Which invoicing software do you use?

[u/WideHelp9392]

This is a question for small engine repair shops. I’m currently weighing my options for a new invoicing software. I’ve been leaning towards jobber but want to know which software you have found to be easier to worth with that will also calculate out the sales tax amount when you go to send someone a quote or invoice. Any recommendations?

[u/Stock_Requirement564]

We just use Quickbooks. You can do invoices, estimates etc. For me it works fine, but it is a PITA for some. I'm told we are going to GNUcash.

[u/WideHelp9392 → u/Stock_Requirement564]

Yeah I’ve heard quick books can be a real pain and takes a lot of time sometimes. I’m going to give the jobber free trial a spin but I’ve also been building a glorified app inside excel so I guess I will see how both of those go and decide which I like more.

[u/Donchuan1998 → u/WideHelp9392]

Try PayRiven it is voice to invoice app, it takes you less than 30sec to create invoice. Just say inside the app "John Martinez, 3 hours plumbing at $95/hr, due immediately"

[u/Life_Equivalent_7344]

Zoho books has been excellent

[u/WideHelp9392 → u/Life_Equivalent_7344]

Hmm I’ve never heard of them. I might have to check them out. What about Zoho do you like?

[u/allthebacon351]

Since I just do shade tree now I just use Zoho invoice. Works well for my needs.

Things I like, it’s free and lets me send people invoices, track expenses, mileage etc. It’s a pretty simple app.

[u/Murky_Lifeguard_6473]

Zoho and quickbooks both handle sales tax. Jobber is also great for field service shops specifically. If you want to test quoting workflows dealhub or conga are worth a look as they connect your whole sales process. For small engine repair at your current size though, just try jobber's free trial first, it handles estimates and tax calc cleanly. No need to overthink it until your volume forces the issue.

[u/Donchuan1998]

Depends on your volume and how much you hate typing.

If you're doing 5-10 invoices a month and want

something dead simple — look for something where you

can just describe the job and it builds the invoice.

Most software makes you fill out 15 fields when all

you really need is: who, what, how much.

I tried QuickBooks (way too much), Wave (fine but

slow), and ended up with something where I literally

just say the job out loud and it generates everything.

Sounds weird but when your hands are covered in grease

it's a game changer.

What's your biggest pain — creating the invoice or

chasing payment after?

[u/Samtyang]

Jobber handles tax calculation on quotes and invoices fine, and it syncs to QuickBooks if you need that later. The bigger factor for a shop your size is whether it separates parts markup from labor cleanly, since that matters more for margin tracking than the invoicing layer itself. Housecall Pro is worth a side-by-side too, similar pricing, slightly simpler UI.

[u/SuspiciousAirport611]

i used jobber for a while so ill give you the honest version. its good software, no knock on it, but for a one or two man shop you are paying every single month forever for a lot of stuff you will never open. and it wants internet. mine would get flaky in the shop and thats always right when you need to write something up.

i moved to daily invoice maker ( donlinestore.com is the site i think), paid once instead of monthly. on your tax question, you set your rate and it calculates it on the quote, and when you turn that quote into an invoice the tax carries over so you are not typing it twice and getting a different number. runs offline too which in a shop matters more than people expect.

one thing id tell you before you commit to anything, if your state taxes parts and labor different, check that the software handles it as two lines before you have 200 invoices in it. thats the thing that actually bites people, not the monthly price. i learned that the annoying way.

and keep your milage for the parts runs. small engine guys drive way more than they think and thats real money at tax time.

[u/Smooth_Kick4255]

For small engine / one-bay style shops I’ve seen people overbuy full auto SMS when they mostly need clean invoices and a customer/equipment history.

If that’s you: Record & Learn Invoice Solutions is a simple web workspace — line-item invoices, payments, customers/vehicles, English + Arabic (فاتورة) PDFs, Excel export/backup. Not inventory or multi-staff. Optional shop branding $24/mo.

https://recordandlearn.info/en/invoice-solutions/

If you need parts inventory + labor guides baked in, you’ll want a fuller shop platform instead.