The Real Cost of Missing Equipment on Every Job

A restoration company doing $1,000,000/year in revenue is usually running about 250 jobs per year (assuming average $4,000 per job).

If one piece of equipment or containment is missing on every single job, here’s what it really costs.

1. One Missing Air Mover

  • Rental rate: $25/day

  • Job length: 3 days

  • Lost revenue per job: $75

  • Lost revenue per year: $18,750

And that’s just billing — not counting extra drying time that adds labor costs and risks secondary damage.

2. One Missing Air Scrubber

  • Rental rate: $100/day

  • Job length: 3 days

  • Lost revenue per job: $300

  • Lost revenue per year: $75,000

That’s 7.5% of total annual sales in missed billing, from just one scrubber skipped per job.

3. Missing Containment

  • Typical billing: $400 per setup

  • Lost revenue per job: $400

  • Lost revenue per year: $100,000

Plus, the hidden cost: without containment, your crews spend more time cleaning uncontrolled areas, eating up labor hours.

The Annual Total

  • Missing 1 air mover → $18,750 lost

  • Missing 1 air scrubber → $75,000 lost

  • Missing containment → $100,000 lost

👉 Combined: $193,750 in lost billable revenue every year

That’s nearly 20% of your total annual sales — gone, not because of bad marketing or low close rates, but because of equipment and setup being missed on jobs.

Why This Matters

Every piece of gear in your warehouse is a profit center. Missing even one per job drains almost $200,000 a year. For a $1M company, that’s the difference between scraping by and having the cash flow to grow.

The solution is simple:

  • Standardize job setup checklists

  • Train crews on the cost of “just one” missing item

  • Audit jobs against billing

Stop letting missing equipment drain your profits. Let’s take a look at where money is slipping through the cracks in your business.
Book a free call with Kiwi Cash Flow today and get clarity on how to keep every dollar you’ve already earned.

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What Return on Assets (ROA) Really Means for Restoration Contractors