HVAC software for service calls, maintenance and installs
Business Genie is HVAC software for small heating and cooling companies: schedule and dispatch service calls and seasonal maintenance, route each technician’s day by the shortest drive, quote installs with a deposit, then invoice and get paid on the job — on the web and in the iOS and Android app.
Plans from $50 a month · one month free · no credit card
What is HVAC software?
HVAC software is the program a heating and cooling company runs its work through: the schedule, dispatch, the estimate for a new system, the invoice, the payment and each customer’s history. It is field service management software shaped by how HVAC work arrives — on three calendars at once.
Maintenance is booked weeks ahead, every spring and fall. Repairs and small jobs are booked a few days ahead, by phone or online. Replacements are sold on an estimate and a deposit, and take a crew for a whole day once the equipment is in. Then the weather books the rest on the day itself.
Take one sample Tuesday and drive it in the order its jobs were booked, oldest first: the tech drives 1 h 32 min and crosses town and back, and gets to the short-cycling repair 1 h 02 min after its window closed.
Maintenance, booked weeks ahead
Tune-ups are the work an HVAC company can plan, and the work that keeps techs busy between the peaks. Put spring and fall visits on the schedule weeks ahead. Automated follow-ups go out after each job, so last year’s customers hear from you without anyone in the office remembering to send them, and customers pick their own time through online booking.
The two oldest rings on the Tuesday are tune-ups: one booked five weeks ahead from a follow-up, one three weeks ahead on the booking page. Each customer’s details and service history stay in one record, with a customer portal for their side.
Every tech’s day in the shortest-drive order
The order a book fills up in is not the order to drive it. Route optimization puts each technician’s stops in the shortest-drive order automatically, keeping every time window you promised and the length of every job.
On the sample Tuesday the same 5 jobs go from 1 h 32 min of driving to 51 min, and the short-cycling repair that was going to be 1 h 02 min late is the first stop of the day. Route optimization is on every plan, and turn-by-turn directions open from the job. See how the day is dispatched across a crew.
The no-cool call at 12:10
On the first hot afternoons, broken air conditioners call when every tech is already booked. Add the call to the day and the rest of it re-routes around it: the tech finishes the estimate in hand, is at the no-cool call at 1:17 pm, and the thermostat install moves to 2:54 pm, inside its window. Every promised window is still kept. When one tech can’t take it, the jobs split across the crew.
Replacements: an estimate, a deposit, a day for the crew
A system replacement means buying equipment before the customer has paid. At the estimate the tech sends a proposal with a deposit, and the customer pays it when they say yes, so part of the price is in hand before the equipment is ordered. HVAC estimates carry the deposit from the first quote.
That is how the install crew’s Tuesday was booked, nine days ahead: one stop, 8:00 am to 3:30 pm, two installers, the day the equipment came in. Today’s estimate on the service tech’s route is the next one.
Invoiced and paid at the job
When the work is done the technician invoices from the job, and the customer pays by card, Apple Pay, PayPal, Venmo or Cash App. Invoices sync to QuickBooks Online, and a review request goes out after the job.
GPS time tracking records the hours where the work happened, and job costing shows what each repair, tune-up and install cost to do, and which kinds of HVAC work pay best.
Try it on your own Tuesday
Put your own week into it: this season’s tune-ups, the repairs on the book, the install waiting on its equipment. Plans start at $50 a month with route optimization on every plan, the first month is free with no credit card, and the team sets up your account and moves your data over for free.
HVAC jobs, and how long each takes
Residential service, seasonal maintenance, emergency repairs and commercial work each go into Business Genie as a job: booked or scheduled, routed into a technician’s day, and invoiced when it is done. What differs is how far ahead each kind is booked, and how long the tech is on site.
A quick oneHow long one can runA stop on the sample Tuesday
AC tune-up
45–90 minCoils cleaned, the filter changed, the capacitor and contactor tested, refrigerant pressures read, the drain line flushed, and the temperature split checked at the vents.
Furnace or heat pump inspection
45–90 minThe fall visit: burners, flame sensor and heat exchanger checked on a furnace, the defrost cycle and backup heat on a heat pump, and a carbon monoxide test before the first cold night.
