The Best Plumbing Software
Thanks to our decades of experience helping contractors find software, we created this guide on picking the best plumbing software.
- Offers end-to-end business management from job costing to CRM and reporting.
- Facilitates seamless integration with popular accounting tools.
- Provides customer portals enhancing transparency and improving the client experience.
- Streamlines operations, enabling more efficient business management.
- Automated reminders and customer history.
- Seamless QuickBooks integration, removing double entries and batch syncing issues.
- Simplified scheduling and dispatching
- Professional estimation tools
- Efficient payment solutions
The best plumbing software includes features like expense tracking, job scheduling, and dispatching to enhance efficiency, reduce overhead, and minimize errors. We’ve used our advanced review methodology to try out plumbing software for ourselves. Here are our top recommendations:
- ServiceTitan: Best Overall
- FieldEdge: Best for Field Operations
- Housecall Pro: Best for Customer Relationship Management
- Jobber: Best for Scheduling
- Service Fusion: Best for QuickBooks Integration
- WorkWave Service: Best for Residential Plumbers
- ServSuite by FieldRoutes: Best for Scalability
- Kickserv: Best for Small Businesses
- ECI ThermoGrid: Best for HVAC Integration
1 ServiceTitan - Best Overall
Why We Chose It: We found ServiceTitan provides a great solution for plumbing businesses thanks to an array of tools designed to streamline operations and boost efficiency. From multi-option proposal creation to real-time job costing, ServiceTitan ensures profitable and efficient management of commercial jobs. The software’s CRM elevates the customer experience, while its analytical reporting feature supports growth and profitability.
In the construction domain, ServiceTitan aids in keeping jobs on schedule and within budget through its project management module. Accurate inventory tracking, streamlined billing processes, and crew management capabilities are all part of its suite. The platform’s seamless integration with popular accounting tools like QuickBooks keeps finances organized, while its dynamic forms automate processes for smarter work.
2 FieldEdge - Best for Field Operations
Why We Chose It: FieldEdge is a top choice for plumbing software, designed to boost your business growth by streamlining operations and accommodating more customers. It equips your field team to enhance efficiency, generate bigger tickets, and deliver excellent customer service. The software facilitates easy selling of service agreements and on-the-spot payments, saving you both time and money.
Besides optimizing operations through automation, FieldEdge focuses on customer retention. It features tools for automated reminders and easy access to customer history, helping you maintain high customer satisfaction. The software’s integration with QuickBooks, invoicing features, and a mobile app further contribute to a smooth business workflow and positive customer interaction.
3 Housecall Pro - Best for Customer Relationship Management
Why We Chose It: We like Housecall Pro because it offers an easy-to-use solution tailored to the needs of plumbers. It puts key business operations such as scheduling, dispatching, estimating, invoicing, and payments into a single platform. By digitizing these tasks, businesses can increase efficiency and cut down on manual paperwork, giving plumbers more time to focus on what truly matters - their service.
By focusing on improving service, Housecall Pro’s tools are designed to foster better customer relationships. Their technology allows for online booking which streamlines scheduling and makes it easy to set up new jobs or estimates. It’s also a popular and convenient option for customers. The software also simplifies customer bill collection by offering various payment methods.
4 Jobber - Best for Scheduling
Why We Chose It: Jobber is a top choice for plumbing businesses due to its advanced scheduling capabilities. This all-in-one platform enables business owners to schedule jobs, dispatch plumbers, and track the progress of each job in real-time. Its scheduling functionality, combined with a fully integrated CRM system, allows for improved organization, better resource allocation, and increased customer satisfaction.
5 Service Fusion - Best for QuickBooks Integration
Why We Chose It: We picked Service Fusion because of its integration capabilities with QuickBooks. This lets plumbers sync details on clients and services with invoices, payments, and deposits. This can also expedite job estimates by keeping all the relevant pricing data together on one platform.
Service Fusion also provides an all-in-one cloud-based CRM functionality, which enhances the efficiency of field technicians and office staff in managing appointments, workflows, and customer interactions.
6 WorkWave Service - Best for Residential Plumbers
Why We Chose It: WorkWave is made for service-based businesses, like plumbers, that focus on residential work. It offers tools like advanced scheduling, billing, GPS tracking, and more for managing various aspects of a business from marketing to dispatching and billing. We really liked the dispatch view, which shows where field workers are at any time.
