and receipts against the right job before anything hits the general ledger. A batch purchase of chargers or a pallet of panels bought ahead of a season sits in inventory at cost until it is drawn onto a specific job.
Rebates and incentives: whose line is it on
The first question on any incentive program is who receives the money, not how much it is worth. A rebate paid directly to the homeowner by a utility or government program after the install never touches your invoice; you may prepare the paperwork as part of the service, but the cash is the customer's and does not belong in your revenue. A rebate or credit assigned to you at the point of sale, netted off the contract the way a builder credits an HST new-housing rebate, is different: we record the full contract value, book the assigned credit as a contra-revenue line, and collect only the balance from the customer. Treating an assigned credit as if it were a customer rebate, or the reverse, either overstates revenue on money you never collected or understates it on money that was genuinely yours.
Programs in this space open, pause and change eligible equipment more often than most incentive schedules we track, so we confirm current program rules the week a contract is signed rather than build a rebate assumption into a quote from memory, and we keep the program name and confirmation attached to the job file.
| Money-in event | How it hits the books | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Signing deposit | Liability, not revenue | Held until the job is performed |
| Rebate assigned to you at invoice | Contra-revenue credit against the contract | Customer owes only the net balance |
| Rebate paid to the customer later | Memo note on the job only | Not your revenue at any point |
| Financing-company funding | Full price booked; dealer fee recorded as an expense | Funded cash is less than the invoice |
| Commissioning and utility approval | Revenue recognized; final payment collected | The job is finally a completed sale |
Financing partners fund less than the contract says
Most installers offer a financing partner so a homeowner can spread a cost that a rebate alone rarely covers. The financing company pays out the funded amount, and it is almost never the full invoice: a dealer fee, priced to the promotional term offered to the customer, is subtracted before the money reaches your account, and a longer no-interest period generally carries a higher fee than a shorter one. We book the full contract price as revenue and the dealer fee as a separate financing expense, so the income statement shows what the job was worth rather than quietly netting the fee into a smaller sale.
Equipment origin belongs on the purchase order
Panels, inverters and charger units bought ahead of a season are inventory at landed cost, meaning the supplier invoice plus freight, brokerage and any duty paid at the border. Equipment made in Canada generally arrives without the duty questions that imported product carries, so we record the vendor and country of origin on every purchase order, not just the item description; it is the number our cross-border guide for solar and EV installers starts from when a shipment does carry a tariff.
Sub electricians and the warranty file
Where the electrical connection is done by a subcontracted electrical contractor rather than an employee, construction-industry T5018 reporting generally applies once installation makes up most of your revenue; which contractors have to file T5018 slips sets out the threshold and timing. We also keep a warranty tracking account separate from ordinary expenses: the panel and inverter maker's product and performance warranty is their obligation, but a callback on your own workmanship is yours, and costing it back to the original job shows whether one crew or one supplier is generating a pattern before it becomes an expensive one. How input tax credits work covers the HST side of everything imported for a job; the general engagement is on our bookkeeping services page.
Source: Electrical Safety Authority — permits and inspections.
Common questions.
Do I record a customer's utility rebate as my revenue?
Only if it is assigned to you and netted off the invoice at the point of sale. A rebate paid directly to the homeowner after the fact never touches your books as revenue, even if you helped file the paperwork.
Why not book revenue when the panels are physically installed?
Because the system is not legally permitted to operate until the inspection clears and the utility approves interconnection. We hold revenue recognition for commissioning so a finished-but-uninspected job does not overstate a month's sales.
How much of the contract price actually lands in my account?
Less than the invoice, once a financing partner is involved. We book the full price as revenue and the dealer fee the financing company deducts as a separate expense, so the true cost of offering financing is visible rather than buried in a smaller sale.
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