Rooftop unit service
1–2 hCommercial work on the roof of a shop or an office: filters and belts changed, coils cleaned, the economizer and the controls checked on each unit, on the building’s own schedule.
Thermostat installation
30–60 minThe old thermostat comes off the wall, a common wire is run if the new one needs power, and the new one is set up and tested on heat, cool and fan.
Replacement estimate
45–90 minThe old system is looked over, the house and the ductwork are measured for size, the options are talked through, and the homeowner gets a proposal with a deposit to accept it.
AC repair
60–150 minThe tech finds why the system is not cooling (a failed capacitor, a burnt contactor, a frozen coil, a leak) and fixes it on the first visit when the part is on the van.
Duct repair
90–240 minCrushed or disconnected runs in the attic are re-hung, sealed and insulated, and the airflow is measured at the registers before and after.
System replacement
6–10 hTwo installers take the day: the old condenser and air handler are pulled, the new ones set, the lines brazed, pressure-tested and evacuated, the system charged and started up.
Hours on site, 0 to 10 h, the scale of the sample Tuesday’s day. Sample figures, simulated; every business’s own will differ.
How to choose HVAC software
The test of HVAC software is the week everything breaks at once. Judge it on the things your techs and your office use every day, on your own jobs, during the trial.
It holds up on the busiest day of summer
On a 95-degree day every call is urgent and every tech is booked. Test how the software fits a new call into a full day: does the rest of the route re-order, and do the other customers keep their windows?
On the sample Tuesday: the 12:10 callMaintenance doesn’t depend on memory
Spring and fall visits are the work you can plan. Look for a schedule that holds them weeks ahead, and follow-ups that go out without someone sending them by hand.
On the sample Tuesday: the tune-upsInstalls are quoted with a deposit
A system replacement means buying equipment before the customer has paid. Look for estimates that carry a deposit the customer pays when they say yes.
On the sample Tuesday: the changeoutThe tech invoices before leaving
An invoice sent from the job, with card and wallet payment there and then, is paid sooner than one written up at the office. Try it on a real service call.
The QuickBooks sync is one you have tested
“Integrates with QuickBooks” says little. Ask what syncs and in which direction, and try it with your own QuickBooks company during the trial.
The trial covers real jobs
Two weeks is not long enough to judge software you will use for years. Run a month of your own jobs through it, busy days included, before you decide.
Questions about HVAC software
How does Business Genie help HVAC contractors with seasonal demand?
In spring and fall, put maintenance visits on the schedule weeks ahead; automated follow-ups go out after each job. In peak season, route optimization orders each technician’s day by the shortest drive and re-routes the rest of the day when a no-cool or no-heat call is added, keeping time windows and job lengths and splitting jobs across techs.
Does Business Genie work for emergency HVAC calls?
Yes. Add the call to a technician’s day and the rest of the route re-orders around it, or the jobs split across your techs. Turn-by-turn directions open from the job. Customers can also request service through online booking when the office is closed.
Can my HVAC technicians use the app in the field?
Yes. Business Genie runs on the web and in the iOS and Android app. Technicians see the day’s route, get turn-by-turn directions, track time with GPS, and invoice and take payment at the job.
How much does Business Genie cost for an HVAC company, and is there a free trial?
Plans start at $50 a month, and route optimization is on every plan. The free trial lasts a month and needs no credit card to start, and the team sets up your account and migrates your data for free.
Does Business Genie sync with QuickBooks Online?
Yes. Invoices sync to QuickBooks Online, so QuickBooks stays your accounting and nobody enters the same invoice twice.
What’s the best HVAC software for a small HVAC company?
For a small HVAC company, what matters most is fitting emergency calls into a full day, following up after each maintenance visit, quoting installs with a deposit, and taking payment on the job. Business Genie does each of those.
HVAC, feature by feature
- HVAC scheduling softwareSeasonal maintenance, service calls and installs on one calendar.
- HVAC dispatch softwareAssign calls to technicians and route each day.
- HVAC estimate softwareQuotes for repairs and new systems, with deposits.
- HVAC invoicing softwareInvoice at the unit and take payment there.
- HVAC CRM softwareCustomer details and service history in one place.
- Route optimizationHow Business Genie orders and re-routes each technician’s day.