IndustriesPlumbing
Plumbing software for scheduling, routing and getting paid
Business Genie is plumbing software for plumbing companies, from a solo plumber to several crews: schedule and dispatch the day, route it by the shortest drive, send estimates with deposits, 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
- Cold
- Hot
- Drain
A house’s plumbing: cold water in from the meter, hot from the water heater, and the drains falling to the city sewer. Tap a note, or step through the jobs.
Plumbing jobs, and how long they take
Each job a plumbing company books has its place in the house and its time on site. Business Genie keeps the length you set for each job when it routes the day, so a three-hour water heater and a twenty-minute backflow test are not treated alike.
Drain cleaning
45–90 min on site
A slow or stopped drain is cabled from the fixture or from the cleanout until it runs free. If the line keeps backing up, a camera goes down it to find out why.
Leak repair
45–120 min on site
The leak is traced to its joint, valve or supply line, the water is shut off, the failed part is cut out and replaced, and the line goes back under pressure and is checked dry.
Fixture repair and replacement
30–90 min on site
A running toilet, a dripping faucet, a garbage disposal that has stopped: the fixture is repaired or swapped, then run with the water back on to check for leaks.
Water heater flush
45–60 min on site
The tank is drained through its drain valve to flush out the sediment hard water leaves, the anode rod is checked, and the relief valve is tested.
Water heater replacement
150–240 min on site
The old tank is drained and disconnected. The new one is set and connected to the water lines, the gas or power and the vent, the relief valve is piped, an expansion tank goes in where the code requires one, and the tank is filled, fired and checked.
Sewer camera inspection
45–75 min on site
A camera is run from the cleanout down the sewer line to the city main. Roots, sags and breaks are recorded with how far along the line they are, often for a house that is being sold.
Backflow test
20–30 min on site
The backflow assembly on the irrigation line is tested with a gauge kit, and the yearly test report goes to the water provider.
Repipe estimate
45–60 min on site
The supply lines are looked at from the meter to the fixtures and the homeowner gets a written estimate to replace them. The repipe itself is booked as days of its own once the estimate is accepted.
Emergency call
60–150 min on site
Water where it should not be: a burst line, a water heater giving way, a sewer backup. The water is shut off first, then the repair is made, or the line made safe for a return visit.
What is plumbing software?
Plumbing software is the program a plumbing business runs its jobs through: the calendar, who goes where, the estimate, the invoice, the payment and the customer’s history, in one place instead of a whiteboard, an invoice book and a spreadsheet.
It is field service management software set up around plumbing work — emergency calls that land in a booked day, installs that need a deposit, and customers who come back.
For a plumbing company it has to do four things well:
- Fit an emergency call into a day that is already booked, without breaking the rest of it.The 11:10 call
- Write the estimate and the invoice from the customer’s property, on a phone.The water heater
- Take payment there, by the methods customers already use.Paid at the job
- Sync to QuickBooks Online, so the books stay in one place.Into QuickBooks
Business Genie does all four: route optimization re-routes the day when a job is added, estimates carry deposits, customers pay by card, Apple Pay, PayPal, Venmo or Cash App, and invoices sync to QuickBooks Online. The sample day below shows the first of them.
Sample day, simulated: two plumbers, eight booked jobs and one emergency call, on a one-mile street grid at 28 mph.
A plumbing day, booked and then routed
A plumbing company books its day the way the phone rings: a kitchen sink backing up on the east side, a water heater leaking on the west, a running toilet, a backflow test, a sewer camera for a house that is being sold. Handed to the two plumbers in turn as the calls came in, both of them cross town.
As booked: 38 mi and 1 h 21 min of driving between the two plumbers, and the last job done at 1:46 pm.
Split by side of town and routed
Business Genie puts the day’s stops in the order that drives least, splits the jobs across your plumbers, and keeps the time windows you promised and the length of every job.
Split by side of town, Plumber 1 keeps to the west, where the water heater takes most of the morning and the sewer camera follows it, and Plumber 2 takes the six shorter jobs on the east side.
In this sample the same 8 jobs take 23 mi and 49 min of driving instead of 38 mi and 1 h 21 min, and the last one is done at 12:54 pm instead of 1:46 pm.
11:10 am: water through the kitchen ceiling
A homeowner calls: water is coming through the kitchen ceiling. They have shut it off at the main, so the house has no water until a plumber gets there.
Add the job and Business Genie re-orders the rest of that plumber’s day around it, keeping the windows already promised, and the plumber gets turn-by-turn directions to the door.
