Anybody using Job Management Software?

[M-B-Electrical-Services]

servicem8 is not too bad, had the trial but didnt get enough use out of it to justify it right now. found it very good

Its iPad only though that's the problem. The more I look, the more I see that each one does one thing well but misses the target on the rest. This isn't going to be easy......

 

[UNG]

Its iPad only though that's the problem. The more I look, the more I see that each one does one thing well but misses the target on the rest. This isn't going to be easy......

This is the problem with off the shelf software but it is a much cheaper option than bespoke software so you have to adapt to the software developers offering, sometimes it can be worthwhile speaking to the software developers as they will have a future development process for updates and may already have some additional features you need in the pipeline or include some of your needs / ideas in the future

 

[M-B-Electrical-Services]

This is the problem with off the shelf software but it is a much cheaper option than bespoke software so you have to adapt to the software developers offering, sometimes it can be worthwhile speaking to the software developers as they will have a future development process for updates and may already have some additional features you need in the pipeline or include some of your needs / ideas in the future

You're right of course. I will be having a conversation with a SimPro rep on Monday about their software but my main concern is pricing really. It has to be justified vs the time I currently spend (which is hours) manually filling out paperwork.
If SimPro is too expensive, I'll opt for one of the more mainstream options and just make it work for me.
Either way, I'll be sure to report back with my findings for anybody else considering doing the same as me.

 

[DefyG]

Read an article yesterday in July/August edition of PE about a system called 'Fergus', which might be worth looking at further?

 

[M-B-Electrical-Services]

Read an article yesterday in July/August edition of PE about a system called 'Fergus', which might be worth looking at further?

As it happens, I'm on a 14 day trial with these guys at the moment. Still getting to grips with it. The only thing I've found I don't like up now about that is I can't seem to change/alter the layout of the quotation/estimate form. It's not as intuitive as YourTradeBase I'm also trying. YourTradeBase is much simpler to use but isn't as detailed.

As I said, they're all different and useful in their own way.

 

[UNG]

You're right of course. I will be having a conversation with a SimPro rep on Monday about their software but my main concern is pricing really. It has to be justified vs the time I currently spend (which is hours) manually filling out paperwork.
If SimPro is too expensive, I'll opt for one of the more mainstream options and just make it work for me.
Either way, I'll be sure to report back with my findings for anybody else considering doing the same as me.

The problem is at the buying stage it can be difficult to justify the cost until you are 3, 6, or even 12 or more month's into using the software other thing to assess is how one piece of software will integrate or export it's information to other software packages as I mentioned in an earlier post as that is where the real time saving is to be found

 

[baldelectrician]

As it happens, I'm on a 14 day trial with these guys at the moment. Still getting to grips with it. The only thing I've found I don't like up now about that is I can't seem to change/alter the layout of the quotation/estimate form. It's not as intuitive as YourTradeBase I'm also trying. YourTradeBase is much simpler to use but isn't as detailed.

As I said, they're all different and useful in their own way.

I was VERY unimpressed with Your Tradebase, I paid upfront for a month and when I decided not to continue with the subscription I could not get any access to the software (despite paying for it in advance)

Poor show

 

[M-B-Electrical-Services]

The problem is at the buying stage it can be difficult to justify the cost until you are 3, 6, or even 12 or more month's into using the software other thing to assess is how one piece of software will integrate or export it's information to other software packages as I mentioned in an earlier post as that is where the real time saving is to be found

Very true. The time it is taking me to input all the various values in each category is excessive but it's hard to know which one to actually spend time doing the data input to.

I understand that the software is an investment though and I do need to pick the correct one based on the criteria you suggested in an earlier post.

 

[M-B-Electrical-Services]

I was VERY unimpressed with Your Tradebase, I paid upfront for a month and when I decided not to continue with the subscription I could not get any access to the software (despite paying for it in advance)

Poor show

YourTradeBase was initially very refreshing as it was very simple to use and quite intuitive BUT it's the "simple" part of this sentence that describes the product. I have an info@ email address which is customised to my business but YTB won't integrate in into their software so I'm forced to use their generic email system which looks god awful! Not only that, there is a "I'm using YTB" logo at the bottom of every email so its a no go.
I do like the customisable quote/invoice layout function though, that's quite clever but that's it's main selling point for me.

Fergus is going in the bin too as this software doesn't allow for any customisation of your quotes/invoices at all. You're left with what the software designer thinks it should look like. I want my quotes/invoices/receipts to look professional as I feel that your documentation is a extension of your business and therefore if the quote/estimate looks like a child did it, you've no chance of winning the work. Fergus does a lot right though and maybe I'm missing a trick with it but I don't think it's for me.

