Anybody using Job Management Software?

M-B-Electrical-Services · Aug 1, 2022

Just had an email back from simPRO. Their pricing is as follows:

Enterprise

Monthly

Office LIcence @ £96/user per month (equates to £22 per week)

Mobile Licence @ £14/user per month

Annual Subscription

Office Licence @ £87/user per month (Equates to £20 per week)

Mobile Licence @ £12.50/user per month.

OUCH!!!

They offer full integration and training which is spread over 3 days.
This isn't an easy decision and my wife will kill me if she gets wind of these prices!!

They are 3 times more expensive than the average cost of the more well known software packages.

Thoughts guys?????

M-B-Electrical-Services · Aug 1, 2022

There is the obvious thing of writing this cost off to the tax man which will lessen the tax I pay so I guess I could justify it in that regard...............................

baldelectrician · Aug 1, 2022

Ask them for a demo

Can you commit to a month to see if it works for you?

M-B-Electrical-Services · Aug 1, 2022

baldelectrician said:
Ask them for a demo

Can you commit to a month to see if it works for you?

I have asked the question mate.
See what they say.
I've also asked about being tied into a contract etc etc.

UNG · Aug 1, 2022

Reading though this thread if you pardon the term the thing that is clouding some aspects of these software packages is WHERE is YOUR and your customers data stored.
A question that may need some deeper research is how financially secure are these software companies if they go down and your data is in their "cloud" what happens next you lose your data and it could take your business down, for me I would be looking for a daily or weekly local data backup to your chosen media in some form that keeps your data accessible and not encrypted with their encryption key making it unusable
It was certainly much easier 30 or so years ago implementing and deploying software but the eye watering costs are still the same

M-B-Electrical-Services · Aug 1, 2022

UNG said:
Reading though this thread if you pardon the term the thing that is clouding some aspects of these software packages is WHERE is YOUR and your customers data stored.
A question that may need some deeper research is how financially secure are these software companies if they go down and your data is in their "cloud" what happens next you lose your data and it could take your business down, for me I would be looking for a daily or weekly local data backup to your chosen media in some form that keeps your data accessible and not encrypted with their encryption key making it unusable
It was certainly much easier 30 or so years ago implementing and deploying software but the eye watering costs are still the same

You make an extremely valid point UNG.

It's an important aspect that I failed to consider. I have heard horror stories of organisations that have decided to emigrate from a particular software package only to find that access to their customer base is denied.

I would have to ensure a manual back up of all client details is carried out as you suggest.

Excellent point UNG

Alan-N · Aug 1, 2022

Exponential said:
Hi Alan,

That's really helpful information bud. I haven't heard of the software you're using so I will do some research on this to see if I can introduce it into my work-flow.

Your method looks really interesting though so I'm intrigued.

Are you a Sole Trader or Ltd with employee's?

You know what, I'm really disheartened with this process as I thought it would be really straightforward thing - select a software package and just work with it but I've realised they all make promises but fail on delivery.

I have a telephone consultation with simPRO this morning so I'll update you all later on with the results of that but something tells me it's going to be their pricing that will prevent me from using it. I've heard that their minimum cost per month for the service is £70 which is a bit eye-watering BUT, if their software really does integrate everything then I think I could swallow that cost. Either way, it must be expensive as they don't advertise their prices ANYWHERE.

Ultimately, it's the time I lose to manually doing everything that is the critical thing here so I will have to consider all options.

I'll post back later on.

I am Ltd for tax reasons, but I'm the only electrician. I couldn't justify the cost of the packages to myself.
If you're at all familiar with the old T-Card system, then Trello can mimic that electronically, simple create a "card" then drag
it from column to column as it progresses through, "estimate sent," "waiting on material", "ready to do", "waiting on payment" etc. I add the booked date to the title and arrange them in date order in each column. Like I said it's not perfect but it's free,
Manage Your Team’s Projects From Anywhere | Trello - https://trello.com There is a paid for version with additional features, but I can live without it

And Freeagent is worth a look for estimates, invoicing etc (even does payroll) Easy-to-use accounting software for UK small businesses - https://www.freeagent.com/

M-B-Electrical-Services · Aug 1, 2022

Alan-N said:
I am Ltd for tax reasons, but I'm the only electrician. I couldn't justify the cost of the packages to myself.
If you're at all familiar with the old T-Card system, then Trello can mimic that electronically, simple create a "card" then drag
it from column to column as it progresses through, "estimate sent," "waiting on material", "ready to do", "waiting on payment" etc. I add the booked date to the title and arrange them in date order in each column. Like I said it's not perfect but it's free,
Manage Your Team’s Projects From Anywhere | Trello - https://trello.com There is a paid for version with additional features, but I can live without it

And Freeagent is worth a look for estimates, invoicing etc (even does payroll) Easy-to-use accounting software for UK small businesses - https://www.freeagent.com/

Cheers Alan.