7 ServSuite by FieldRoutes - Best for Scalability
Why We Chose It: ServSuite by FieldRoutes, previously known as ServicePro, offers everything a plumber needs to operate: scheduling, customer management, inventory control, and invoicing. However, we’ve picked it because it scales with growing businesses. Multiple users have commended ServSuite for helping smaller operations successfully expand.
The software also features a mobile app, allowing field teams to access schedules and job information anytime, a significant advantage for businesses requiring mobility and flexibility.
8 Kickserv - Best for Small Businesses
Why We Chose It: Kickserv is one of our top picks because it is user-friendly, perfect for owner-operators and solo plumbers. Users with minimal training can take advantage of features like scheduling, dispatching, invoicing, and customer management which use real-time data analytics. The software also supports GPS tracking, time tracking, electronic signatures, online payments, and a customer portal, further enhancing its appeal to small businesses.
However, some users have had difficulties in customizing reports. And the pricing structure, which increases with additional users, might be an issue for growing businesses.
9 ECI ThermoGrid - Best for HVAC Integration
Why We Chose It: ECI ThermoGrid was originally made for HVAC companies before expanding to include other field-based services. As a result, we recommend it for contractors who need software to cover both plumbing and HVAC tasks. The integration of a Voiceover IP feature is another notable aspect, as it pulls up client details during calls, providing personalized and efficient service.
Unfortunately, ECI ThermGrid’s integrations are limited to QuickBooks, reducing potential functionality for contractors with existing systems.
What is Plumbing Software?
Plumbing software automates day-to-day scheduling, dispatching, and billing processes. It’s made to improve efficiency and profitability by streamlining work order management, improving document organization and management, simplifying scheduling and job costing, and tracking financial transactions. Mobile apps are another widely desired function that allows field workers to create work notes and invoices on the job site, without having to go back to the office.
By merging operational and financial modules together in one solution, plumbing-specific field service management software helps your business run smoothly whether you’re a one-person operation or part of a large franchise with multiple locations.
Features of Plumbing Software
- Estimating: Create an accurate estimate of the cost to perform each job based on the materials, equipment, and labor needed.
- Job Costing: Assigns costs to things like labor, equipment, and materials to monitor the profitability of any particular job and improve cost control.
- Scheduling: Keep track of already scheduled appointments and schedule new appointment requests based on date/time availability.
- Work Order Management: Coordinate the field work a plumber will perform by assigning labor to the most qualified employee.
- Accounting: Record and track payments made to vendors (accounts payable) and invoicing/payments from customers (accounts receivable). The general ledger provides insights into your business’s financial performance, so you can find where you’re profitable and where improvements could be made.
- Inventory Control: Track the materials and parts you currently need to complete a job to know when you need to order more.
- Asset Tracking: Track the equipment, tools, and machinery you own, know who is using it, and where it is with barcoding or RFID.
- Document Management: Store and record essential documents and files including photos from a job, service agreements, purchase orders, daily reports, and customer contact information.
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM): Track customer contact information and work history to better schedule follow-up appointments. Bring in new business with outreach automation, marketing campaign management, and cross-selling.
- Fleet Management and Dispatching: Keep track of company vehicles and inventories to ensure plumbers are arriving at job sites on time and have the equipment they need with them. Map service calls to optimize driving routes, allowing plumbers to move between jobs as efficiently as possible.
- Project Management: Coordinate project scheduling, resource allocation, planning, time tracking, task management, quality management, and document management for new construction, large jobs, and other complex projects.
Plumbing Software Benefits
Streamlined Daily Reporting
Plumbing software makes it easy for field technicians to record notes and upload imagery while on the job. These daily logs and files make a great historical record in case of a discrepancy with the customer or if a claim gets made against you.
Easier Scheduling
See when and where currently scheduled jobs are. When a new appointment request comes in, you’ll be able to schedule around the other projects, making it easier to plan service routes. You also won’t have to worry about overbooking if you can easily see where employees are at which times. With scheduling tools, you can even list appointment details to match the most qualified technicians to the job.
Better Organization
With plumbing software, you’ll be able to save and quickly access important documents from each project, so you won’t have to waste valuable time sifting through paperwork to find the information on a specific job or customer. You can also use asset tracking to see what equipment, tools, or machinery you have and who is using it, so you can spend less time looking for what you need. Inventory tracking will let you keep track of materials or parts you need to complete jobs. If you’re running low on something, you can easily order more. Having the right parts on hand will let you get the work done sooner, making your customers satisfied with faster turnaround times.
