12 Best Commercial Plumbing Estimating Software: Create Accurate Estimates & Increase Profitability

3 Challenges of Commercial Plumbing Estimating That Plumbing Contractor Software Can Solve

For commercial plumbers (and other contractors in the service industry like HVAC and electricians), there are three key challenges in the estimating process:

1. Job costing for profitability

2. Internal and external communication

3. Tracking and following up on unsold estimates

Challenge #1: Job Costing for Profitability

When service businesses struggle to consistently deliver accurate, profitable estimates, they’re often not factoring in all of their costs. 

Common errors include:

• Setting prices based on what competitors are doing: This results in a race to the bottom and creates a business environment in which it’s very hard to stay profitable.   

• Errors in labor rate calculations:  Plumbing contractors often underestimate labor costs by not including all the non-billable time their staff spend on activities like travel, training, and equipment maintenance as well as sick days, holidays, and vacations. This adds up to around 50% of working hours.

• Not keeping up-to-date with materials costs: Mistakes are more likely if you use a physical pricebook and/or one that relies on you checking and transferring price updates manually. This can narrow your margins and directly affect your bottom line.   

Challenge #2: Internal & External Communication 

Customer communication is especially important with commercial clients, who require highly specific documentation. 

Information is easily lost when emails, photos, and text messages are stored on the individual phones of technicians. This causes delays in providing the documentation needed to get jobs approved, and ultimately to get paid.  

Challenge #3: Tracking and Following Up on Unsold Estimates

Following up on unsold estimates is vital to driving revenue growth. Trying to track them and stay on top of the status of each estimate with Google Docs, email, and Excel spreadsheets is very difficult.

Keeping spreadsheets up-to-date is time-consuming, and error prone when customer information is marred by typos or missing information. This reduces efficiency and is detrimental to customer satisfaction too. 

The Solution: All-in-One Field Service Management Software

While standalone solutions for job costing, communications, bid follow-up, and dispatching exist, commercial plumbing companies are most successful when their core business processes are integrated into an efficient whole, rather than operating in disconnected silos. 

ServiceTitan and other all-in-one field service management software help plumbing contractors solve these challenges, significantly improving the efficiency and effectiveness of their estimating processes.

Let’s consider the six best field service management platforms, starting with a detailed look at ServiceTitan. 

1. ServiceTitan: Leading All-in-One Commercial Plumbing Estimating Software

ServiceTitan’s plumbing estimating software is an industry-leading end-to-end solution used by over 100,000 plumbers, HVAC, and electrical contractors that integrates all of your plumbing business’s most important processes, including those that go into optimizing estimating programs. 

Features include:

• Fully integrated pricebook to create profitable estimates

• Advanced CRM to streamline communication between field and office

• Tracking features so that all estimates can be followed up

Ensure Estimates Are Profitable with a Fully Integrated Pricebook

A key function of our plumbing estimating solution is our fully customizable integrated pricebook. Service Titan’s Pricebook Pro gives plumbers access to the catalogs of a range of key industry suppliers so the prices reflect the actual materials that will be used (rather than a generic placeholder or standard price often offered by standard software). 

With Pricebook Pro, pricing updates are performed regularly and automatically, so there’s no need for manual updates. Adjustments are reflected across the entire pricebook and are accessible to all office staff and techs instantly across all devices: desktop, tablet, Android, and/or iOS mobile app.  

ServiceTitan users also benefit from our quick and efficient editing features:

• Bulk editing: You can apply edits and markups on multiple services, materials, or equipment across your entire pricebook or to select groups or categories with our bulk editing feature.

• Individual editing: Edit individual services or pricebook items manually, including as many or as few details as you want.

• Dynamic price automations: ServiceTitan’s Dynamic Pricing feature lets you set up rules that automatically update your pricing when material costs and labor rates change.

Once you’ve set your prices, creating a plumbing estimate within ServiceTitan is quick and easy. Good-Better-Best-style proposals can be created (either from scratch or customized from any of our hundreds of templates) for presenting multiple options (with financing deals embedded) to customers in the field via our Mobile App. The customer can click into each option and view further details, including the material images and descriptions.

Streamline Communication Between Field and Office Staff 

ServiceTitan’s communication features allow staff to access all customer data and job details and easily share information with one another and with customers.

Techs can source equipment model numbers and other details while they’re out in the field and document the details of their work, storing photos and videos for easy reference. This is especially handy for commercial clients with stringent documentation requirements. 

Our advanced CRM functionality and customer support means that when a customer signs off on a proposal, this can be viewed in real time back at the office. This allows staff to see the scope of work and begin locating parts, materials, and equipment for the fastest turnaround possible and optimal project management. 

Track and Follow Up on Open Estimates to Close More Business

With ServiceTitan you can follow up on open estimates in a number of ways. 

When a customer opens a proposal they’ve received via email, ServiceTitan automatically alerts the plumbing contractor, so they can check in with the customer and close the sale.    

And if an estimate hasn’t been viewed, our software will remind staff to follow up. A similar alert is generated automatically if an email bounces back, prompting staff to correct misspellings or other errors.   

ServiceTitan directly connects your estimates and pricebook to your reporting so you can stay up-to-date on every tech’s and CSR’s stats, such as estimates closed, generated revenue, maintenance agreements sold, and more. So, you can follow up on every single open estimate and also pinpoint whether these are attributable to a particular tech or sales person who may benefit from extra coaching.

ServiceTitan’s estimate tracking and follow-up features eliminate the need to manage and update spreadsheets, resulting in more closed deals and increased profits. 

