Any software programs for 2 man HVAC company?

Al_19

It seems like it would be a great program if this problem could be ironed out. Maybe Paul has some input or resource.

I think it's worth trying again. I'm determined to get it to work.

Let me know if you try again and make any headway.

Saggs

Do any of you Wallies have any advice or suggestions on a software program that may be designed for running a small home based HVAC company. I have quick books but am looking for somthing more in depth-Thx

Al Corelli

Software

QB is what we use. You can make it "do" pretty much whatever you need.
What are you trying to accomplish that QB does not do out of the box?

joel_19

qb

It can do alot we run a 13 person company on it.

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Techman

SoftWare

We use(my secretary,that is)QB and no complaints.

Josh_10

Try QB contractor edition. It has fool proof job costing, and you can track everything.

Chris_82

The trouble with software,...

Size of your company and a good accountant...what happens is that you start to spend a lot of time with the software and less time promoting your buisness. Keep accurate records, everything to do with one job in one place, (job Costing,) and save everything. As-k Frank Blaeu used to say, and still does, "know what your costs are." time spent preparing your records for an accountant and knowing your overhead, is better time spent than learning a complicated program that takes away from what you know how to do best.

Saggs

Thanks for the advice, I think we'll try the QB and go with that. It's still in the infancy stage at this point. Accurate record keeping and "the cost of doing business" is very important to understand.

Paul Pollets

Customer Manager for QB Pro

Try the add on program from QB called "Customer Manager". It simplifies all the data required for managing customers and scheduling for future maintenence. I believe it costs $75. and must be ordered directly from QB.

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Al_19

I bought Customer Manager a while back at Staples. I never got set up with it though, because there was a problem sharing info between QB and QBCM. The info didn't match up when importing from one to the other. A customer's name would end up as a business name, or an address or phone # would end up as something else. There was a lot of discussion on QB's website about it.

Have they ironed that out? It seemed like it would be perfect to complement QB's.

Cosmo_3

1 1/2 years later

I bought the customer manager more than a year and a half ago. It would never run correctly, everytime I tried to import from Outlook, Customer Manager would shut down. I spent too many hours on the phone with Intuit, Microsoft and to no avail.

The last thing the tech support guy told me was that I should just buy a new computer. Thanks a lot man... for nothing


Cosmo

heatboy

Have used QB for ten years............

and my accountant apprciates it! I'm usually the first one at his door with the prvious year's numbers ( gotta get ready for 4/15).

Here is a question about QB. Is there anywhere where I can track who pays the quickest and slowest over the long term? I can't seem to find it anywhere in there, if it does exist. It would help prioritze who gets service first. I know who the slow payers are (don't we all), but I would love to keep track of the fast payers.

hb

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GW

That is the most bazaar comment I ever heard. Software is meant to help you track information. If you don’t need to track (wing it), then yes, obviously a huge waste of time and money. Most people would comment that if you have service guys, and you pay them a ton of money, you’re gonna want to track them and see whose naught and whose nice. One or two guys an owner might be able to have a gut feel; that’s where I’m at.

Unless I’m all wet, it’s not practical to do this with QB. QB is great for small companies, or even bigger companies that don’t really care where the money is coming from. Or shall I say “exactly” where the money is coming from. Our “gut” can only be so accurate. Service based programs do this on the fly when the dispatcher sends techs to their jobs, and if you have it tied into a flat rate program, you can pretty much know your profit per job, per man, per week, per month, bla bla.

We’re still on QB; have yet to be weaned from the…well, you get the idea. We’re ‘winging it’ with a plumber and an HVAC guy on service, we’re still predominately retro-fit and remodel.

Successware 21 is known to be top of the heap. I’ve been looking at TMS out of Florida. I bought Wintac and never used it; I heard WAY too much negative stuff about it. It’s my own fault for not diving in.


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Steve_35

Intuit Customer Manager

CM isn't really ready for prime time yet. As of version 2 you can't do a date based search. Pretty important if you're trying to get a list of everyone you should be contacting for their annual service.

You can't print an envelope directly from CM.

You HAVE to run a specific screen resolution or the CM display mucks up.

Maybe some day. Right now we're still using Act! v6.x for our client manager. It's getting long in the tooth but so far I haven't found something that will integrate with QB, provide what I want and cost under a grand. Actually I haven't found it for less than several grand yet.

Steve_35

If you're into newsgroups

there's a QB newsgroup with some fairly knowledgeable folks.

alt.comp.software.financial.quickbooks

Nick S

Wintac

Just wondering what you heard about Wintac. I have been looking at buying Wintac Pro for tracking equipment, warranties, pma's, and generating mailing lists. It seems like a pretty cool program for the price, but now you've got me wondering.

GW

Wintac

I believe it's the accounting that is most troubling. Don't get me wrong, many guys use it and love it. Why don't you start a new thread and see what pops up?

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