5 Best Service Business Scheduling Software Features for Plumbers

Leaky faucet? Hire a plumber. Running toilet? Hire a plumber. Inefficient plumbing service operations? Hire a … Wait a second! 

Eliminating bottlenecks in your plumbing service operations allows you to clear the clogs in your customers’ way. Service business scheduling software makes it easier to generate accurate estimates, schedule jobs, and carry out each to successful completion. Get the scoop on how it works and which features can help your business. 

Understanding Plumbing Scheduling Software 

You know your industry like the back of your hand, but expertise only goes so far. Software helps today’s plumbers and contractors with residential, commercial, and industrial plumbing jobs by keeping the wheels turning in the background right from the start. Plumbing software helps automate your processes. Instead of creating estimates with pen and paper and hustling to get jobs done, you can win by saving time, producing more accurate bids, and scheduling appropriately. 

5 Must-Have Features of Your Service Business Scheduling Software

With so many options to choose from—and the need to get it right the first time—how do you choose the right software? In addition to budget considerations and provider fit, your pick should include several key features. 

1. Estimates and Jobs. Estimates usually take hours, but they don’t have to. Service business scheduling software that pulls in product and service line items saves time. With it, you can sync with a pricing database of products and services to immediately retrieve details, check inventory, add products to jobs, and improve estimate accuracy.

In a pinch? The right software also lets you create estimates from past projects or quote templates, giving you a running start. This way, you can input material costs, labor costs, taxes, fees, markups, and more, further ensuring a fast and accurate estimate. And once the customer approves, all it takes is one click to turn an estimate into a job! 

2. Inventory Management. What if you could oversee inventory yourself? With the right plumbing service software, you can lean on a built-in inventory system and manage stock independently. Make life easier when you:  

• Track stock levels from multiple suppliers. 
• Create and manage multi-item purchase orders throughout jobs. 
• Assign inventory to multiple warehouses.  

The best software even provides options for tracking items based on serial numbers, so you’ll never be left guessing. 

3. Scheduling and Dispatching. Scrambling to handwrite a technician schedule? Nuh-uh. Be on the lookout for software that enhances your scheduling processes by providing all necessary details ahead of time, including the equipment and materials you need. Get full visibility into jobs and estimates, with capabilities to: 

• Shift times and dates with a drag-and-drop grid.  
• Send job information to technicians via call or text. 

And with technology by your side, you can leverage advanced scheduling features to see who’s available for emergency jobs and get them taken care of quickly. 

4. Invoicing and Payment. It’s just not practical to constantly hop between service business scheduling software and QuickBooks. Cut time and heavy lifting with an all-in-one payment platform that lives directly inside your software. Effective software integrates your accounting system with payment functions to: 

• Create invoices, contracts, and other documents. 
• Bill customers and get paid faster. 

Not to mention, it allows your plumbing service business to get paid anytime, anywhere. All-in-one field service software provides user-friendly in-person mobile payments, online payment acceptance, and over-the-phone payments backed by credit, debit, and ACH processing. 

5. Mobile App. “There’s an app for that” became a cliché for a reason. Everything should be accessible on mobile devices, and service business scheduling software is no exception. You need a software platform that has a companion mobile app to provide remote flexibility. 

Get all the same features as an on-premises field service software platform—including estimates, schedules, job details, and more—all in the cloud. Need information to keep things moving? Access it digitally on demand. Hard copy documentation could be missing information if you lose a sheet or two, but cloud data is all stored in one place. Use that to your advantage and: 

• Share with customers and/or teammates. 
• Create estimates on the fly. 

Solve for mobile flexibility and open up opportunities to work in ways that are best for your team. 

Find the Right Service Business Scheduling Software 

Now that you know what to look for in your service business scheduling software—from advanced scheduling features to online payments—start weighing your options. Look at your budget to determine what you can afford, then research a short list of providers to get a feel for what’s available. You can even ask your network about their favorite solutions! And don’t underestimate the power of the demo. Once you know your options, get in touch with one or two providers to schedule a deep dive into what their software could do for your business. 

Choose a software solution with the power to do everything you need. Service Fusion takes your service business from zero to hero with features to improve operational visibility, efficiency, and customer satisfaction.  

Need a little more guidance? Learn the questions to ask to inform your decision.