Auto Detailing Software

[detailbarn]

I`ve been looking for a program that would help put everything together in an organized fashion , I`ve got to many customers to keep paper files anymore. I found this program looks like an good program that could be really helpful for detailing pros. What do you guys think?



www.insightdirect.com/ind.php?indID=41

[Nagchampa]

Wow! $500 is a lot of money. Have you done a comparison it to other business software?

[detailbarn]

I`ve done some shopping for software what I`ve found is one program has one function that I need and another has one and so on , this seems to have the most features in one package , the $500 doesn`t bother me I`ve probally spent more than that on paper this year so I really need to put everything on my computer.

[johnson]

Have you looked into QuickBooks?



http://quickbooks.intuit.com/qbcom/jhtml/home.jhtml?cr=1

[detailbarn]

yeah but they don`t have any where near the features of this program. I want to have everything in one place , instead of one part in quick books another in ms works , another in a database program.

[tpgsr]

i wrote a program using a combination of excel and Visual Basic, it has mostly what i need, about 3/4 of the way through, i stopped writing it in favor of purchasing a program like this. $500 is worth it considering that i had already spent somewhere near 30 hours in programming.



Edit: i bet that the $500 one isn`t even enough for you, you would probably have to spend 1300!!! thats alot!!

[detailbarn]

don`t say that , I don`t want to spend that much.





:D



From what I can tell by the site the $500 one should be good for my I have to call the company some time this week to see exactly what I`ll be getting for the 500.

[Detailing NY]

WOW, thats a lot of money, i took a look at the sample screens and i think for a detailer it will just take way to much time. You would need to enter all that info before you even start the detail.



I use quicken and it works great.

I also use Print shop for the mailing list.

[wizardofahs]

hmm.... I wouldn`t pay $500 for that. It seems kind of shady to me. If you look at the other industries, they all have the exact same screen shots and features and everything. This isn`t auto detailing software, it`s just small business software. A lot of what you are paying for there goes into the part of the software and managing employees and everything.



I think most detailers here are small, either solo or 1-3 employees max. Having a single program would be nice to keep it all organized, but IMO you can probably find some other software to do what you need, and get it done easier. IE you can use outlook with a PDA to do all the scheduling, you can use quicken for all the business side of it, and excell for doing esimates and stuff. If you really wanted to you could get all of this stuff for free via linux.



What kind of functionality would you want detailing software to have? I`m thinking it just needs scheduling, cash flow stuff, inventory, staff, estimates. Nothing too complex. I don`t think it`s worth spending that kind of $$$. If your going to spend that much get some real business software, like quicken (or Quick Books)

[imported_Intel486]

Get Quickbooks PRO for your book keeping.



Get ACT if you want a good program to track all your customers.

[samiam513]

you could always go to the local college and offer 500 bucks cash to any computer programing major who could write the program for you.



Just be careful.. you want it bug free.

[wizardofahs]

<---- college computer programing major who likes to write code and loves detailing. Only catch is i`m low on time and more interested in the deeper concepts of CS (like AI). Find a way in which I can tie this togeather in with Machine Learning though and i`ll throw something togeather :D

[detailbarn]

Dr Jones I understand the time thing but when you have the time I`d be very interested in talking with you about writing a program. When you get a chance PM me and we can chat as to what I want and what you can build. :D

[huggybear]

My wife is a code monkey and has written software for me to use in my detailing service. it has alot of great features and is a breeze to use. i was thinking about letting a few forum users help me do beta testing to work out some of the bugs and in return would give them a license. If a few of you guys would be intrested please PM me. I was thinking of offering the software to autopians for ~100 with free bug updates for life...



If you guys are intrested please say so and i will post the features/abilities of this program. New features are addable.



the program is written entirely in VB FOR windows XP i would like a beta tester that is running W2K to do some compatability testing.



Thanks



Erick

[Thomasfl]

ACT is a great way to keep track of customers and it isn`t hard to learn how to customize it.