Service centres
Payroll software for service centre technicians
Technicians start at a customer's door, not at your counter. Let them check in from there, claim the fuel and the emergency part they bought, and get paid right on payday.
In short
SimpleERP is payroll software for service centres and their field technicians. Technicians check in from their phones, file fuel and parts claims with receipts, and payslips with allowances, incentives, deductions and advance recovery come from attendance.
Illustration of the daily attendance sheet on a phone with a Mark all present button.
A payroll day at Coolcare Appliance Services
Coolcare Appliance Services pays four field technicians, two helpers who go along for outdoor units, gas charging and heavy refrigerators, a counter executive and a call coordinator. Technicians drive company vans and get a travel allowance, with fuel claims on top in the summer months.
Before payroll moved into SimpleERP, the coordinator used the service call register to work out who came in, the owner kept a diary of advances, and the incentive for maintenance contract renewals was added up on a calculator the night before salaries.
Now attendance comes from each technician's own check-ins, claims arrive with photos, and the month's run lists every exception for the owner to fix before approving.
What does a technician's payslip carry?
A fixed salary with a travel allowance, an incentive the owner adds for the month, and the usual deductions. The table shows one senior technician's structure.
- Incentive components can skip pro-rating, so two days of leave do not shrink a renewal incentive.
| Component | How it is set | Example, senior technician |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | Fixed monthly | $1,200 |
| Travel allowance | Fixed monthly | $150 |
| maintenance contract renewal incentive | Added when you review the run | $60 in March |
| Unemployment insurance, employee share | 1% of gross | $14.10 |
| Income tax | Set per employee from their tax details | As applicable |
How do field technicians mark attendance?
Each technician has a self-service login on his phone. He taps Check in at the first service call of the day and Check out after the last, and SimpleERP flags a late start against the 9:00 shift with 15 minutes' grace.
- Mark all present on the daily sheet for counter staff, then fix the exceptions.
- Leave requests from the phone show the balance before the technician applies.
- Peak-season Sunday duty is paid as an extra earning added during the run review.
Who pays for the petrol and the part bought on the way?
The technician photographs the bill for fuel, parking or a capacitor picked up from a local shop, and files the claim from his phone. The owner approves it, the accountant reimburses it from cash or bank, and the expense posts to the right account.
- A part bought on a claim is an expense, not stock; charge it to the customer as a free-text invoice line if you bill it.
- Claims history for each technician shows what was approved, rejected and paid.
Illustration of an expense claim on a phone with a receipt photo and Approve and Reject buttons.
How are salary advances recovered from technicians?
Pay an advance of $300 with $75 a month to recover, and the next four payroll runs deduct it on their own. The technician sees his balance in self-service, so nobody argues about what is left.
- Approve and pay posts salary expense, deductions payable and net pay in one step.
- The payroll register exports to CSV for the accountant or payroll consultant.
One system
Where technician payroll connects
Check-ins feed paid days, approved claims post as expenses, and each payroll run writes its journal into the same books as the repair invoices.
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 howAccounting for service centres
Parts margin, service and maintenance contract income, technician cash and dealer dues in one double-entry ledger for repair and service centres.
See howPayroll
Salary structures, monthly runs and payslips with your earnings and deductions, posted to the books.
See how
Honest limits
What SimpleERP does not do yet
- Income tax withholding is not computed from government tables; you set the deduction per employee
- Social security, pension and end-of-service amounts are components you set, not statutory calculations
- No biometric device integration: attendance is marked on the phone or entered by HR
- No per-call or per-job incentive calculation; enter the incentive amount when you review the run
- Check-ins record the time only, not the technician's location
Getting started
Start with payroll
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.
Add your people
Add technicians, helpers and counter staff with their salary structures, and invite the technicians to self-service with their email addresses.
Run the first payroll
Attendance and leave feed the run; payslips post to the books and staff see them on their phones.
FAQ
Questions, answered
Can we pay technicians an incentive per maintenance contract renewal?
There is no automatic per-renewal calculation. Count the month's renewals for each technician, then add the incentive as an earning when you review the payroll run. If it is a regular line in the structure, mark it to skip pro-rating so leave days do not cut it.
A helper only goes out on outdoor-unit jobs a few days a week. Can he be on payroll?
Yes. Give him a salary structure and a shift, and mark the days he does not come as absent. Absences reduce pay through loss of pay, so a helper who works 14 days of a 26-day month is paid for 14.
Will technicians see the owner's books if they log in?
No. The Employee role is self-service only. A technician sees his own attendance, leave, payslips, claims and advance balance, and nothing about invoices, spare parts stock or anyone else's salary. Give the counter executive a wider role if she bills.
Is income tax worked out on a technician's salary?
No. Income tax is not computed. For anyone whose salary attracts it, set the monthly amount on that employee and it is deducted every run until you change it. Percentage deductions sit in the structure as a share of Basic or gross.
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 moreAccounting for service centres
Parts margin, service and maintenance contract income, technician cash and dealer dues in one double-entry ledger for repair and service centres.
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 more
See how payroll works in SimpleERP for repair and service centres
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