Skimmer product updates

Setting your rates usually comes down to gut feel, what a neighbor charges, or a number you picked years ago. And if you’ve taken over someone else’s pricing, it’s hard to tell whether it holds up. Either way, you haven’t easily been able to tell if you’re charging what the market supports.The new service rate benchmarks report gives you a reference point. It shows how your rates compare with what other pool businesses charge in the areas you already service, right inside Skimmer. ⚙️ Here are some things to note before getting started:Area rates refresh on the 1st of each month, using rates as of the last day of the previous month Only service locations with a rate type and a rate above $0 are included, so check that your service rates are set up - See this interactive video on how to get that set up! Find it in Reports > Service Rate Benchmarks 📊 Make informed pricing decisionsCompares your median rate with the area median for each ZIP code you service, split by rate type (per month or per stop) and chemicals (with chems or plus chems) Shows the area’s typical range (25th to 75th percentile) next to your own Four tiles up top: your median rate, area median rate, service locations below area median, and monthly opportunity Filter by metro or ZIP code, and export to PDF 💲 Prioritize which customers to repriceLists every service location priced below its area median, with your rate, the area median, and the difference The biggest gaps sit at the top, and a toggle shows all your service locations Monthly opportunity estimates the added revenue each month if every below-median service location were priced at its area median The report doesn’t change any rates or factor in pool size, extra services, or customer history, so some below-median rates may be right where they are 🔍 Sanity-check inherited pricingToggle the list to show all your service locations, not just the ones below the median Check rates you didn’t set yourself against what the area charges 🔒 How rates are protectedOther pros never see your company name, your customers, your service locations, or your rates Each area shows only three numbers: the median and the typical range around it A benchmark needs at least 5 pros and 30 service locations, and no single pro can make up more than 25% of it. If a ZIP code doesn’t qualify, the report uses the wider metro area (labeled “Metro”), then the state. Pro and service location counts show as ranges, like “5–9 pros,” so no one can work backward to a single company Rates from active pros are included automaticallyClick the link below for more information about how it works.https://help.getskimmer.com/article/368-service-rate-benchmarks-report 

September's updates round out how you connect the tools you already use, see what's happening across your business, and manage your Skimmer account. Here's what shipped.  Skimmer bookkeeping Skimmer bookkeeping is a new add-on: a real bookkeeper categorizes your transactions and reconciles your accounts, so your books stay current without you doing it yourself after hours. Find it under Bookkeeping in your left navigation, where you can book a demo or subscribeLearn more →  Skimmer Marketing Suite Marketing Suite gives you three ways to bring in more business without hiring a marketing person: automated email and SMS campaigns, review requests with a private heads-up before anything goes public, and ad spend tracking that shows which dollars are actually working. Find it all in the Marketing Suite section of your left navigation in Skimmer.Note: Campaigns and reviews are add-ons. Ads attribution is available on Skimmer for Enterprise.Learn more about campaigns and reviews → Learn more about ads attribution →Integrations center No more digging through settings to remember what's connected. The new integrations center puts every integration Skimmer offers on one screen: QuickBooks Online, Heritage Pool Supply, Zapier, Orenda, and LaMotte Spin Touch, plus API keys and webhooks if you're on Enterprise.Note: Enterprise subscriptions also get API keys and webhooks tabs, so you can create and manage API keys and reach the webhooks portal.Learn more →  Service feedback See how a visit actually went, straight from the reviews customers are already leaving. One tap on the service email, a rating per stop and per tech, and an alert the second someone's unhappy, so you can call them before they call someone else. Ratings are private. Nothing posts to Google, Facebook, or Yelp. Also, your reviews are easier to read now too. The new service feedback report rolls up average rating, review volume, and comment trends over time, with a rating distribution chart and a filterable table you can drill into. Learn more → Readings report  Stop clicking into every customer just to check water. The readings report shows the latest readings and dosages across the board and flags what's out of range, based on your readings & dosages office alertsLearn more → Work order updateSkimmer now shows photos taken during a work order in the body of water's service history. User activity logEver need to know who changed a service rate and when? Now you can just look it up. That's all for September. More to come next month.Don't forget to update your mobile app for the latest fixes and features:Update for iOS → | Update for Android → 

