Hey — Nick here. Two things this week are worth your two minutes: Tech Commissions is now live and battle-tested (shops are running real payroll on it), and there's a built-in Help assistant that answers questions about the app instantly. Plus a peek at something big we're building.
As always — almost all of this came straight from shops telling us what they needed. Keep it coming.
🔦 Tech Commissions & Payroll — Battle-Tested on Real Payroll
Live & tested
Pay your techs in 2 minutes. Track paid vs owed without a spreadsheet.
1Set your rates once — Settings → 💰 Commissions. Pick a rate per type: Service Call, Labor, Parts, and Services — each as a flat $ or a %. Parts pay on profit (price − cost), and any part missing a cost gets flagged so your numbers stay honest.
2Per-service overrides (optional) — in the Service Builder you can set a specific commission on any individual service. Handy for diag specials or flat-rate jobs that shouldn't pay the standard labor rate.
3See what's owed — Timesheet → Payroll. Each tech shows Earned / Paid / Owed now, plus a per-call breakdown.
4Pay the week: tick the calls you're paying → Mark selected paid → they drop to $0 owed. Next week only new commission shows. You never double-pay.
5Messy stuff handled: no-charge warranty callbacks don't pay twice. A callback that added work shows only the new amount. Commission lands in the pay week the job was finished, not when it was booked.
6Lock the week: choose your pay period start day (Settings → Payroll) and hit Confirm pay week to freeze that week's hours, rates, and commissions — so a later rate change never rewrites a paycheck you already ran.
7One-off overrides: owners and admins can set a custom commission amount + note on any individual call.
💡 Want help setting your rates the first time? Reply or email me — I'll walk you through it free.
🤖 Also New — Ask the App Anything
Built-in Help Assistant
There's now a Help assistant built right into ApplianceOps (left menu → Help). Type a real question — "how do I send a pay link?", "how do commissions work?", "how do I book an install?" — and get a straight answer instantly. No digging through menus, no waiting on a reply. It knows the whole app: dispatch, invoicing, customers, inventory, phone/SMS/AI text-back, payroll, reports, settings, and integrations. Think of it as a teammate who's read the entire manual.
🚀 Coming Soon — An AI Assistant for Your Whole CRM
In Development
Not just "how-to" answers — an AI that knows your data and can act on it.
The Help bot is just the start. We're building an AI assistant wired into your entire business. Not just answering how-to questions — actually doing things and knowing your data.
"What did I bill last week?"
"Which calls are still unpaid?"
"Book Mrs. Garcia for Thursday afternoon"
"Who's my top tech this month?"
One place to ask and act across dispatch, invoicing, customers, and reports. We'll roll it out gradually. Reply to be an early tester.
🤝 Referral Program
Know another shop? Earn $20.
When someone you refer signs up and stays on after their free trial (their first paid month), you earn $20. Your referral gets a full 1-month free trial and we waive the Business Line setup fee. When they sign up, have them enter your shop name or email in the "Were you referred?" field. We track the rest.
Questions, feedback, or something broken? Reply anytime or reach me at nick@applianceops.pro. I read every message and respond personally.