Integration with Other Plumbing Business Processes

Because ServiceTitan is an end-to-end plumbing software solution, it integrates your estimating process with the entire job management workflow, from change orders and dispatching, to invoices, timesheets, and payments. This saves the time it would take to use different software and processes and reduces the likelihood of input and transfer errors. 

ServiceTitan lets you:

• Generate electronic purchase orders and order equipment and materials.

• Schedule and dispatch the work order to assign the right techs on the fastest routes.

• Generate the plumbing invoice, send it via email to the customer, and automatically file it electronically.

• Accept check or credit card payments on the spot via mobile or through the ServiceTitan portal, speeding up cash flow and reducing the need for follow-up calls.

• Integrate directly with accounting tools such as Intacct and QuickBooks so you don't have to change your current processes.

Other All-in-One Commercial Plumbing Estimating Software Solutions

2. FieldEdge

FieldEdge offers a wide range of features, including functionality for quotes and invoicing, scheduling and dispatching, service agreements, and more. 

However, ServiceTitan offers the ability to create customer-specific pricing, a built-in customer portal with base subscription, and native equipment tracking and inventory management.

3. Jobber

Jobber is a field service scheduling software that also offers a wide range of other features for field service business management. 

It offers functionality for your entire workflow including estimating, quotes, scheduling, invoicing, and more. However, ServiceTitan offers more robust, native pricebook functionality and deeper reporting capabilities, among other advantages.

Jobber is popular with small businesses that want a simple, easy-to-use solution. 

4. Procore

Procore describes its product as a construction management software. 

It offers a suite of features for plumbers whose businesses are primarily or solely construction-focused, including tools for: preconstruction, project management, training management, resource management, financial management, and analytics. 

If you’re a hybrid shop or have any focus outside of construction, this likely is not the right solution for you. But if you’re solely construction-focused, it may be worth looking into. 

5. Service Fusion

Service Fusion describes itself as an “All-In-One Field Service Management Software.” 

It offers a wide range of features, including estimates, customer management, scheduling and dispatching, and more. 

However, ServiceTitan offers several features such as scheduled report automations and property data to spot sales opportunities as a part of our base product while Service Fusion charges extra for many of these features.

6. Simpro

Simpro describes its product as an “End-to-End Field Service Management Software.” 

It offers a wide range of features for field service businesses such as estimating and quoting, scheduling and dispatching, and more. 

Best Standalone Plumbing Estimating Software Solutions

7. FastPIPE: Best Mechanical Estimating Software for Piping

FastPIPE is a mechanical estimating software product for plumbing, mechanical, HVAC, and industrial HVAC piping. 

It’s one of several products created by the estimating and takeoff software company FastEST, which also has FastDUCT — an estimating solution for HVAC and ductwork. This is an estimating-only solution with a catalog of over 150,000 items and very specific uses. 

This type of solution is limited in its utility and won’t integrate with other tools you use to run your business. However, it’s worth considering if you’re looking for an advanced mechanical estimating-only solution for plumbing and HVAC.

8. Groundplan: Best Simple Takeoff Tool

Groundplan makes it easy for plumbers to quickly and accurately count points, measure lengths, and calculate surface areas with its intuitive click-and-drag interface.

This easy-to-use software solution is entirely cloud-based, so you can use it on any device and export estimates to Excel spreadsheets or to specific project management or accounting software (such as Simpro and QuickBooks). 

Groundplan is a good option for plumbers looking for a simple takeoff tool to use with a spreadsheet system.

9. McCormick: Best Comprehensive Digital Takeoff Software

McCormick Systems is a long-established plumbing and mechanical estimating software solution. Offering over 40,000 items and 20,000 prebuilt assemblies with real-time pricing updates, this comprehensive software lets you work in multiple drawings at once and use preloaded labor units based on a national average. 

The company offers three product levels: McCormick, McCormick Pro, and Design Estimating Pro, which the company claims saves at least 50% of time compared to using manual methods. It’s a worthwhile option if you’re interested in a robust standalone estimating tool that uses generic labor units.

10. PlanSwift: Great for Construction Estimating

PlanSwift by ConstructConnect is an estimating and digital takeoff software for the construction industry. PlanSwift’s visual point-and-click interface enables users to drag and drop parts or assemblies onto digitized blueprints for swift quantity takeoffs and cost estimating.

PlanSwift integrates with Microsoft Excel so you can export takeoff quantities directly to your estimating spreadsheets and complete the estimating process from there.

Since this takeoff software is designed to help a variety of trades (plumbing, HVAC, electrical, landscaping, painting, flooring, and more), it’s a worthy contender for construction projects if you’re looking for a standalone option. 

11. Stack: Best Standalone Takeoff Software for Multiple Users

Stack is a fast and accurate estimating software solution for plumbers that lets users access item totals in seconds, easily measure lengths, and transfer data to estimates and proposals.

Software features include an auto-count for symbols such as toilets and sinks, “anytime anywhere” access and permission controls so you can easily access your bid management plans from home, the office, or at the job site and share them with team members or customers.

Stack is popular with plumbers who are looking for a takeoff tool with collaboration features.

12. TurboBid: Best User-Friendly Standalone Estimating Software

TurboBid is an on-premise standalone estimating software for small businesses. Turbobid’s database includes material pricing from several vendors, with TurboPricer automatically updating vendor and market prices weekly. 

TurboBid provides an extensive variety of bid documents, proposals, invoice templates, and reports that you can customize to include product descriptions and images. The company also offers online training videos for each element of the software so it’s a good choice for plumbing contractors looking for a user-friendly standalone option.