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 Space Coast Pool School is hosting a live virtual CPO course on Saturday, January 17, 2026, taught by industry professional Anthony Stanback, a valued member of our expert SCPS instructor team.🔥 Small Zoom classes🔥 Interactive, instructor-led training🔥 Perfect for pool pros, property managers & operators📅 01/17/2026 (Saturday)📍 Live on Zoom🔗 Save your spot today:https://cpocertified.com/event/january-17-2026-sat-1-day-virtual-fusion-hybrid-cpo/ 

Hey everyone,I’m curious to hear how other pool professionals approach billing for plaster startups. Do you typically charge a flat fee, base it on square footage, gallons, or go time and materials?Personally, I charge by the square foot of water surface area, with the rate varying depending on the type of interior finish. I stay on the pool for at least three weeks, and I usually try to wrap up the startup during the last week of the month so it transitions smoothly into normal maintenance billing. I’ll often discount the startup if the customer hires me for ongoing service — and in some cases, like a pebble pool with no salt system, I’ll even include the startup at no additional charge, since my costs are minimal.That said, I’m not always sure if I’m giving away too much on the startup when they sign on for maintenance, so I’d love to hear how others handle that balance.How do you all handle it? What’s your philosophy on pricing, timeline, and transitioning into regular maintenance?

POOL ROUTE & STORE FOR SALE   AREA/LOCATIONPORTERVILLE, LINDSAY, STRATHMOORE, TERRA BELLA, SPRINGVILLE STORE LOCATION 1031 W N GRAND AVE PORTERVILLE AMOUNT OF POOLS 140 POOLS TOTAL  MOSTLY RESIDENTIAL 5 ARE COMMERCIAL FEW ARE START UPS PENDING SERVICE APPROVAL ABOUT 5 TOTAL GROSS INCOME MONTHLY/YEARLYROUTE: 25K MONTHLY 300K ANNUALLY BASED ON MONTHLY INVOICE NOT INCLUDING FILTER CLEANS AND REPAIRS STORE: 6K MONTHLY ON AVERAGE 70K ANNUALLY TOTAL MONTHLY 30K+ TOTAL YEARLY 370K+ SALES PRICE ASKING 175K  CALL HERE FOR MORE INFO559-901-6783 OR EMAIL INFO@POOLS PLUS FOR MORE INFO   OWNER FINANCING AVAILABLE IF NEEDED (PAY DEPOSIT AND MONTHLY PAYMENT) CAN DO A RIDE ALONG TO CHECK OUT POOLS MIXTURE OF NEW BUILD POOLS AND OLDER POOLS 

Hey everyone,I’m curious to hear from other pool service companies, when did you decide it was time to bring in a CRM tool to manage your business?A few specific things I’d love to know:Roughly how many pools/accounts were you managing when you made the switch How many employees or techs you had at that point What CRM features ended up making the biggest difference for your operations And of course, which company or platform you went withI’ve heard some people using Go High Level as a good budget CRM option, and it sounds like Skimmer might be planning an integration with them, which sounds interesting.Would love to hear your experiences, what worked, what didn’t, and what you’d do differently if you were starting over.

💻 Fusion Hybrid | Live on ZoomJoin David Rockwell, seasoned PHTA instructor, for a weekday Fusion Hybrid Certified Pool Operator® (CPO®) course designed for busy pool professionals.🗓 Wednesday, January 14, 2026🖥 Live via Zoom👥 Small class sizes for better interaction and personalized online instructionThis interactive virtual format combines expert instruction with real-world experience—perfect for those who want quality training without the weekend commitment.⚠️ Limited spots available – register early!👉 Register now:https://cpocertified.com/event/january-14-2026-wed-1-day-virtual-fusion-cpo/ 

I think we should be looking at HVAC, electrical, plumbers who are all a decade ahead of us. Im in a best practices group and they are running trades much more profitable. Here is what I would like to see in Skimmer for pricing a jobSet a Job Install Pump. That is the job. In the job you set time. Two hours. In the system you set your $250/hr for labor. So it knows it needs to charge $500 for labor. Then when you select the job there is  an add product feature and you select the product from your catalog. So say you select a pump and the cost is $1500. you set in the settings all products between $1000-2000 get a 75% margin on them. So if the pump is 1500, and then later when we have heritage linked if the price becomes 1600 you don’t need to do anything, it will stall take the margin you want on the pump and the labor. And maybe you add a second item which is a new electrical whip. Price is $20 and your margins on that may be 150% because you set your margins at 150 for anything betwe

Scroll down for step-by-step instructions and a detailed guide on how to use this report.Tiers: AllThe Payments Collected Report displays total amounts received, refunded, and the resulting net funds during a select date range.Step-by-step instructions 1. Select Billing > Billing Reports > Payments.2. Filter by Date Range:Between two dates, creating a date range On, before, or after a specific date Last sets a time frame going into the past–last day/week/six months/two years, etc. even last hours or minutes, fully customizable Current lets you center on now and view by current hour/day/month/quarter, and more The Next option does not currently have information associated with it, so you won’t need to select it. 3. Filter by Customer:By customer name By multiple customers based on check boxes Make your choices and the list filters down, showing the same information as full list for the selected customers When you filter by customer, the only customer names that show up in the dro

Pool Route Available I have 6 high-quality residential pool accounts available that I’m looking to transfer before year-end, if possible.• Weekly service (once per week)• Rates range from $140–$160/month• All on auto-pay• Well-maintained pools with great long-term customers1 Chandler, 2 Scottsdale (Rio Verde), 3 PhoenixThis is purely a route consolidation move as we tighten our service areas—nothing negative with the accounts themselves.Ideal for a smaller company or a tech looking to strengthen an existing route.Please DM me for details or to discuss a quick, smooth transfer.

