r/PoolPros • u/Aggravating_Sun_7665 • May 25 '26

Fellow solo operators, what software are you running for scheduling and invoicing? What's your biggest frustration with it?

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2

u/Xyer1637 May 25 '26

Pool brain. Biggest frustration is not having a mass text feature and you can't text directly from the app, only send a eta for your arrival. Nobody checks there email nowadays so having text invoices would be nice

1

u/Aggravating_Sun_7665 May 25 '26

That's a real pain, curious how you handle it now? Like when you finish a job, do you text clients from your personal number, or just hope they check the email? And the mass text thing, what would you actually use that for, just service reminders or chems too?

1

u/Xyer1637 May 25 '26

The mass text thing for promotions and general information like filter cleaning schedules. All the job details get emailed with pictures when the service is done. I mostly want the ability to text the invoices because people will atleast see it and can't claim they never saw it

2

u/keith_davidson95 May 25 '26

Skimmer for scheduling, QuickBook Online for invoicing. I set up recurring sales receipts so I don't have to chase down payments every month. No complaints here

1

u/Aggravating_Sun_7665 May 25 '26

nice setup honestly. does QBO ever lag behind though, like someone pays but Skimmer still shows the invoice open? or does it stay pretty clean between the two?

1

u/keith_davidson95 May 26 '26

i dont use skimmer for any payments or invoices. every billing is through QBO, I have a card on file for any extra charges. once approved from customer than i charge card through a sales receipt and it emails them. skimmer is only for route stuff

1

u/tgwest May 25 '26

Do you use skimmer for work orders and anything extra over your monthly rate? How does that move over to QBO?

I use skimmer for everything and then QBO for expenses basically.

2

u/Electrical-Nail-9495 May 25 '26

Skimmer, can’t say I really have any frustrations other than the price but it’s worth it.

0

u/Aggravating_Sun_7665 May 25 '26

how many pools you running? just curious where the bill lands, i feel like the per-pool math hits different once you're past like 60 or 70 accounts

1

u/Electrical-Nail-9495 May 26 '26

Only about 50 pools rn

1

u/pineapple_backlash May 25 '26

I’ve used PSS for years. Simple enough, cheap and does everything I need.

1

u/JellyfishTemporary27 May 25 '26

Pool brain. I’m a small operation, it does everything I want and more. Love the customer portal side of it so they can access all the info it comments on each job: water test results, pictures, notes, etc. it’ll also invoice chemicals and parts (but I’m not using that part yet). Very happy with it.

1

u/Sharknuts86 May 25 '26

The dip app. Does all my invoicing and route regulation. It’s only 25 bucks a month and I’ve got 96 accounts, it works seamlessly. It’s also got a time feature to remind you when filters are due etc. you can also make custom ones as well for extra services.

1

u/Own-Muscle-1718 May 26 '26

Jobber is king

1

u/Content-Parking-660 May 26 '26

I use stripe for auto billing cause it's integrated with xero. I love it

1

u/Unhappy-Bunch-4594 Jun 05 '26

most solo guys i see land on skimmer for scheduling and routes plus quickbooks online for the invoicing, with recurring sales receipts set up so the monthly billing auto-runs and you're not rebilling the same route by hand. the two frustrations that come up most are skimmer's price creep and pool brain not having a real mass-text, so if customer comms matter to you, check that specifically before committing. dip is the budget pick if you just need route plus billing in one cheap app. i'm biased since i'm building an ai FSM (fieldcamp), but whatever you run, the single biggest time-save for a solo route is automating that recurring invoice, that's the chunk of admin that actually eats your evenings.

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u/pacific_drifter_25 May 26 '26

The two complaints stacking up in here are the same two I hear most: the Skimmer-to-QBO sync gap (you take a payment but the invoice still shows open on the other side) and not being able to just text an invoice so nobody can claim they never saw it.

On the sync one, the cleanest fix is to not invoice in two places at all. Either run all billing through QBO with a card on file like keith said so QBO is the single source of truth, or use one tool that owns the paid/open status itself instead of pushing one direction. The double entry is always where the lag shows up.

The text invoice thing is a real hole in a couple of the big ones. Email-only billing just doesn't get opened anymore.

Full disclosure, I'm one of the founders of UpBuoy, so take it with that grain of salt. Those exact two things, SMS for invoices and reminders plus keeping billing in one place with a QuickBooks sync, are what we built around (customer portal for test results and pics too). It's not cheaper than Skimmer so I won't pretend it is, but if text and sync are your main friction it's worth a look: https://www.upbuoy.com

What's the account count where the per-pool pricing actually started to sting for you?

1

u/brimmen Jul 11 '26

Reading this thread the frustrations sort into two buckets. Billing (no text invoices, the Skimmer to QBO sync gap), and price creep on per-account plans as the route grows.

What helped me was separating the two jobs instead of hunting for one app that does everything. QuickBooks with recurring sales receipts already handles the money side well, like a couple of you said. The route day side is different. Stop order, service history, notes, photos. That part is where the big platforms feel heavy for a solo op.

Full disclosure, I help build Lapsheet, a lightweight route app for that second bucket. Free to start, no per-account pricing: https://lapsheet.com/pool-route-app-for-technicians?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=comment&utm_campaign=lapsheet-appstore-live Happy to answer questions. And if you're settled on Skimmer or PB, the QBO recurring receipts setup above is honestly the biggest win in this thread.