This release brings a big update to how techs log in, plus some improvements under the hood that make syncing more dependable and diagnostic data easier to understand. You'll see a new sign-in screen, tighter password protections, and a handful of fixes that clean up rough edges on mobile. Here's everything that's changing. A new way to log inSkimmer's sign-in process is moving to a more secure system, the same upgrade that rolled out on the web app back in August. It keeps things familiar while running on more reliable technology behind the scenes.Here's what changes on mobile:The login screen no longer has username and password fields. Instead, you'll tap Sign In and land on Skimmer's secure sign-in page to enter your credentials. After the update, everyone will need to log back in and set up biometric login (Face ID or fingerprint) again. If you're on iOS and don't use biometrics, you'll see an extra confirmation prompt each time you log in. Turning on biometric login is the only way to skip that extra tap. Skimmer also added new password protections: if your password shows up in a known data breach, or doesn't meet Skimmer's complexity requirements, you'll be prompted to set a new one right away. Clearer messaging on diagnostic data Based on feedback from pros, Skimmer cleaned up the language around the “Send Diagnostic Data” option in Settings. It now clearly explains that sending the data shares app logs with Skimmer — it doesn't open a support ticket or notify anyone automatically, so you'll still want to reach out to support separately. You'll also see a confirmation with the date and time once it's sent, and a clear message if sending fails.  More reliable syncingSkimmer made several improvements under the hood to cut down on sync issues, especially around route stops and work orders. So now, if you undo an action, it stays undone, even if a conflicting change comes in at the same time.Also in this release:Route optimization and travel-time estimates now run on an upgraded mapping engine for better accuracy. Upgraded core device-connection technology for better stability and security when connecting to devices like the Lamotte SpinTouch. The Settings screen now shows your actual role name instead of a generic label. A heads up before you updateSkimmer Pro 12.16 is a larger download. iPhone users may see a pop-up saying the app exceeds 200 MB and asking whether to download now or wait for wifi. If you've got an unlimited data plan and don't want to see this message, you can turn it off in your iPhone settings. That's it for this month's mobile update. More to come next release.Make sure your team is on the latest version to get all of this:[Update on iOS →]  [Update on Android →]

Marketing Suite is now available in Skimmer, automating your customer outreach and helping you manage your online reputation. It runs on the same customer and job data you already track in Skimmer, so campaigns and review requests are based on your real service history, not an imported list. Here’s what’s included: ✉️ Email and SMS Campaigns:Pre-built email and SMS automations, purpose-built for pool pros, ready to turn on and send A plain English audience builder that lets you describe who you want to reach, no spreadsheet exports required AI-drafted subject lines, copy, and images to help you get started when you have your own idea 🌟 Reviews:An NPS survey goes out to your customers, automatically, via email or SMS. Customers rate your company 1-10. Happy customers who rated your company a 9 or 10 land on a direct link to post their review on Google. A 1-8 score opens a comment box asking what went wrong. After that is sent to your team, a Google review link is shared if they want to leave a public review. AI-drafted review replies give you a starting point when a new review comes in. Every Google review builds your search ranking and brings in more customers. Private feedback comes to you first and tells you what to fix before it becomes a public problem. 📊 Results tied to revenue:See which campaigns worked with purchases tied back to real Skimmer transactions, not just opens and clicks.You can get started today for $150/month, or learn more about Marketing Suite.  

You finish a job, everything went smooth, and then... nothing. No idea how the customer actually felt about it. Or the opposite — something was off, and you don't find out until you've already lost the account. Either way, you're always finding out too late.Service reviews fixes that. It's a simple way to hear directly from pool owners right after every visit, so you know how you're doing before it turns into a bigger problem. ⭐ How it works Pool owners rate their service with a quick 1–5 star tap, right from the service-complete email they already getTakes about 30 seconds — no login, no app to download They can add a short written note if they want to explain the rating Ratings are tied to the specific visit and tech, so you always know exactly what the feedback is about 🔔 Getting the heads-up when it matters If a rating comes in low, you get an alert — by panel, email, or urgent notification, your choice You set the threshold for what counts as "low" for your company That means you can follow up with the customer before it turns into a churn, instead of finding out after the fact 🔒 Private by design These ratings are for your team only — nothing gets posted publicly or shared anywhere else Stars show up on Service History, the Route Dashboard, and in the customer's activity feed Tap into any rating to see the full details: score, written reason, tech, and timestamp Over time, this data becomes a clearer picture of how each visit — and each tech — is performing ⚙️ Setup and control It's on by default, so there's nothing you need to do to start collecting ratings Don't want it? Turn it off anytime in Service Email Settings Missed ratings aren't lost — owners get another chance to rate recent visits from their invoice emailClick the link below for more information about how it works.https://help.getskimmer.com/article/357-service-reviews  

