We built The Wash Book inside a working fleet wash company, to replace the setup most of us start with. The schedule in one place, the units on paper or in a text, a rate sheet, a weekly numbers sheet put together by hand, and invoices typed into QuickBooks from all of it. It works. Then the company grows, and keeping it all true turns into a second job.
Signs you’ve outgrown the spreadsheet
- You type the same thing more than once. The crew text the units, someone types them into the sheet, and someone else types them into the invoice. Each time is another chance to get it wrong.
- Invoicing takes a day. Friday or Monday goes to matching logged units against rate sheets and building invoices one yard at a time.
- Only one person understands the workbook. When they’re on vacation, the invoices wait.
- The crew can’t see what they need. Gate codes, contacts, excluded units and last month’s complaint are in the office’s head, or in a file the crew can’t open on a phone. Or they can open it, and the prices are in there too.
- The weekly numbers are a month late. Putting them together takes an evening nobody has.
- Two versions disagree. The schedule says a yard was washed, the log doesn’t, and the invoice says something else.
What fleet wash software should do
General field-service software is built around jobs at addresses, with one technician, one visit and one invoice. Fleet washing works differently. A yard has a list of units, a rate for each unit type, a weekly or every-other-week pattern, add-ons on their own cycles, crews of two or three, and a weekly invoice that lists units by number. Software for it should do these things.
- Keep one record. The scheduled visit, the units logged, the invoice line and the weekly numbers should all be the same data.
- Work on the crew’s phone at the stop. A unit list to tap off, the yard’s notes at the gate, add-ons that have to be answered, and no prices on the screen.
- Build the invoices. From the log and the rate card, every week, sent to your accounting system once you’ve read them.
- Work out the numbers. Revenue by the week worked, units, revenue per unit, minutes per unit. See the weekly numbers every fleet washing business should know.
- Track wash quality. Inspections scored per unit, with conduct kept on a separate record.
- Let you leave. You should be able to export everything, any time, in a format you can open.
How to switch without losing your history
- Start with the yards and rate cards. Everything else hangs off them.
- Bring in your units and schedule from the workbook you already have. Don’t retype them.
- Bring your past weekly numbers too, so your trend starts a year back.
- Run one or two routes on it first, next to the old way, for a week or two. Check that the invoices match.
- Then move the crew. The time savings start when units arrive already logged from the crew’s phones.
When to stay on the spreadsheet
If you run one truck, wash a handful of yards and invoicing takes an hour a week, a good spreadsheet may be all you need. Software pays for itself when the retyping, the reconciling and the missing numbers cost you hours or revenue every week. Those costs are the ones in seven places a fleet wash business loses money.
Common questions
What software do fleet washing companies use?
Many start with a spreadsheet, a group text and QuickBooks, and some move to general field-service software. The Wash Book is built for fleet washing, with unit lists by yard, per-unit rates and weekly invoices.
Is there free fleet wash software?
Unit tracking in The Wash Book is free. That covers your yards, their unit lists, the crew’s wash log and counts.
When should a fleet wash company move off spreadsheets?
When the same information gets typed more than once, invoicing takes a day, only one person understands the workbook, or the weekly numbers have stopped getting done.
How The Wash Book does it
The Wash Book brings in your yards, units, schedule and wash history from one workbook, and you can export all of it any time. Unit tracking is free, so you can try it on one route first. Book a demo if you’d like us to walk you through the switch.