This is Part 6 in a series of posts looking at how to stop managing and start managing as a leader. We are exploring are the critical aspects of effective leaders.Tip 6: They Keep A Good PerspectivePowerful leaders don’t allow their desire to be liked to outweigh their commitment to be of service. There is a fantastic scene in the Nelson Mandela documentary A Long Walk to Freedom where he makes a public appearance shortly after being released from 27 years of prison. “You have trusted me to be your leader and as your leader, it is my responsibility to tell you that you are wrong,” Mandela says in one of his speeches. “We must forgive the British. We must put an end to this fighting.”Mandela knew many would be resistant to and angered by his message. But he was willing to say what needed to be said. He held a bigger commitment to be of service to others and his vision of peace rather than being liked.When we’re more concerned about being liked and accepted, we sabotage our ability to be

Hello all,I am relatively new to the business. I own a company with ~120 pools. When hiring new employees, I would really like to know who exactly I am sending onto my client properties. I am wondering how many owners out there do background checks on potential new employees?  Also, what sites or companies are you using to do the background checks? Besides driving record and obvious violent crimes, what red flags should I look for?Tom

Hi, I’m shopping around for general liability insurance and am looking for recommendations. 

I have a unique business with 4 retail stores and routes.  We currently utilize Skimmer for routes and work orders (essentially every job our techs do). That being said, we are currently utilizing another platform for invoicing and inventory due to our retail showrooms. I am wondering if anyone has found a way to use Skimmer only for this type of thing, or have integrations to make it work that way.

Pros: I am adding a new truck now and have been very happy with the Ford Maverick truck. I am forecasting needing another vehicle this coming spring and have been mulling around the idea of getting a Promaster van. These are the big, high roof sprinter looking box cargo vans. Today I was at the gas station and there were 4 of them there, all wrapped with different service company logos… HVAC, Plumbing etc. They look good and really good when they are wrapped nice. I have always liked vans and the ability to keep massive amounts of tools equipment locked up and out of the elements. I like the Promaster with the low floor for getting heavy items in and out. It, like the maverick gets incredible gas mileage. Here is what has me conflicted…. carrying chemicals. Are you guys using vans? Are you carrying chems in your vans? If so, how do we do it safely? Thanks  

🚨 Virtual Certified Pool Operator (CPO) Course – December 20, 2025! 🚨Taught by Chris Lightenberg, part of our well-seasoned team of expert instructors at Space Coast Pool School.💻 Small virtual class sizes = more personal attention, better instruction, and a more comfortable learning experience.🏠 Learn from anywhere — including from the comfort of your own home!💰 Save $40 when you register now!Price increases January 1, 2026 from $350 → $390, so lock in today’s rate while it lasts.👉 Register here:https://cpocertified.com/event/december-20-2025-sat-1-day-virtual-fusion-hybrid-cpo/

🏊‍♂️ Two-Day Virtual Certified Pool Operator (CPO®) Course📅 December 20–21, 2025 (Sat–Sun)👨‍🏫 Instructor: August UrsinTrain with the best—August Ursin is part of an elite team of instructors with 200+ years of combined industry experience.💻 Why choose our virtual CPO?✔️ Small class sizes = high-quality, interactive instruction✔️ Learn from anywhere✔️ Perfect for pool professionals, property managers & maintenance teams⏰ One of the LAST CPO classes of 2025!💰 Save now:• $375 for this class• Price increases to $390 starting January 1📌 Spots are limited — register today!👉 https://cpocertified.com/event/december-20-21-2025-sat-sun-full-2-day-virtual-cpo/ 

Watch the video or scroll down for step-by-step instructions.Tier: Scaling Up and Skimmer for EnterpriseStep-by-step instructions 1. Skimmer lets you automatically suspend service when invoice payments are overdue. On the web version of Skimmer, go to Settings > Invoicing > Overdue Invoices. 2. Checking the box will activate this feature, and you can set how many days overdue will trigger the suspension. If an invoice meets the overdue threshold, a suspension will appear on the customer’s account.Service stops will be skipped until they’re no longer overdue, at which point service will resume automatically. When you first toggle this feature on, it may take a little while for Skimmer to process and apply the change to customer status. 3. When you activate this feature, if you want to set up an email for this situation, which will let the customer know their account is past due and service is being skipped, toggle it ON under Overdue Invoices. Customize the subject, header, and me