I will look into this and see if I can make this work. It's all about being efficient with your time I suppose and anything that may help me manage my time a bit better will help.

I appreciate your input!

M-B-Electrical-Services · Aug 2, 2022

During my research, I came across this government scheme which may help some of you guys:

www.learn-to-grow-your-business.service.gov.uk

Final opportunity for businesses to access Help to Grow: Digital scheme

Government announces closure of Help to Grow: Digital scheme

www.learn-to-grow-your-business.service.gov.uk

I am not eligible as I am not a registered business (Ltd) but some of you guys might benefit from the large savings if you're not already enrolled on some of the software packages on the list.

M-B-Electrical-Services · Aug 6, 2022

Hi guys,

Just thought I would update those who are interested.

Had a chat with a lad called Joe at simPRO on Friday about their software and he took me through a demo which was quite interesting. It seems to tick every box really and will integrate with everything I currently use and more.
The layout is very similar to all the other packages I've tried and looks simple enough to use but, like any new software, it will take a good while to get get the best out of it. I'm really interested but the price is significantly higher than the regular stuff.
It is the sort of software that grows as your business does due to the massive functionality of it and would be great foundation to build upon.

Here is the process:

Firstly, you have to go through their "implementation" process. For me that's 3 days worth of somebody walking me through the software and how to use it. Personally, for a small business like mine, I feel that 3 days is excessive and would probably only need 1 day as I will only be using around 25% of the features.

These days are billed at £700 per day with a current "offer" of half price if you book before a certain date (typical sales tactics) so a grand total of £1050 for 3 days.

Then there's the monthly subscription cost which is billed at £104 per month inclusive of VAT. This is for the Office package.
There is an additional mobile version that ties in with the office version for an extra £16.80 a month inclusive of VAT.
So, if I was to go for both office and mobile (which Joe of course suggests) then that would be £120.80 a month tied in for 12 month contract. £1449.60 a year.

When you look at the other more common products, they average around £45 a month (£540 a year) but, as I have found, each one I have used has it's drawbacks which would add extra work needed so they are not an ideal choice.

The simPRO software integrates with everything with no additional steps required but is this worth the asking price!

One thing is certain, I have to start using some form of management software as I can no longer keep spending hours every night manually filling forms out when a single software package can do it all for me in a matter of minutes.

UNG · Aug 7, 2022

Exponential said:
Hi guys,

Just thought I would update those who are interested.

Had a chat with a lad called Joe at simPRO on Friday about their software and he took me through a demo which was quite interesting. It seems to tick every box really and will integrate with everything I currently use and more.
The layout is very similar to all the other packages I've tried and looks simple enough to use but, like any new software, it will take a good while to get get the best out of it. I'm really interested but the price is significantly higher than the regular stuff.
It is the sort of software that grows as your business does due to the massive functionality of it and would be great foundation to build upon.

Here is the process:

Firstly, you have to go through their "implementation" process. For me that's 3 days worth of somebody walking me through the software and how to use it. Personally, for a small business like mine, I feel that 3 days is excessive and would probably only need 1 day as I will only be using around 25% of the features.

These days are billed at £700 per day with a current "offer" of half price if you book before a certain date (typical sales tactics) so a grand total of £1050 for 3 days.

Then there's the monthly subscription cost which is billed at £104 per month inclusive of VAT. This is for the Office package.
There is an additional mobile version that ties in with the office version for an extra £16.80 a month inclusive of VAT.
So, if I was to go for both office and mobile (which Joe of course suggests) then that would be £120.80 a month tied in for 12 month contract. £1449.60 a year.

When you look at the other more common products, they average around £45 a month (£540 a year) but, as I have found, each one I have used has it's drawbacks which would add extra work needed so they are not an ideal choice.

