Good Alternates to ShopVox Shop Management software

[Jean Shimp]

There has been a lot of discussion about sign software management. It will be hard to find a "one size fits all" program. I am in a very small shop and our needs for software are very different than a bigger shop. I have been using EstiMate software just about every day for over 25 years. Unfortunately, the company who made it is not in business anymore. I am wondering if the program can be re-engineered to be able to function on new operating systems. I'm sure it is expensive to do this, but I think a lot of people in the sign industry would use this software. It creates customized estimates with payment terms and custom messages, it stores a list of materials and costs, it archives old estimates, it connects with QuickBooks. These are just a few features I use every day. I am keeping my older computer just so I can continue to use this program without any issues.

 

[Pauly]

There has been a lot of discussion about sign software management. It will be hard to find a "one size fits all" program. I am in a very small shop and our needs for software are very different than a bigger shop. I have been using EstiMate software just about every day for over 25 years. Unfortunately, the company who made it is not in business anymore. I am wondering if the program can be re-engineered to be able to function on new operating systems. I'm sure it is expensive to do this, but I think a lot of people in the sign industry would use this software. It creates customized estimates with payment terms and custom messages, it stores a list of materials and costs, it archives old estimates, it connects with QuickBooks. These are just a few features I use every day. I am keeping my older computer just so I can continue to use this program without any issues.

What different needs to you need vs a large shop?

 

[Jean Shimp]

What different needs to you need vs a large shop?

Simplicity. It might be better to say what we don't need. I don't want/need to track each job progress, inventory, customer relations or bookkeeping in the estimating program. I have other software/processes for those tasks and I like the simplicity of having specific programs for specific tasks.

 

[Pauly]

Simplicity. It might be better to say what we don't need. I don't want/need to track each job progress, inventory, customer relations or bookkeeping in the estimating program. I have other software/processes for those tasks and I like the simplicity of having specific programs for specific tasks.

So what's the problem of getting the software that has all that and using only what you need?

We did that for years. Then eventually grew into the rest of the tools. Some tools. We never used.

having more tools allows you to grow. You might not need them today, but next week one of those tools might be useful. All those tools are the basics of any ERP or MIS Software.

let me put it this way. I create a basic quoting software. You like how it works.
Another customer wants to send the quotes to their customers and allow their customers to accept them.
Now there's a new feature.
Another customer wants to track the accepted jobs.
Now there's a job tracker.
Another customer wants a more robust quoting with an inventory list.
That's a new feature.
Another would ask for a CRM to track all their quotes. And when accepted to track the job.

So now I have 5 customers. The software meets each customers needs. They all may not use all features, but they got what they need.

So why ask for less? You should be looking id the software meets your needs and budget.

I did it with OnPrintShop. Started on the basic plan, each time I needed more, I upgraded.

 

[Stacey K]

All my jobs go into Signtracker. All my pricing is in there, I can send contracts to customers for signature, etc. I can add job photos, notes, etc. - I don't use all the features but I like the job flow and I can add columns for weird stuff then remove.

I do my invoicing in Wave because I've always used it and it's free but I certainly could integrate SignTracker with QB.

I spend some time each week creating a schedule of the very important things that NEED to be done in Outlook with reminders.

I used to use Estimate and I loved it. I tried a few different programs and I like Signtracker best.

I use 3 programs total and two of them are free. Signtracker is $49mo I think.

I don't use all the features in any program, I pick and choose and sometimes I go back and start using other features.