HVACBossPro Blog — HVAC Software

User Roles in HVAC Software: The Owner, the Office and the Techs

In a one-truck HVAC company, the owner sees everything because the owner does everything. Add an office manager, a second tech and a part-timer who answers phones in summer, and the question comes up: who should see what? Who can change prices? Who can see the money? User roles are how HVAC software answers that.

Numbers Belong to Some People, Not All

HVAC Software Reports: The Numbers a Small Heating and Air Owner Should Check ended with the point that not everyone needs every number. This guide covers how HVACBossPro splits the people in your company into office users and employees, and how to set each up sensibly.

Two Kinds of People

HVACBossPro separates the people in your company into two groups:

• Office users log in to the office side. They take calls, dispatch, build estimates, send invoices and see the money. Each office user has a role that controls what they can do.
• Employees are your techs. They log in to the tech app with your company login and their own personal PIN, run their route, complete jobs and clock in and out. They do not see the office side.

Employees are unlimited on every plan. The number of office users depends on the plan; the HVAC Software Pricing: What $59, $89 and $199 a Month Cover guide has the details.

The Owner

The owner's account sees everything: customers, jobs, prices, invoices, payments, reports, settings and other users. Only the owner, or someone the owner fully trusts, should have this level.

Even if the owner spends most days in a van, keep the owner account separate from a tech PIN. When the owner runs calls, they can log into the tech app like any other employee, so their field work is recorded the same way as everyone else's.

Office Users

Office users are whoever handles the phone, the schedule and the billing. In a small HVAC company that might be:

• An office manager who dispatches, builds estimates, invoices and handles past-due accounts.
• A spouse or partner doing the books, who needs invoices, payments and reports but rarely touches the schedule.
• A seasonal phone person who books calls and answers texts during the summer rush.

Give each person their own login. Shared logins make it impossible to know who changed what, and when someone leaves, you have to change the password for everyone. With roles, a seasonal phone person can book calls and text customers without seeing payroll or changing your service list prices.

Employees: PINs and Vans

Each tech gets a personal PIN and a van assignment. That does several things:

• The right jobs on the right phone. Jobs assigned to Van 2 show on the phone of whoever is driving Van 2.
• Accountability. Every Start, Complete, photo and note is tied to the tech who did it.
• Time clock records. Hours belong to the right person.
• Crew GPS. The office map shows where each van is.

When a tech switches vans for a day, change the van assignment and their phone shows the new route. When a tech leaves the company, turn off their PIN. Gate codes, customer addresses and access notes stop being available to them the moment you do.

What Techs Should and Should Not See

Techs need everything about the job: the customer, the address, the equipment, the access notes, past notes and the work to be done. They need to be able to complete the job, take photos and trigger the invoice.

They generally do not need to see company revenue, other techs' hours or your full customer list. Keeping the tech app focused on the day's calls is good for privacy, and it is also simpler for the tech, who just wants to know where to go next.

Setting Up Roles in a Small Shop

A sensible starting point for a two-to-five van HVAC company:

• Owner: full access.
• Office manager: scheduling, customers, estimates, invoicing and payments.
• Bookkeeper: invoices, payments and reports.
• Techs: employees with PINs and van assignments, tech app only.

Start tighter than you think you need. It is easy to give someone more access when they ask for it, and awkward to take access away after they have had it. A new office hire can begin with scheduling and customers, and pick up invoicing once they have learned the system.

Review users when someone joins or leaves, and once a season otherwise. Old logins for people who no longer work for you are a needless risk.

Role setup looks different in a one-van shop, where the owner does almost everything; that is next in HVAC Software for a One-Van Shop: Running Calls, Quotes and Billing Yourself. To see the full system, visit the HVAC software page.