The simPRO software integrates with everything with no additional steps required but is this worth the asking price!

One thing is certain, I have to start using some form of management software as I can no longer keep spending hours every night manually filling forms out when a single software package can do it all for me in a matter of minutes.

Exponential said:
Hi guys,

Just thought I would update those who are interested.

Had a chat with a lad called Joe at simPRO on Friday about their software and he took me through a demo which was quite interesting. It seems to tick every box really and will integrate with everything I currently use and more.
The layout is very similar to all the other packages I've tried and looks simple enough to use but, like any new software, it will take a good while to get get the best out of it. I'm really interested but the price is significantly higher than the regular stuff.
It is the sort of software that grows as your business does due to the massive functionality of it and would be great foundation to build upon.

Here is the process:

Firstly, you have to go through their "implementation" process. For me that's 3 days worth of somebody walking me through the software and how to use it. Personally, for a small business like mine, I feel that 3 days is excessive and would probably only need 1 day as I will only be using around 25% of the features.

These days are billed at £700 per day with a current "offer" of half price if you book before a certain date (typical sales tactics) so a grand total of £1050 for 3 days.

What do they mean by implementation process, 3 days straight off just creates information overload I would rather have some sort of split so a 2 and 1 with a week or 2 between which gives you time to find all the questions and problems you have found

Exponential said:
Then there's the monthly subscription cost which is billed at £104 per month inclusive of VAT. This is for the Office package.
There is an additional mobile version that ties in with the office version for an extra £16.80 a month inclusive of VAT.
So, if I was to go for both office and mobile (which Joe of course suggests) then that would be £120.80 a month tied in for 12 month contract. £1449.60 a year.

When you look at the other more common products, they average around £45 a month (£540 a year) but, as I have found, each one I have used has it's drawbacks which would add extra work needed so they are not an ideal choice.

So can the software pay for itself how much of your time does £120 buy and will the software save you that much or more time every month that you can use as productive chargeable time, also keeping better track of materials ensures they are all charged for

Exponential said:
The simPRO software integrates with everything with no additional steps required but is this worth the asking price!

Only you can answer that one and it will probably take 12 - 24 months before you will really know

Exponential said:
One thing is certain, I have to start using some form of management software as I can no longer keep spending hours every night manually filling forms out when a single software package can do it all for me in a matter of minutes.

Be prepared the software is not an instant fix and initially you have to spend the hours getting your existing info in and build the database with a a go live date in mind when you will move all your daily operations over to the software

M-B-Electrical-Services · Aug 8, 2022

UNG said:
What do they mean by implementation process, 3 days straight off just creates information overload I would rather have some sort of split so a 2 and 1 with a week or 2 between which gives you time to find all the questions and problems you have found

So can the software pay for itself how much of your time does £120 buy and will the software save you that much or more time every month that you can use as productive chargeable time, also keeping better track of materials ensures they are all charged for

Only you can answer that one and it will probably take 12 - 24 months before you will really know

Be prepared the software is not an instant fix and initially you have to spend the hours getting your existing info in and build the database with a a go live date in mind when you will move all your daily operations over to the software

I totally agree with everything you've said UNG and I've taken it all on board.

Looking at the simPRO package, as much as it may be a wonderful product which will save me a ton of time and effort in the office, I just cannot justify the asking price! A thousand pound juts to be trained and then a further £120+ a month on top is just not affordable for a business of my size.

I am looking back into the Fergus software now. It is the best of the bunch I've looked at by quite some margin so I'm currently building it up to test it's functionality. It does seem very capable and, at £35 a month, it's affordable too.
The £35 a month includes an app which, although limited in some ways, has enough functionality to be useful.

Watch this space for further updates for all those considering Job Management software.

Oh, and by the way, I've tried the Tradify software just for completeness and it is way behind where it needs to be.
In my personal opinion, it is the worst out of all I've tried up to date. There is no way these YouTuber fancy sparky channels are actually using the product they are advertising.

UNG · Aug 9, 2022

Exponential said:
Looking at the simPRO package, as much as it may be a wonderful product which will save me a ton of time and effort in the office, I just cannot justify the asking price!