You can now hand your books to a dedicated US-based bookkeeper without leaving Skimmer.Here's what that means. You get a real person assigned to your business at onboarding, who works only with pool service companies. They categorize your transactions every week. You get a P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow statement within 5 business days of month end. At year end, you get a tax packet you can hand straight to your CPA.Your sales pull in from Skimmer automatically, so there's no double entry and your revenue ties to your deposits. The chart of accounts is built for pool service, not restaurants or retail.Your job each month is answering a few texts, and it takes only 20 minutes to set up. What's included:A dedicated bookkeeper reachable by text, email, or scheduled call Weekly transaction categorization across your business bank accounts and cards Monthly P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow within 5 business days Loan, lease, and fixed asset tracking Payroll recorded and reconciled from read-only access to your payroll system Year-end tax packet: annual P&L, balance sheet, trial balances, and transaction list Import from QuickBooks Online, Xero, and other common tools Catch-up bookkeeping if you're behindWhat's not included:We don't pay bills or run payroll We don't file taxes or calculate quarterly estimates (we do send reminders two weeks before the deadline) Accrual accounting (for now) We don't give tax or business advice—that's your CPA's jobPricing: starting at $198/month, compared to $330-$660 per month on average for a typical local firm. Getting started: Set up a 20-minute onboarding call to meet your bookkeeper, connect your accounts, and set up texting.  👉BOOK A MEETING👈 Have any questions? Drop them in the comments below!

Finding a pool that's drifting out of range used to mean opening customer profiles one at a time, or exporting a CSV and doing the math yourself. The new readings report fixes that, and here's how to get the most out of it.  What it doesThe readings report shows every pool you service in one list, with the last service date and whether any readings came back outside the ranges you've set. No more clicking into each pool to find out something's wrong. Click into any pool from that list and you'll get trend charts for each reading type, plus a full readings and dosages history with out-of-range values highlighted.You'll find it under Reports > Readings, and you'll also see the latest readings and dosages right on each customer's body of water tab. Set it up first: Office Alerts thresholds Before the report can flag anything as too high or too low, it needs to know what "too high" and "too low" mean for your business. It pulls those ranges from your Office Alerts settings.Go to your Office Alerts / Issues settings and set thresholds for "Reading was too high or too low" on the readings you care about most, like free chlorine or pH. This is quick to set up and you don't need to turn on the Panel, Email, or Urgent options for it to work. Once it's set, you'll get:Green range bands on your trend charts Red highlighting on out-of-range values in the readings and dosages table "Out of range" and "In range" statuses in the summary viewThe report still works without thresholds set (last service date, tech, and "no readings" status all show up regardless), but the ranges are what unlock most of its value. How to read itThe report has two views:1. Summary viewThis is where it opens. It lists every pool with its last service date, tech, stop type, and reading status, so you can scan your whole book of business in one pass. Filter by date, customer, tech, stop type, or reading status to narrow it down, like pulling up just the pools flagged "out of range" or "no readings" this week.  2. Reading trends viewClick into any pool from the summary view to see this. You'll get a chart for each reading type, so you can tell in seconds whether a reading is a one-off or a pattern that's been building, like free chlorine sliding down stop after stop. Below the charts is the full readings and dosages history table, with out-of-range values highlighted.   Make it a habitPull up the report daily or weekly to catch pools that need attention before the customer calls. It's also worth a look when you want to export a pool's history for your records or to share with a customer, or when you want to see which pools a tech hasn't logged readings for lately. Learn more about the readings report here → https://help.getskimmer.com/article/351-readings-report 