In this sample it goes to Plumber 1, who has just finished the water heater replacement on Juniper Way, 4 mi away: at the door at 11:19 am, 9 min after the call. The sewer camera inspection on Palo Verde Dr moves to 1:04 pm, inside its 11 am–2 pm window.
At the burst line
From the call until the new joints are checked dry, the house has no water. How long the repair takes is the plumber’s trade; how soon a plumber is at the door is the day’s plan.
The homeowner has closed the main shut-off, so the split in the attic line has stopped. Every line past the shut-off is empty: the house has no water.
Had the day run as it was booked, Plumber 1 would have taken the call from Acacia St, 8 mi away: at the door at 11:27 am and the water back on at 12:57 pm, 8 min longer without water.
Water through the kitchen ceiling, Desert Willow Ct: a sample call in a simulated day.
A water heater, from estimate to paid
The bigger plumbing jobs — a water heater, a repipe, a sewer line — are quoted before they are booked, and the parts are bought before the work starts. In Business Genie the estimate carries a deposit.
Follow one job from the driveway to the books. In this sample the heater is quoted at $2,170 with a 30% deposit of $651. Choose a step to see it in the app.
The plumber writes the estimate on the phone in the driveway — the heater, the parts, the labor — and sends it with a deposit asked on it.
Step 1 of 5 · The estimate, written at the houseSample data
The customer accepts and pays the deposit by card, Apple Pay, PayPal, Venmo or Cash App, so part of the price is in hand before you buy the heater.
The install goes on the schedule and into a plumber’s routed day, with its three and a half hours on site kept.
When the new heater is in, the plumber invoices from the job and the customer pays the rest there.
The invoice syncs to QuickBooks Online, so nobody types it in a second time.
- The rest of the year
The next visit
After the job Business Genie sends the review request and the automated follow-ups, so the next job — next year’s flush — doesn’t depend on someone remembering to ask.
How to choose plumbing software
Judge plumbing software on the few things a plumbing company uses every day, and test each one on your own jobs during the trial rather than on a feature list.
It works on a phone in the field
Your plumbers are not at desks. If the app feels like a web page shrunk down, it will not get used. Test it by writing an estimate on a phone with one hand while holding a flashlight in the other.
The mobile appPayment happens at the job
Look for invoices a plumber can send before leaving the property, with a way to pay there and then — by card and by the wallets customers already use.
PaymentsThe 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.
QuickBooks Online syncOnline booking catches the calls you miss
A plumber under a sink cannot answer the phone. With online booking the customer requests the job anyway, instead of calling the next plumber on the list.
Online bookingReview requests go out on their own
Asking for a review in person is easy to forget on a busy day. Software that sends the request after each completed job asks every time.
Getting more Google reviewsThe trial is long enough to run real jobs
Two weeks is not enough to judge a tool you will use for years. Business Genie’s trial is a month, with no credit card to start, and the team sets it up and moves your data for free.
Pricing
Run your plumbing company from one app
Scheduling, route optimization, estimates, invoicing and payments for plumbers, on the web and in the iOS and Android app.
The first month is free, with no credit card to start. The team sets up your account and moves your customers over at no charge, and route optimization is on every plan, from $50 a month.
Questions about plumbing software
- How do plumbers get paid with Business Genie?
- Plumbers invoice from the job in the app, and customers pay by card, Apple Pay, PayPal, Venmo or Cash App. For larger jobs such as a water heater install, send an estimate with a deposit so part of the price is paid up front. Invoices sync to QuickBooks Online.
- Does Business Genie work for emergency plumbing calls?
- Yes. Add the emergency to the day and route optimization re-routes the rest of the plumber’s stops around it, keeping time windows and job lengths, or splits the jobs across your plumbers. Turn-by-turn directions open from the job. Customers can also request work through online booking when nobody can answer the phone.
- Can my plumbers use the app in the field?
- Yes. Business Genie runs on the web and in the iOS and Android app. In the field a plumber sees the day’s route, gets turn-by-turn directions to the next job, tracks time with GPS, and invoices and takes payment from the job.
- How much does Business Genie cost for a plumbing company?
- Business Genie plans start at $50 a month, and route optimization is on every plan. The 1-month free trial does not require a credit card, 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.
- Is there a free trial for plumbing businesses?
- Yes. Business Genie has a 1-month free trial with no credit card needed to start, and the team sets up your account and migrates your data for free.
- What’s the best plumbing software for a solo plumber?
- For a solo plumber, what matters most is invoicing and taking payment on the job, online booking so requests arrive while you are working, and a day that re-routes itself when an emergency comes in. Business Genie does all three, plans start at $50 a month, and the 1-month free trial needs no credit card.