This is understandable and there needs to be a quantifiable return on the investment made, if you are looking to grow your business / employ others in the long term then there may be some gains to simPRO product once the business starts to grow

Exponential said:
A thousand pound juts to be trained and then a further £120+ a month on top is just not affordable for a business of my size.

That is a bit steep and I do wonder how many enquiries simPRO actually turn into sales because of that

Exponential said:
I am looking back into the Fergus software now. It is the best of the bunch I've looked at by quite some margin so I'm currently building it up to test it's functionality. It does seem very capable and, at £35 a month, it's affordable too.
The £35 a month includes an app which, although limited in some ways, has enough functionality to be useful.

Software will always improve and evolve from user feedback I don't know how long any of the software products you have looked at so far have been in the marketplace and how they have changed during that time

Exponential said:
Watch this space for further updates for all those considering Job Management software.

Not that I'm looking for business software but I'm interested on how you prgress with this

Exponential said:
Oh, and by the way, I've tried the Tradify software just for completeness and it is way behind where it needs to be.
In my personal opinion, it is the worst out of all I've tried up to date. There is no way these YouTuber fancy sparky channels are actually using the product they are advertising.

They don't call them influencers for nothing the money they earn from advertising one software might well be spent on another

Sparky's Auntie · Aug 11, 2022

Exponential said:
Hi all.

I am pondering on the idea of using a job management software package for my business.
I have a large number of clients with many of them being repeat customers and I'm running myself into the ground with paperwork!
Tracking each job and what stage it is at is becoming a bit of a chore and is adding a lot of stress to my already busy day.
I've tried my best to organise each client into their own folder and sub folders but it's getting difficult to manage.
I'm a Sole Trader so I'm doing literally everything myself and I can't afford to go Ltd and employ somebody.

Are any of you guys using job management software like ServiceM8, Tradify or the like???
If so, what are your thoughts and is it worth it?

I've watched a number of intro videos on a few of them and they make it look so easy but something tells me that it ain't gonna be so simple.....

Cheers.

Hi there, I'm a bit late to reply but I can recommend xero too. Without it I'd be up to my neck in word documents. I'm looking into a Job Number allocation facility that's within the system too.

I don't want to hijack your thread but my problem is that I was dragged out of retirement to help out, so am very inexperienced in the ways of a good admin assistant. What is the best way to keep on top of where a job is up to? I'm not sure of the most effective way of doing it. I end up trawling through emails and trying to get a handle on it.

Sorry to butt in

M-B-Electrical-Services · Aug 20, 2022

Sparky's Auntie said:
Hi there, I'm a bit late to reply but I can recommend xero too. Without it I'd be up to my neck in word documents. I'm looking into a Job Number allocation facility that's within the system too.

I don't want to hijack your thread but my problem is that I was dragged out of retirement to help out, so am very inexperienced in the ways of a good admin assistant. What is the best way to keep on top of where a job is up to? I'm not sure of the most effective way of doing it. I end up trawling through emails and trying to get a handle on it.

Sorry to butt in

Hi,

Yeah, Xero is great accounting software but, as far as I'm aware, that's all it is good for really, accounting.

Your question about keeping on top of where a job is up to is the reason I started this post really.
I was really struggling to get to grips with not only where my jobs are currently up to but, and here's the most important one, have I been paid!
Here is a small snippet of the home page of the software I'm using, I can only show a very small section as the page contains sensitive information but essentially, this home page allows me to see where my jobs are currently at a glance.

[ElectriciansForums.net] Anybody using Job Management Software?

Now I've only just started using this software in the last couple of weeks so there are only a handful of jobs on there at the minute but you get the general idea.
I have found this software to be really helpful in allowing me to track a job from start to finish. I can add notes, files, certification , site pictures, RAMS, insurance docs etc etc to each individual job which the client can see via a portal.

Don't get me wrong, it takes a bit of getting used to and you'll need to commit some time to learn it but other than doing it manually as you are doing now, I don' think there is another way around job tracking.

Anybody using Job Management Software?

M-B-Electrical-Services

M-B-Electrical-Services

baldelectrician

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M-B-Electrical-Services

UNG

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M-B-Electrical-Services

Alan-N

M-B-Electrical-Services

M-B-Electrical-Services

Final opportunity for businesses to access Help to Grow: Digital scheme

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UNG

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UNG

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Sparky's Auntie

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