The Best Plumbing Software
The best plumbing software includes industry-specific features like expense tracking, job scheduling, and dispatching. We tested the best systems with tools to streamline field operations and cost management.
- Customizable pre-loaded man hours and material pricing
- Digital takeoff capabilities with voice verification
- Has a mobile app for field services
- Offers a wide variety of integrated features
- Provides straightforward customer communication
- Create estimates and invoices on mobile app
- QuickBooks Platinum Partner
- Real-time dispatching and financials
We’ve used our advanced review methodology to try out plumbing software for ourselves. Here are our top recommendations:
- WenPipe: Best Estimating Option
- ServiceTitan: Best for Plumbing Franchises
- FieldEdge: Best for Field Operations
- Housecall Pro: Best for Customer Relationship Management
- Jobber: Best for Scheduling
- Service Fusion: Best for Invoicing and Payments
- WorkWave Service: Best for Residential Plumbers
- ServSuite by FieldRoutes: Best for Scalability
- Kickserv: Best for Small Businesses
WenPipe - Best Estimating Option
WenPipe has an estimating feature that can enhance the efficiency and accuracy of plumbing project bids. The software offers pricing tools for various fittings, valves, accessories, and materials for HVAC, plumbing, and industrial applications.
Importing digital job plans lets you perform on-screen takeoff using the preferred input method. Based on predefined specifications, the system automatically selects appropriate item sizes, pipes, flanges, and hanger types, ensuring consistency and accuracy. Real-time voice verification confirms each entry, reducing the likelihood of errors.
WenPipe provides pre-loaded labor hours with options for the national average, MCAA, and PHCC labor rates, which you can customize to align with specific shop standards. You can export the estimate to the company’s accounting and project management systems upon completion, facilitating a smooth transition from bidding to execution.
ServiceTitan - Best for Plumbing Franchises
ServiceTitan provides an array of tools to scale operations for multi-location franchises. 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. Its suite includes accurate inventory tracking, streamlined billing processes, and crew management capabilities. The platform’s seamless integration with popular accounting tools like QuickBooks keeps finances organized, while its dynamic forms automate processes for smarter work.
FieldEdge - Best for Field Operations
FieldEdge is 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.
Housecall Pro - Best for Customer Relationship Management
Housecall Pro offers an easy-to-use solution tailored to plumbers’ needs. It integrates key business operations such as scheduling, dispatching, estimating, invoicing, and payments into a single platform. By digitizing these tasks, businesses can increase efficiency and reduce manual paperwork, giving plumbers more time to focus on their service.
Housecall Pro’s tools are designed to foster better customer relationships by focusing on improving service. 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.
Jobber - Best for Scheduling
Jobber offers easy-to-use scheduling capabilities. Customers can book appointments online, and the system will automatically put them on your calendar. You can configure this to make it specific for your needs, like minimum time between appointments, maximum drive times, and earliest availability. You can even set team members’ available hours so Jobber will only book within those times. All of these customizations are great for making sure online appointments don’t conflict with your existing schedule.
All appointments, either booked online or manually, appear on the shared team calendar. Here, you can drag-and-drop jobs, choose between five different views, and color code tasks for personalization. It’s great for plumbers, as emergency jobs happen all the time, and Jobber makes it really easy to adjust schedules on the fly. When a team member is assigned a new task, they will receive an alert on their phone, so they’ll know immediately, even when they’re out in the field.
Additionally, the schedule syncs directly with the CRM module, where you can set appointment reminders via email or text to ensure customers are ready for your arrival. They can also access the client hub to review details about the job or request a change.
Jobber is best suited for small residential plumbers or facility maintenance crews. For teams, pricing starts at $169/month for up to five users. It’s a great value, as you get all the scheduling tools and the client hub. That said, we wouldn’t recommend Jobber for companies with over 15-20 users—you’ll probably need something more advanced like ServiceTitan.
Service Fusion - Best for Invoicing and Payments
Service Fusion’s comprehensive invoicing and payments module auto-generates bills once your technicians complete jobs. Every cost, like labor, taxes, materials, and discounts, is automatically applied, so you can ensure accuracy. Once complete, you can send the bill electronically through your customer portal or email, or have them sign directly from the site. This can help reduce annoying email chains and chasing after late payments.
All invoices are consolidated onto one central dashboard, so you can see every current and past billing from one place. Track recurring, unpaid, and late bills with easy-to-use filter options to send reminders or ensure payments are received. Like most other plumbing software, Service Fusion integrates with QuickBooks for two-way syncing. This helps keep your books accurate without having to manually transfer data and risk mistakes.
Service Fusion is best for small to mid-size plumbing companies that work on both residential and commercial jobs. The Starter plan’s pricing begins at around $195/month, which includes the invoicing module and other core functions like CRM, dispatching, and estimates. Unfortunately, eSignatures and recurring invoicing aren’t available until the most expensive Pro plan.
WorkWave Service - Best for Residential Plumbers
WorkWave Service 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.
ServSuite by FieldRoutes - Best for Scalability
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.
Kickserv - Best for Small Businesses
Kickserv 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.
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 returning 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.
Key Features
- 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.
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.
Mobile App Options
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 back in the office later in the day.
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, optimize the number of jobs you take on, and track your financials to ensure profitability. 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 needs software that will help it grow as its client base grows. Keeping track of appointments, project details, and customer information in spreadsheets or on paper will only slow you down. Look into 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 consider having inventory control, asset tracking, payroll, and customer relationship management.
Pricing Guide
Pricing for plumbing software varies based on your company size, total users, and desired features. General ranges include:
- Low-Tier: $1,000-$5,000 per year
- Mid-Tier: $5,000-$20,000 per year
- High-Tier: $20,000-$40,000 per year
- Enterprise: $50,000+ per year
Solutions are available to fit every possible budget, including some free field service management software options. Others offer limited free trials to test out functionality to ensure you find the best fit.
The best software options are also designed to fit every business size, from individually licensed plumbers to PHCC-certified plumbing companies. Several options can integrate with general contracting software for additional functionality, such as invoicing or work order management.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is QuickBooks a Plumbing Software?
While QuickBooks is not inherently plumbing software, plumbers have successfully implemented and used it for its accounting capabilities. However, QuickBooks lacks field service management functionality, so it needs job scheduling and route optimization tools. The 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 timely payments.
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. The developer or reseller knows how to use the system to its full advantage for plumbers.