Remote Access
The use of mobile devices while on the job makes it much more efficient for plumbers to access the information they need even while on site. Your field service technicians will be able to obtain project information (including details on the issue or project and what materials or tools will be needed), scheduling in case a follow-up appointment is necessary, history of work completed for the particular customer, customer contact information, service contracts, and invoicing. The technician can also accept payment on the spot.
Improved Communication Between Plumbers and Office Staff
Both the plumbers on the job and the office staff can access project information to coordinate the work that was done and invoicing. If payment is accepted onsite, that information will be automatically updated, so the office staff knows the payment was received.
And since most plumbing companies rely on repeat business and referrals as part of their growth, CRM software makes it possible to improve customer communication as well. Having a good customer relationship management system will help you leave a positive impact on new and existing clients.
Plumbing Service Mobile Apps
Plumbers are constantly out in the field, and thus require tools at their fingertips that can allow for customer invoicing, managing equations with regards to pipe sizing, and other plumbing tasks. Most plumbing software will include a mobile app that allows access to the software while out in the field–meaning plumbers don’t have to manually notate job details and key the data in later in the day back at the office.
The best plumbing service mobile apps are loaded with features–sometimes rivaling the desktop version in terms of functionality. It includes:
- Scheduling and dispatching: Allow field technicians the ability to view their work schedule and check for new additions. In-app messaging can also be used between both clients and employees to ensure everyone is on the same page about appointment times.
- Estimate and payments: If a plumber in the field is doing a consultation, they can create and manage an estimate directly in the field via their mobile device, which can be instantly emailed to the customer. This information can also be sent back to the office for proper handling.
- Route planning: GPS tracking can keep sight of where your plumbing staff is in the field. This helps load all service stops into the app and creates the most feasible route for the technicians to take. If a new route is added midday, the closest or most available technician will be notified.
Types of Plumbing Software
- One-person company: As a one-person company, the most important plumbing software functionalities will be used to keep yourself organized to optimize the number of jobs you take on and keep track of your financials to make sure you’re profitable. Scheduling, document management, and accounting will be useful features to look for in a software solution.
- Small businesses: A small business with a few plumbers on staff need software that will help you grow as your client base grows. Keeping track of appointments, project details, and customer information in spreadsheets or on paper will only slow you down. Look into a plumbing software that provides work order management, scheduling, document management, and accounting functionalities.
- Large businesses with many locations or franchises: Large companies with many plumbers, office staff, and even multiple locations need a more complex software solution. In addition to work order management, scheduling, document management, and accounting, you should also consider having inventory control, asset tracking, payroll, and customer relationship management.
Is QuickBooks a Plumbing Software?
While QuickBooks is not inherently a plumbing software, it has successfully been implemented and used by plumbers for its accounting capabilities. However, QuickBooks falls short in field service management functionality, lacking job scheduling and route optimization tools. Integration allows you to continue using QuickBooks for accounting, but fill in the gaps with work orders, technician productivity monitoring, and job costs.
Intuit Field Service Management is one option, as it connects with QuickBooks and connects dispatchers to service managers. It lets techs see everything they need to complete a job from their mobile device, including customer history such as previous work orders. Once a job is finished, a field technician can create invoices and collect payments on the spot.
What Does Plumbing Software Cost?
The average starting price for a plumbing software subscription is as low as $26 per month and goes up to $169 per month. There are solutions to fit every possible budget, including some free field service management software options. Others offer limited free trials for testing out functionality to ensure you find the best fit.
The best software options are designed to fit every business size as well, from individually licensed plumbers to PHCC-certified plumbing companies. Several options are able to integrate with general contracting software for additional functionality, such as invoicing or work order management.
Does Generic Field Service Management Software Work for Plumbers?
Plumbing software is field service management software that has been developed and branded for the plumbing industry. Some people may even refer to plumbing software as “field service software” interchangeably–lumping together other service-based industries into one solution.
Simply put, a generic field service management software that can provide the same level of scheduling, dispatching, and billing, will work just fine for any plumbing company. Most software that advertises itself as plumbing business software will be a field service solution that can also work within HVAC or other field service industries. It’s the developer or reseller who knows how to use the system to its full advantage for plumbers.
