Switching From a Gas Certificate App to All-in-One Software

With a platform made specifically for heating jobs, this even extends to tools & features that help you do calculations and troubleshooting on-site.

We’ve set out the feature-by-feature differences in GES vs certificate apps, and the wider case in how an all-in-one system benefits gas engineers. The rest of this guide is about making the move.

Signs you’ve outgrown your gas certificate app

There’s no fixed point where a cert app stops working. There just comes a point where the benefits of an integrated system are too much to ignore. These are the usual signs.

You’re typing the same customer details over and over. Name and address into the cert app, again into the invoicing app, again into your accounts. Every retype is time wasted.

Next year’s work depends on your memory. If service reminders mean scrolling back through old certificates or a spreadsheet of due dates, some customers will slip through. The ones who don’t hear from you may well book whoever they find first.

Getting paid is a separate job. You finish the certificate on-site, write the invoice that evening and chase it a week later.

You need a shared diary. Once there’s a second engineer, scheduling becomes much more complex. You need a clear and easy way to share a schedule, rearrange bookings, and keep all job information connected. 

You’re using, or paying for, loads of different apps. Cert app, invoicing app, diary, reminders. Each one is might work on its own, but none of them talk to each other, and you’re the one copying data between them.

If two or more of those sound familiar, that’s your answer on when to switch.

What you can bring across from your certificate app

Customers and job addresses

Gas Engineer Software can import your customer list and job addresses from another system, so you’re not rebuilding your contact list by hand. 

To get them across, export your customer list from your current app as a CSV file, start your trial, and ask the GES team to run the import for you. Check how your current app handles exports before you cancel anything, while you still have access to it.

Service dates

With your customer database, you may also have a list of service dates. In software like GES, these dates are used to schedule automated service reminders and generate repeat business. These can be imported at the same time as your customers and job addresses. 

Certificate and invoice numbering

Past certificates and records don’t import, but you can keep your numbering going. Before you issue anything, set your starting certificate and invoice numbers in GES so they carry on from where your old app left off. Your records stay in one unbroken sequence, and you won’t end up with two invoices sharing a number.

Your first 14 days

The free trial gives you full access for 14 days with no card needed. That’s long enough to run real work through it. This order works well:

1. Get your customers imported. Send your CSV over on day one, so your customer list is ready while you set up the rest.
2. Add your logo and business details. They appear on your certificates, quotes and invoices.
3. Set your certificate and invoice numbering to follow on from your old app.
4. Set up your service reminders. Choose how far ahead customers hear from you, and whether it’s by email or text. Our guide to setting up gas boiler service reminders walks through it.
5. Connect your accounts. If you use Xero, QuickBooks or Sage, link it so invoices go across without retyping.
6. Run a real job from start to finish. Book it into the diary, fill in the certificate on site, raise the invoice and send the customer a QR code or payment link. One real job shows you more than an afternoon of clicking around.

You don’t have to set it all up alone. GES offers a free 1-to-1 training session, and the UK-based support team can help with the import. The switching from another software page has the details.

Common worries about switching

“I’ll lose my records.” Your customers, job addresses and service dates come across in the import. Past certificates don’t, so download those PDFs first. There’s no need to cancel your old app until you’re happy with the new one.

“I haven’t got time to learn a new system.” You don’t need to use everything on day one. Start with certificates, which you already know how to do, and bring in the diary, quotes and invoices as you go.

“It costs more than my cert app.” Per month, it usually does. The fair comparison is against everything you pay for now: the cert app, plus the invoicing app, the diary, and the time spent copying details between them. The pricing page lists every plan.

Try it on your next week of jobs

The quickest way to find out whether all-in-one software suits you is to run a week of real work through it. Start your 14-day free trial, with no card needed, send over your customer list on day one, and keep your old cert app running alongside until you’re sure.