Service centres
Accounting software for repair and service centres
See what you earn from parts and what you earn from service charges, know the cash your technicians are holding, and close the month without a shoebox of receipts.
In short
SimpleERP is accounting software for repair and service centres. Repair invoices, maintenance contract billing, spare parts purchases, technician cash and claims post to one double-entry ledger, with trial balance, P&L, ageing and tax summaries on any date.
Illustration of a profit and loss statement for Jan–Jun 2026 with net profit of 4,691, a tax summary and the lock date.
An accounting day at Coolcare Appliance Services
The owner of Coolcare Appliance Services can name the busiest week of the summer, but not whether the money is in spare parts or in service charges. Four technicians collect cash and card payments on doorsteps, the counter takes card payments, and three parts dealers send bills on fifteen days' credit.
Year end used to mean a week with the accountant rebuilding the books from bank statements and a cash book. maintenance contract contracts paid a year ahead made March look like a windfall and September look empty.
With SimpleERP every invoice, receipt, purchase bill and claim posts its own journal when it is saved. The accountant opens the same ledger the counter writes to, and the owner reads the P&L for any month without waiting.
Which accounts tell a service centre where the money comes from?
Split income so the P&L shows parts and services apart, and give technician cash its own accounts.
- The parts margin reads straight off the P&L: parts sales less cost of goods sold.
| Ledger account | What lands in it | How it gets there |
|---|---|---|
| Sales: spare parts | Capacitors, motors, PCBs and gas billed on repairs | The sales account set on each part |
| Service income | Callout, labour and gas charging lines | An income account on each service |
| maintenance contract income | Annual and quarterly maintenance contracts | A separate income account on the maintenance contract service |
| Cost of goods sold | Parts issued at average cost | Posted by the invoice |
| Technician cash | Doorstep cash before it is deposited | One cash account per technician |
| Dealer payables | Bills for spares on credit | Posted by each purchase bill |
How do you keep technician cash under control?
Each technician's doorstep collections go to a cash account in his name. When he hands the money over or deposits it, a quick transfer moves it to the main cash or bank account, and anything not handed over stays visible as a balance.
- Cash and bank registers list every line with a running balance.
- Bank reconciliation by ticking cleared lines until the difference is zero.
- Card and transfer receipts go straight to the bank account they settle in.
Illustration: saving invoice INV-2026-0213 moves stock, posts the customer ledger, records tax and updates the dashboard in one step.
How should maintenance contract money paid in advance be booked?
A maintenance contract invoice posts the whole contract to maintenance contract income on the invoice date. For a $3,000 yearly office contract, many accountants prefer to recognise $250 a month; a manual journal at month end handles that, because SimpleERP does not spread it on its own.
- Receivables ageing shows which offices have not paid this quarter's maintenance contract.
- Customer statements for apartment blocks and bodies corporate that check their account once a month.
What does closing a month look like at a service centre?
A short list of checks, then the lock date.
- Technician cash accounts at nil, or each balance explained.
- Dealer bills matched to the purchase register.
- Sales register exported as CSV for the accountant.
- Trial balance and P&L reviewed, then the lock date set so the month cannot change by mistake.
One system
Where service centre accounts connect
Repair invoices, dealer bills, technician claims and payroll each post their own journal, so the ledger never waits for a month-end entry session.
Repair and service centres
Spares and labour on one invoice, spares stock by centre, maintenance contract follow-ups and technician claims.
See howInvoicing & tax
Tax invoices with VAT, GST or sales tax on every line, numbered by fiscal year and posted in one step.
See howInventory for service centres
Spare parts counted by back room and technician kit at average cost, with reorder levels and purchase orders to each parts dealer.
See howPayroll for service centres
Technician pay from phone check-ins, travel allowance and incentives, fuel and parts claims, and advance recovery posted to the books.
See howAccounting
A double-entry ledger with journals, bank registers, statements and a lock date.
See how
Honest limits
What SimpleERP does not do yet
- No bank feeds: bank entries are recorded and reconciled by hand
- No multi-currency; every document is in your base currency
- Tax returns are not filed and e-invoices are not issued from inside the product
- maintenance contract income is not spread across the contract period automatically
- No profit per service call or per technician: income is reported by account, not by repair
Getting started
Start with accounting
Sign up with your email
Name, email and a password. No card for the seven-day trial.
Tell us about the business
Pick your country and, if you are registered, type your tax number. Accounts, tax rates, units, roles and numbering are seeded for that country.
Enter opening balances
Enter opening balances for cash, bank, each dealer you owe and every maintenance contract customer who still owes you, dated the first of the month.
Run the trial balance
Every posted document is already in the ledger; the trial balance and P&L are ready on any date.
FAQ
Questions, answered
Can I see how much we make on parts versus service charges?
Yes, as long as parts and services post to different income accounts. Parts sales less cost of goods sold gives the parts margin, while service and maintenance contract income stand on their own lines. The P&L shows all three for any date range, printed or as a CSV.
A technician collected $180 in cash and has not handed it in. Where does it show?
If the receipt was recorded to his cash account, that account shows $180 until a transfer moves it to the counter's cash or the bank. The register lists each receipt with the invoice it settled, so the conversation is short.
Our accountant keeps the books in another package. Do we have to send them everything?
Invite the accountant as a member with the Accountant role and they work in the same ledger: journals, bank registers, the tax summary and every report. If they still want their own working file, each report exports to CSV. They count as one user.
Can we stop anyone editing last month's bills?
Set the lock date to the month's last day. The database refuses any posting, cancellation or reversal on or before it, and moving the lock date back needs its own permission and leaves a record in the audit log.
Related
Keep reading
Repair and service centres
Spares and labour on one invoice, spares stock by centre, maintenance contract follow-ups and technician claims.
Read moreInventory for service centres
Spare parts counted by back room and technician kit at average cost, with reorder levels and purchase orders to each parts dealer.
Read morePayroll for service centres
Technician pay from phone check-ins, travel allowance and incentives, fuel and parts claims, and advance recovery posted to the books.
Read more
See how accounting works in SimpleERP for repair and service centres
Seven days free. No card. Your first invoice in minutes.