PlumbingBossPro Blog — Plumbing Software

What Is Plumbing Software? A Plain Answer for Plumbing Company Owners

“Plumbing software” gets used for a lot of things. Some people mean design programs for laying out pipe. Some mean accounting packages. When most plumbing company owners say it, they mean something simpler: a program that keeps track of customers, jobs, techs and invoices so the business stops running on memory and paper.

That is the kind this article is about, and the plain answer is below.

The Short Answer

If you want the full tour, start with Plumbing Software: The Complete Guide for Small Plumbing Companies. This article is the short version.

Plumbing software is a shared record of your business that the office and the field both work from. The office uses it to take calls, book jobs, plan the day and send invoices. The techs use it on their phones to see where they are going, what is at the house, and to mark the job done. Customers use a piece of it to get reminders, approve estimates and pay.

The point is that everyone looks at the same information. When the office changes a job, the tech's phone changes. When the tech completes a job, the office sees it without a phone call.

What It Keeps Track Of

Underneath all the screens, plumbing software holds a handful of things that connect to each other:

• Customers. Name, phone, email, card on file, alert preferences.
• Addresses. One customer can have many, like a landlord with rentals or a restaurant with several locations.
• Equipment at each address. The water heater, softener, sump pump, shut-off and cleanout, with model, serial, year and location.
• Jobs. Service calls and recurring visits, each tied to one address.
• Estimates and invoices. What you quoted, what you billed and what got paid.
• People. Office users and techs, each with their own login or PIN and van.

Equipment is the part that makes plumbing software different from generic field-service software. A plumber needs to know what is installed, not just where the house is.

Who Uses It in a Plumbing Company

In a small shop, the same person might wear three of these hats, but the jobs are still different:

• The owner looks at the money, sets prices, and checks who is falling behind.
• The office answers the phone, books calls, builds each van's day and chases unpaid invoices.
• The techs work the day from their phone: navigation, equipment notes, photos, the inspection checklist and Complete.
• The customers get texts, watch the route on a map, approve estimates and pay.

Good plumbing software gives each of those people only what they need. A tech does not need the owner's reports. The owner does not need to read gate codes.

How It Differs From a Calendar or a Spreadsheet

Plenty of shops get by on a shared calendar and a spreadsheet, and for one plumber that can work for a while. The trouble shows up as you grow.

A calendar knows when a job is, but not what water heater is at the house, whether the customer is on a yearly flush, or whether last month's invoice was paid. A spreadsheet can hold the customer list, but it does not text the customer that the tech is on the way, charge a card when the job is done, or put the flush back on the list next year.

Plumbing software connects those pieces. A yearly water heater flush set at 365 days comes due again on its own. The address shows up on a map with every other visit due that week. The tech's phone shows the unit. The invoice is created when the tech taps Complete. That chain is the whole reason to switch.

What It Does Not Do

It is worth being clear about what this kind of software is not:

• It is not a design or estimating tool for new construction pipe layouts.
• It does not replace a plumber's judgment at the house. The checklist reminds; the plumber decides.
• It does not do the work of keeping records honest. If nobody writes down the water heater, the software cannot show it.

PlumbingBossPro also does not track parts inventory or include a flat-rate price book. You build your own service list with your own prices, and estimates and invoices draw from it.

Is It Worth It for a Small Shop?

The usual sign that it is time: the owner is the only person who knows where everything is, and the business stops when the owner is under a house. Software moves that knowledge out of one head and onto every phone.

For a one- or two-van shop, the cost is modest. PlumbingBossPro is $59, $89 or $199 a month for Start, Pro and Crew, with a 14-day free trial and no credit card. Unlimited customers, addresses and employees on every plan. The next article, What a Small Plumbing Company Actually Needs From Its Software, covers what to insist on. To see the whole picture in one place, visit the PlumbingBossPro plumbing software page.