WORKSHOP MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
Workshop management software that gets the job done
Running a busy workshop means juggling quotes, timesheets, purchasing and stock while trying to make a margin on every job. WorkGuru puts all of it in one system, without the cost and complexity of a full ERP.
1M+
Stock movements tracked
10M+
Timesheets entered
$4B+
Invoiced through WorkGuru
54K+
Hours saved in admin time
THE PROBLEM
What makes a workshop different
Most business software assumes the work happens at a desk. A workshop doesn’t run that way. The job moves across a floor, through several pairs of hands, drawing on material you already bought and labour you are paying for whether or not anyone records it.
That creates a specific problem. The cost of a workshop job accumulates in three separate places — the hours people spend on it, the stock it consumes, and the things you buy in for it. If any one of those is recorded late, or not at all, the job cost is wrong. And because it is wrong in the flattering direction, you keep quoting the same work at the same price.
Generic job software tends to handle the first and ignore the other two. Full ERP systems handle all three and bring a year of implementation with them. Workshop management software sits between the two: enough inventory and costing to be accurate, without a project to install it.
WorkGuru is built for that middle ground — businesses fabricating, machining, servicing and building to order, generally between five and a hundred people, where the same system has to cover the quote, the floor and the invoice.
WHAT IT COVERS
Take control of jobs, stock and scheduling
One connected system instead of five disconnected ones, so quoting, the floor, the store and the invoice all describe the same job.
Job management
Every job from quote to invoice in one place, so nobody is reconstructing what was agreed from an email chain.
- Quote from templates rather than from scratch
- See what is running and what is late
- Track profitability while the job is still open
Timesheets
Hours against the jobs they were actually spent on, captured close to when the work happened rather than on Friday from memory.
- Time against jobs and against tasks
- Split a day across the work actually done
- Labour flows straight into the job cost
Stock and inventory
A perpetual FIFO inventory, so stock value moves as things happen and jobs are costed at what the material actually cost.
- Stock on hand across multiple locations
- FIFO, batch and serial number tracking
- Stock takes, adjustments and transfers
Scheduling and resources
Assign people and work areas without double-booking the same bay or the same welder on the same morning.
- Plan jobs, tasks and people together
- Schedule production alongside customer work
- See workload before promising a date
Invoicing and payment
Invoice from the job rather than rebuilding it in your accounting system, and stage the billing the way the work is actually delivered.
- Deposits, progress claims and completed tasks
- Invoices, bills and timesheets sync to accounting
- Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks supported
Purchasing
Raise orders against the job so the cost lands where it belongs, and re-cost after receipt so freight and price moves end up in the landed cost.
- Draft, approved and received order states
- Purchase value limits per staff member
- Buy to a job or to the shelf
We used to scramble just to keep up. Now we are finally ahead of our stock, tracking every cost, purchase and hour in one place. Once we got used to WorkGuru, everything just clicked.
Martin Hrncir, Managing Director at Weldingmen
BY TRADE
Which kind of workshop are you?
The system is the same. What changes is which parts of it you lean on.
Fabrication
Material-heavy work where the steel price moves and the job cost has to keep up.
Engineering workshops
Jobs that change as they run, where variations decide whether the work made money.
Machining and CNC
Setup time is a large share of small-batch cost, so estimates need real history.
Heavy machinery repair
Repeat work on the same equipment, where the machine’s history is the asset.
Custom manufacturing
Built to order, often with sub-assemblies made in-house and drawn from stock.
All industries
Forty-two trades, from balustrades and boat building to signage and sheet metal.
FAQS
Workshop management software questions
What is workshop management software?
Software that runs the commercial side of a workshop in one place: quoting the work, scheduling it, recording the hours and materials it consumes, purchasing what it needs, and invoicing it. The distinguishing feature against generic job software is that it handles stock and inventory properly, because in a workshop material is usually a large share of the cost.
How is it different from job management software?
They overlap heavily. Job management software covers quoting, scheduling, time and invoicing for any business running jobs. Workshop management is the same thing with the inventory side taken seriously — stock on hand, FIFO costing, production of your own components — because a workshop consumes material as well as hours.
Do we need the inventory module?
If you hold material to use on jobs, yes — that is where the accuracy comes from. If you buy everything in for each job and hold nothing, you can run on job costing and purchasing alone. Worth being honest about which you are, because holding stock and not tracking it is the most common reason job costs are wrong.
Is this an ERP?
No, and that is deliberate. ERP systems cover finance, HR, payroll and manufacturing planning, and they arrive with an implementation project measured in months. WorkGuru covers the operational middle — quote, job, stock, invoice — and integrates with your accounting system for the rest.
Will it work with our accounting software?
WorkGuru integrates with Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks. Clients are created in the connected accounting system when you invoice, so there is no double entry, and invoices, supplier bills and timesheet data flow across rather than being re-keyed.
How long does it take to get running?
It depends mostly on the state of your data — a clean product list and client list move quickly, a messy one is the bottleneck. The practical approach is to start with quoting and timesheets so the job costing is real, then bring stock across once the basics are being used daily.
Can the team record time from the floor?
Time is recorded against the job and the task rather than against a location, and there are mobile and kiosk apps for iOS and Android. The practical test is whether recording time is quick enough that it happens at the time — hours entered on Friday from memory are the main reason job costs are wrong.
What size workshop is it for?
Typically five to a hundred people. Below that the overhead of any system is hard to justify unless you hold stock. Above it you start wanting the planning and finance depth of a full ERP. The sweet spot is a workshop big enough that no one person can hold every job in their head.
See it running on your own jobs.
Fourteen days, no credit card, and we will help you get your products and clients in.