Windhshield Repair Software

[DRWVU]

I am opening up a windshield repair business and am looking for the best software to simplify everything (data input, billing insurance companies, accounting, etc.)...I have been searching the boards and see many different opinions dating back 10+ years...

Being that we are in 2016, can anyone recommend the best software? I have a friend who hired someone to create his but seeing him deal with 4 different screens of inputing information seems a bit dated.

[Brent Deines]

What is your business model? Strictly mobile? Fleets only? Insurance only? Strictly fixed location? Or maybe a combination of all of these?

Are you going to be doing repairs and replacements or just repairs?

On average, how many repairs do you expect to complete each month?

How many do you expect to bill through insurance?

How many of your insurance repairs do you expect to bill through Lynx?

Is low cost more important than convenience or are you willing to pay a premium price to get the features you want?

You may not have all of the answers just yet but which software will work best for you will be largely dependent on the answers to these questions. If you don't have any idea at this point I would recommend you don't spend too much money until you have a better idea of what you actually "need".

We still use Quickbooks and bill most of our insurance claims directly through SGC & Harmon. We don't have too many Lynx claims these days but for those we use a low cost EDI service. This works well for us and for many windshield repair technicians but there may be better options for others with a different business model.

[DRWVU]

Thanks for the reply Brent...We are sticking to fleets mostly due to some relationship with a few different dealerships...occasionally we will do mobile but for the most part we will be stationed at different dealers...for now we will be doing just repairs but replacements is something I would like to get into at some point down the road...1300/month (average 50/day for 26 days total from all the dealers)...bill most through insurance....not sure what to expect for lynx.....Convenience is ultimately more important but just starting out we would like to keep the cost at a minimum

[screenman]

Wow! 50 a day that is some smile making income, how many do you employ?

[Dave M]

Screenman.....really!!??

[screenman]

I thought they were talking 50 repairs a day.

[DRWVU]

Screenman....we have 4 maybe 5 car dealerships lined up....10-15 repairs at each with 1 employee stationed at each...is that not realistic?

[Dave M]

DRWVU,
Could you be more specific? 10-15 repairs per day or per month? What do you mean one employee stationed at each dealer? Are you saying 50 repairs per day or $50 per day?

[DRWVU]

50 repairs/day....1 employee stationed in the service garage where each dealer sees 30+ cars getting serviced/day....(30 cars/day getting serviced is a conservative # for each dealer)

[DRWVU]

So yes, expecting 10-15 repairs/day at each of the 4-5 dealers