Annual maintenance contracts: how do you price and run one?

The scope page is the whole contract in practice. If it is vague, every callout becomes a negotiation; if it is written once and clearly, the year runs itself:

• The assets covered — each unit, system or area listed, ideally with model and location, so “is this covered?” has a written answer.
• The planned visits — how many per year, and what each visit includes: inspection, cleaning, consumables, minor adjustments.
• The breakdown promise — how fast you respond, and whether callout labour is included or charged.
• The exclusions — spare parts, major repairs and damage by others are normally chargeable extras, priced and approved like any variation when they arise.
• The term and the paperwork — start and end dates, the invoicing rhythm, and what happens at renewal or early ending.

Build it from your own costs, the same way you build any rate: the planned visits multiplied by what a visit truly costs you — labour time, travel, consumables — plus a sensible allowance for the callouts the year will probably bring, plus the overheads of carrying the contract. A price built that way can be explained to the client and defended at renewal.

Do not anchor on a competitor's AMC price: his visit cost, his crew and his failure rates are not yours, and a contract priced below its cost loses money politely for twelve months. The method is the same one in building your price book — labour, materials, overheads, allowance — applied to a year instead of a job.

Monthly invoicing smooths your cash flow and matches how clients budget; the risk is drifting into arrears quietly, so invoice on the same day each month and chase on the same ladder as any invoice — see get paid faster. Per-visit invoicing ties payment to work seen, which some clients prefer, but it makes income lumpy and turns every visit into a small collection task.

In InstaJack, contract visits are scheduled in Bookings so none is missed, and each asset keeps its service history — what was done, when, by whom — on the Service side of the app. InstaJack runs the schedule and the record; the contract's commercial terms — price, scope, response promise — are yours to agree and write.