Switching from Housecall Pro to JobPanel

Field service software for home service businesses, with online booking and review tools. If you have decided to move, this is what the move actually involves — written as a checklist you work through, because that is genuinely what it is.

JobPanel Growth is $98 a month and includes 6 users, billed monthly, with no annual commitment. Still comparing? The Housecall Pro comparison is the page for that.

What you are leaving, and what you are joining

Their published prices, so the saving — if there is one for your size of crew — is a number rather than a feeling.

Extra users are $5/mo each on every plan. Monthly only — we do not sell an annual commitment. Check whether you are on one with Housecall Pro before you plan a leaving date.

What comes across, and what does not

Worth reading before you start rather than finding out on a Tuesday.

The checklist

Ten steps, done by hand, in this order.

1. 01

   Do not cancel anything yet

   Start the free trial while the old system is still running. Fifteen days is enough to find out whether this works the way your shop does, and finding that out with a live, paid account behind you costs nothing.

   • •The trial does not ask for a card, so there is nothing to forget to cancel.
   • •Running both for a couple of weeks is normal and is not wasted money.
2. 02

   Get your customer list out as a CSV

   This is the one thing that moves in bulk. Most systems can export a customer list as a CSV or spreadsheet; where it lives in the menus is their business, so check their own help pages rather than ours.

   • •If there is no export, a support request asking for your own customer data usually produces one.
   • •Export it even if you are not sure you will switch. It is your data and having a copy is never the wrong move.
3. 03

   Tidy the file before you import it

   Open it in a spreadsheet. You want one header row and one customer per row, with the columns named something the import recognises — the full list is below, and anything it does not recognise is ignored rather than guessed at.

   • •A row with no name in it is skipped, so fix blank names first.
   • •This is a good moment to delete the customers you never want to hear from again. Everyone has some.
   • •The import does not merge duplicates — two rows for the same person become two customers — so de-duplicate here, and import the file once.
4. 04

   Import it on the Customers screen

   Customers, then Import, then pick the file. It shows you what it read before anything is saved, and tells you how many were created and how many were skipped when it is done.

   • •An admin, manager or dispatcher can run it; a field tech cannot.
   • •If the result looks wrong, fix the spreadsheet and start again rather than editing rows one at a time.
5. 05

   Build your price list

   This is the step that decides whether the switch feels like an upgrade. Put in your call-out fee, your labor rates and the parts and jobs you quote most often, priced the way you actually price them. It takes an hour or two and it is the thing that makes every quote afterwards quick.

   • •There is no cap on the number of price list items on any plan.
   • •Start with the twenty things you quote most. The long tail can go in as it comes up.
6. 06

   Add your crew and decide what each person sees

   Add the people who need a login. Roles decide what each one reaches — a field tech sees the jobs assigned to them, a dispatcher works the board, a manager sees hours and approves them.

   • •Starter includes three people, Growth six and Pro fifteen. Extra seats are $5/mo each on every plan.
   • •Roles are on the Growth plan and above.
7. 07

   Set up the company details

   Your company name, your logo on invoices and estimates, your payment details so cards can be taken, and the booking form if you want requests coming in from your website.

   • •Custom branding and booking forms are on the Growth plan and above.
   • •Card payments work on every plan once payments are connected.
8. 08

   Pick a date and run new work here

   Choose a day — the start of a week is easiest — and book everything new in JobPanel from then on. Let the old system finish the jobs already on its calendar rather than rebuilding them.

   • •Rebook anything scheduled beyond that date by hand. For most shops this is a short list.
   • •Tell the crew the date in advance. Two systems running with nobody sure which is live is the part that goes wrong.
9. 09

   Export everything you are leaving behind, before you cancel

   Invoices and payment history are the ones that matter, because you will want them at tax time and they are not coming with you. Get them out as PDFs or a spreadsheet while the account is still open.

   • •Also worth saving: open estimates, job photos you may need for a warranty claim, and any signed documents.
   • •Access usually ends when the subscription does. Do this before the cancellation date, not after.
10. 10

    Then cancel the old one

    Once a full cycle has run through JobPanel — quoted, scheduled, done, invoiced, paid — and you have your history saved, close the other account.

    • •Check whether you are on an annual commitment there. Several of these providers sell one, and it changes when you can actually leave.

What to call the columns

Name the header row with any of these and the import will find it. A column it does not recognise is ignored rather than guessed at, so an export with extra columns in it is fine — leave them.

A row with no name is skipped. Duplicates are not merged — the import creates every row it reads, so de-duplicate in the spreadsheet and import the file once.