Best Tradesperson Apps: SimPro
End-to-end field management.
The Released team comes across plenty of top-notch job management software and tools. Our work is providing admin support for tradies and service businesses, and that gives us a unique perspective on the wide array of apps and software available in New Zealand and globally.
We’ve already looked at ServiceM8 and Fergus. Now we’re back with another firm favourite: SimPRO.
This handy software was created in a garage in Brisbane, and is now a global company with more than 150,000 users in more than 5,000 businesses. It’s designed to carry through from the office to the field, a complete solution for service, project, and maintenance management.
SimPRO’s wide scope makes it versatile and helpful for lots of businesses. It’s great for tradies and for other similar sectors, too. Let’s take a look at what’s under the hood.
What can SimPRO do?
There are so many tasks involved in a project or job before and after picking up the tools. SimPRO can take care of just about everything, including these tasks so crucial for a smooth trades or service business:
Estimates and quotes: on both desktop and mobile (i.e in the office or in the field), you can create professional and accurate estimates and quotes, connect them to jobs, and review quote status.
Scheduling and dispatch: SimPRO is much more than just a digital calendar into which you can input jobs. It will help you to calculate travel times between sites, track people and progress in real time, schedule the right people for the right jobs according to statistics and your preferences, and improve efficiency.
Invoicing: This neverending to-do can be ticked off faster with SimPRO’s invoicing platform which can integrate with your accounting software, connect jobs to invoices, and manage multi-phase project invoicing.
Inventory management: if you work with a lot of materials and supplies, you’ll find SimPRO’s software a lifesaver. It can sync with supplier catalogues, keep you aware of inventory levels, and let you know when to order more.
SimPRO also has some great third-party integrations which allow effective and streamlined app stacking. The ones of most relevance to our Kiwi trades clients are MYOB, GMail, iCert, Outlook, and Xero—but there are more!
Thoughts on SimPRO from our experienced VAs
As virtual assistants, our team is closely acquainted with the administration processes of many tradies, several of which use SimPRO.
Terrena says of her experience with the software:
“It’s something that you can pick up easily. Every day I’m discovering new ways of doing things or accessing information, so it becomes easier as time goes on… jobs can have multiple cost centres so that invoices can be very clear about what is being billed and also it is flexible regarding the way that information is displayed on invoices.”
Bronwyn, another Released VA that works with SimPRO regularly, calls the software “incredibly comprehensive.” She appreciates that every detail has been thought of, from customer and job tracking to financial reporting and stock management.
She also says this:
“Business owners can see exactly where their figures are without having to run multiple reports to then manipulate the numbers to be able to see what is going on with the profit margins, labour costs etc. If our clients can't clearly see or access information to show where their business is heading, they can't set clear goals for what they want to achieve in the long run.”
If you’re interested in combining SimPRO and the superpowers of talented virtual assistants for the ultimate business administration support, get in touch with the Released team!
