The 5 Best HVAC Software Options for Your Small Business

HVAC field service companies are challenging to run, and you need good software to do it. Choose from one of these five HVAC software options to run your company more efficiently and save money.

The HVAC industry is booming. It already employs nearly 400,000 people in the United States, but it's projected to grow by 13% -- nearly 50,000 jobs, which is much faster than average -- over the next decade, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The increase is thanks to booming commercial and residential building construction.

Chances are, your firm is probably growing as well. While that is certainly something every business owner hopes to do, this is a demanding field that quickly becomes more complex with each technician you add to your team.

You may have found it’s simply too much for you to handle with spreadsheets, and are looking for software that is well-suited for an HVAC company. Well, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve found a few software options that would be a particularly good fit for your company.

Here the top HVAC software options for your small business:

• Best for small businesses: Jobber
• Best for overall features: mHelpDesk
• Best for mobile app: Service Fusion
• Best for support: FieldEdge
• Best for tracking technicians: Intuit Field Service Management

What to look for in a great HVAC software

HVAC companies are constantly on the go, and they need software that can handle the complex needs of this demanding business. As a result, when choosing field service management software, you should look for options that have three characteristics in particular.

1. An easy-to-use interface

It does no good to have work order software with extensive, powerful features if you find it impossible to use due to a cluttered or confusing interface.

Sometimes, that's in the eye of the beholder, so you'll want to make sure that any software option you choose makes sense to you and your team -- otherwise, it's just going to result in headaches down the road.

2. A good mobile app

HVAC businesses have people in the field almost constantly. It's what they do. As a result, you need software that offers a mobile app so your technicians can access key functions, such as invoicing or clocking in, via their phones.

The mobile app doesn't need to have all of the software’s features, but it should have a clean, simple interface and the most important functions readily available to your team.

3. Strong invoicing and technician tracking tools

A big part of any field service management business -- HVAC included -- is the ability to quickly and efficiently invoice customers both in the field and at the home office.

It's also important to be able to track your technicians, so you can ensure they're taking the most efficient routes to cut down on costs and so you know where they are at at all times for technician scheduling purposes.

Our top 5 picks for HVAC software options

There are a lot of software options out there, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. We found five of the best options for HVAC businesses and broke down where they stood out the most.

1. Best for small businesses: Jobber

Jobber is a great, simple HVAC service software option that does a lot of things well, and its low price point makes it a particularly good option for small HVAC businesses which don't need a big enterprise field service management platform.

It has a lot of great features that managers will find attractive, particularly when it comes to invoicing. It helps to organize your invoices and makes it easy for technicians in the field to generate and finalize invoices through the mobile app.

Additionally, the app allows technicians to check in quickly with the Time Sheet button and manage their time with the Clock In button.

Pricing: Ranging from $69/month for a single user in their core plan to $169 month for up to 5 users in their connect plan and topping out at $349/month for up to 15 users in their Grow plan. All plans also offer annual subscriptions discounts.

Jobber helps simplify invoice management. Image source: Author

Read The Ascent’s full Jobber review

2. Best for overall features: mHelpDesk

Here's what makes mHelpDesk so great: features, features, and more features. When you have a chance to tuck into this software, you'll be impressed by all the things you can do.

Its billing and invoicing functions are well-organized and make it easy to dial them up quickly, as well as show you where invoices stand and which are still unfulfilled.

The user interface is solid as well, with a daily calendar that pops up on the main dashboard so you immediately see what's going on today. It provides a great top-down look at your organization's activities, and you can get more detailed from there.

We were also impressed with their customer service, which is helpful, and it's easy to get someone on the phone.

Pricing: Pricing starts at $169/month for the "Pro" version, which allows you to manage a small team of up to three users (additional users are $45/month each). The third tier is $374/month for up to 10 users (additional users are $35/month each), and you also get custom job forms, 10,000 text message alerts, and other extras. A Custom option is available for businesses that need unlimited users.

mHelpDesk provides a top-down view of your HVAC company’s current situation. Image source: Author

Read The Ascent’s full mHelpDesk review

3. Best for mobile app: Service Fusion

We were quite impressed with Service Fusion's mobile app, which is simple, intuitive, and everything an HVAC technician needs to do his job right from their phone. The desktop version is simple as well, and it's easy for even tech novices to handle, even if they’ve never dealt with HVAC business software before.

There are other great aspects of Service Fusion, including the fact that it can track technicians on the road, and it's incredibly easy to create work orders because it auto-fills it with customers' names.

There's also a routing feature for an extra charge that helps you check on your drivers and ensure they have access to the most efficient routes (and so you can monitor their driving habits).

Pricing: Even though it’s not free HVAC software, Service Fusion is one of the most affordable options out there, offering unlimited users for each of its three tiers: Starter at $99/month, Plus at $199/month, and Pro at $349/month.

Service Fusion creates an accessible profile for each of your jobs. Image source: Author

Read The Ascent’s full Service Fusion review

4. Best for support: FieldEdge

FieldEdge is a particularly good HVAC management software option for larger businesses that want to get to the next level, particularly because they offer such good customer support which is essential if you're getting features-packed software for a larger team.

There's also a lot of customization potential in this software, which is ideal for larger firms who want a software option that will fit them like a glove. A FieldEdge representative will guide you through the process of training users and integrating data into the new software.

Sadly, that also means a fairly high price point that may discourage smaller companies.

Some of its unique features include live QuickBooks integration, as well as a built-in price book of HVAC inventory items.

Pricing: There's some sticker shock with FieldEdge for sure, with a one-time $4,000 remote training and setup fee just to get started. A phone call to their support team found that licenses generally run $100/month per user for desktop users and $125/month per user for field technicians. However, you may be able to negotiate better terms depending on your business.

FieldEdge keeps detailed information on your customers. Image source: Author

Read The Ascent’s full FieldEdge review

5. Best for tracking technicians: Intuit Field Service Management

As you would expect from the folks behind Quickbooks, Intuit Field Service Management serves as great HVAC accounting software. It also has a simple user interface that will make it easy for you to manage the administrative aspects of your business.

But it is quite effective as HVAC dispatch software as well. It has a feature called "Bread Crumbs," which enables you to monitor the routes your technicians are taking so you can come up with more efficient routes to save money -- or to just keep an eye on them to ensure they're driving safely.

Its mobile app is helpful for technicians, with a simple interface that pops up the task at hand along with necessary customer information, such as the customer's details and how long the job is expected to take.

Pricing: There's only one version of the software, but it's priced in three different tiers: $35/month per user for 10 users or less; $31/month per user for 11-40 users; and $28/month per user for 41-101 users.

Intuit Field Service Management has impressive inventory management capabilities. Image source: Author

Read The Ascent’s full Intuit Field Service Management review

It’s time to take a deep look at your business

While these are all excellent software options that most will find useful, the reality is that every business is different, and there's no one-size-fits-all software option out there.

If you're stuck looking for software, take a moment to write down some of the attributes that matter most to you. Perhaps that is more organized accounting and administration, or maybe invoicing has become a time-consuming nightmare.

You might be surprised by how different what you thought was important to your business compares to what is actually important once you think about it. Taking this introspective approach to what is really holding your business back will guide you to the right solution.