I'm currently demoing JobLogic which is quite impressive! Very very detailed software with oodles of customisation. I love the client creation section as there are lots of options to add various people within an organisation and their specific roles and contact details. This one looks good up to now.
Their quotation/invoice section etc etc on the other hand will take some getting used to as, in order to customise the documents to your business, you have to upload a DocX letterheaded file and manually copy and paste the various bits of info over to it to act as a template. So lots of copying this sort of stuff:

@@CustomerName@@

@@CustomerFullAddress@@

@@CustomerReferenceNumber@@

@@CustomerAccountNumber@@

@@CustomerContactName@@

@@CustomerContactTelephone@@

@@CustomerContactEmail@@

@@CustomerBillingAddress@@

I'm not so sure yet.............

 

[M-B-Electrical-Services]

Frustrated with Fergus as it's quotation section is just too limited. I'll not bother trying with that anymore.
The only good thing Fergus does which none of the others can do is that it integrates with my existing email address.

JobLogic is really good but again, there is no option to integrate with your existing email set up. Plus, when it does sent an email it sends it as a Word DocX file which 1. looks crap and 2. is open to editing and 3. has a daft "powered by JobLogic" symbol as the footer.

If I was to continue to use it, I would have to download each file, convert it to a PDF then send it via my own email address which kind of the defeats the purpose of automation.

Not fully impressed with any of them up to now.

 

[baldelectrician]

Frustrated with Fergus as it's quotation section is just too limited. I'll not bother trying with that anymore.
The only good thing Fergus does which none of the others can do is that it integrates with my existing email address.

JobLogic is really good but again, there is no option to integrate with your existing email set up. Plus, when it does sent an email it sends it as a Word DocX file which 1. looks crap and 2. is open to editing and 3. has a daft "powered by JobLogic" symbol as the footer.

If I was to continue to use it, I would have to download each file, convert it to a PDF then send it via my own email address which kind of the defeats the purpose of automation.

Not fully impressed with any of them up to now.

I am using Xero for this

They let you add a docx that is customisable to my own spec.

My quotes havd 6 pages after the inital cost which includes terms and also cooling off period stuff (legally requiured)

ALthough Xero does not do time management softwaer I find it works for me jost now, would I switch over to a software package that links to Xero and manages jobs etc- maybe

I know a heating engineer that used powered now (which I tried) and he found that once the first year is up the price hiked up quite a bit

So Xero and Outlook does it for me.
We also use dropbox for the photos (my son does not want to use One drive photo sync as he has his own photos he does not want to sync - I shudder to think)
So it all just about works.

 

[M-B-Electrical-Services]

I am using Xero for this

They let you add a docx that is customisable to my own spec.

My quotes havd 6 pages after the inital cost which includes terms and also cooling off period stuff (legally requiured)

ALthough Xero does not do time management softwaer I find it works for me jost now, would I switch over to a software package that links to Xero and manages jobs etc- maybe

I know a heating engineer that used powered now (which I tried) and he found that once the first year is up the price hiked up quite a bit

So Xero and Outlook does it for me.
We also use dropbox for the photos (my son does not want to use One drive photo sync as he has his own photos he does not want to sync - I shudder to think)
So it all just about works.

I might have to look into this a little more as this little rabbit hole is getting deeper and deeper the more I look.
It seems to me that the majority of these software packages are hampered in some way or another.

My accountant uses QuickBooks so it would make sense to use software that will integrate QuickBooks.

I know that Quickbooks offers a similar service to Xero so I'll take a look at that option too.

I am similar to you in that I like to provide as much detail as possible in my quotes/estimates so that there is no confusion over what my client is receiving as a service.
I am weak on T&C's though to be honest! I wouldn't even know where to start with that!

I tend to feel that, as a Sole Trader, clients don't seem to care about T&C's as I've never been asked to provide them.
They are 100% required though, I realise that.

Yeah, don't be messing with your son's pics on OneDrive! That'll not end well!

 

[Alan-N]

OK, this is what I use, and it's not perfect, and it's not integrated BUT it's free

For Estimates, Invoicing and bookkeeping (matching payments etc to bank account) I use FreeAgent , you can get it free if you have a business account with several high street banks. My accountant has full access to it, and it makes his job (and fee) minimal, as he can generate all sorts of financial reports

To keep track of jobs I use the free version of Trello, simply paste in a template to the card as I create it, and update it as a job moves through my process. It's pretty much the equivalent of the old T-Card system

And of course an online calendar, I use Apples, but Googles would do the same job.

I have looked at the available job management packages, and they don't offer much more apart from being integrated

 

[M-B-Electrical-Services]

OK, this is what I use, and it's not perfect, and it's not integrated BUT it's free

For Estimates, Invoicing and bookkeeping (matching payments etc to bank account) I use FreeAgent , you can get it free if you have a business account with several high street banks. My accountant has full access to it, and it makes his job (and fee) minimal, as he can generate all sorts of financial reports

To keep track of jobs I use the free version of Trello, simply paste in a template to the card as I create it, and update it as a job moves through my process. It's pretty much the equivalent of the old T-Card system

And of course an online calendar, I use Apples, but Googles would do the same job.

I have looked at the available job management packages, and they don't offer much more apart from being integrated

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.

 

[baldelectrician]

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.

For quotes I find Xero good

It takes a bit of time to add the items to products and services but once it is there that's it