 August's updates focus on two things pool service businesses ask for most: clearer visibility into the money side of the business, and less manual work turning what your team reports in the field into something your office can act on. Here's everything that shipped:  Working Capital Eligible owners can now view and act on Stripe Capital financing offers right inside Skimmer. A tile on your Skimmer Home page introduces available offers, and you can add a Capital widget for a quick look at financing status anytime. Head to Billing > Capital for a closer look before deciding whether to apply. If you take a loan, repayments now show up in the Payouts report under a new Capital Deduction column.Learn more -->   Office alerts updates Three changes to office alerts this month. Create work orders, quotes, and jobs from alerts: When a tech flags something in the field, your office can now turn it into a work order, quote, or job without retyping a thing. Customer and service location details carry over automatically, and the new record links straight back to what the tech originally reported. Create from the Service Notes / Issues page, the Alerts panel, or a customer's Recent Activities section. Alert emails sent to your office now include the photos a technician attached to an issue, so your team can see what the tech saw without opening Skimmer.  The “customer status change” alert, which used to only fire for changes made in the web app, now also triggers when a tech changes a customer's status from mobile, so your office stays in the loop no matter where the change happens. Equipment management Equipment tracking is now live across web and mobile. Add or edit records using redesigned web forms with Details, History, and Warranty tabs, or track equipment right from a customer's Pool tab in Skimmer Mobile. Skimmer only shows the spec fields relevant to that equipment type, and warranty end dates calculate automatically once you set a coverage option. Equipment Type, Manufacturer, and Model lists now sort alphabetically too, so it's faster to find what you're looking for. Heritage ordering updates Reordering supplies takes one click now. The new reorder button on the Heritage Orders page pulls up a past purchase with everything already filled in, instead of making you build it from scratch.  Relating an order to a quote is now its own step, look for the “Relate to quote” link, and completed orders finally sort correctly under the Past tab.  We also cleaned up the error messages: if a customer is missing an address Heritage needs, Skimmer now tells you exactly what's missing instead of showing a generic error. Report improvements A handful of reports got a refresh this month. The Chemical Dosages report export now matches Skimmer's standard format, with Chemicals, Techs, Customers, and Pools tabs, each with its own export button.  The Profit Report also has a new look, with Customers and Techs tabs plus a Summary/Details toggle.  The Labor Report gained a Serviced Locations total and a Work Order Trends tab Invoice Details Report added City, State, and Tax columns The Payouts Report now shows Stripe Capital payouts as non-clickable entries.  The nightly data export also now includes invoice category values, if your team relies on that for reporting or accounting. New banners on Skimmer HomeIf you're on a free trial, Skimmer Home now shows a banner counting down how many days you have left, so you always know where you stand. And if you haven't set up payments yet, you'll see a banner to help you get started collecting them. A few more smaller updatesSkimmer now requires version 12.10 or later of the mobile app to sign in. Update now so nothing interrupts your team in the field. Learn more about everything released in Mobile 12.15 here →  Sign-in now runs on more reliable technology behind the scenes. The process works the same, but your account locks after 10 failed attempts in an hour. Resetting your password clears the lock right away. AI Insights got better at understanding reading-related questions, gives clearer messaging when there's no result, and handles more question types accurately, including scheduling boundaries and labor versus revenue figures. The AI phone agent can now update a service location's gate code during the call itself, so your office doesn't have to make the change afterward. Use the “Include in run” checkbox on the Invoice Details view to add or remove an invoice from the current billing run without leaving that screen. We renamed a couple of things: Service Types in Invoice Settings is now Pool Service Types, and the Service Type filter and column on the Service Notes / Issues page is now Stop Type. Just new names, nothing else changes. That's all for August. More to come next month.Don't forget to update your mobile app for the latest fixes and features:Update for iOS → | Update for Android → 

August’s mobile update is about giving your team more control and information without leaving the app. Techs can manage permissions and equipment info on the spot, start a route from wherever they actually are, and office staff have a new way to reach the field in real time. Permissions management in SettingsYou can now see and manage your camera, microphone, notification, and location permissions right from the Skimmer app, no more digging through your phone's settings to figure out why something isn't working. Each permission shows whether it's on or off, has a link straight to your device settings, and includes a quick note on what it's used for. On iOS, some permissions won't show up in your phone's settings until you've used the feature that needs them. Skimmer now tells you that up front, so a missing permission doesn't look like something's broken. Tech Alerts Office staff can now send a message straight to a tech's phone as a push notification, even if the Skimmer app is closed. Pick one tech, a group, or everyone on today's routes, write a message, and it lands in the field right away. It's the tech-to-office half of the Office Alerts you may already be using, so now the conversation runs both ways.Note: Available on Scaling Up and Skimmer Enterprise. Also, techs need the notifications permission turned on to receive alerts.[Learn more →] Equipment tracking on the Pool tabPool equipment now shows up right on the customer's Pool tab. Tap into a piece of equipment to see its details, service history, and warranty status, or add a new piece without leaving the screen you're already on. Start a route from your current locationWhen you optimize a route, you can now start from wherever you actually are instead of a fixed address. Turn on the location permission and Skimmer builds the whole route around your real starting point, not just the first stop. Also in this releaseLinks from emails, texts, and notifications now open straight to the right screen in the app instead of just the home screen, with a loading indicator, so it's clear something's happening. Skimmer now warns you before moving a stop that already has completed work logged, so an accidental drag-and-drop can't wipe out someone's progress. Emails for completed services and work orders now include the stop and work order numbers, so office staff can quickly match an email to the right job. Techs can now add equipment straight from a route stop or work order without needing the can add/edit customer permission.Bug fixesFixed an issue where the app could silently skip its startup sync, leaving techs looking at outdated routes, work orders, or customer info with no warning. Fixed a bug where checklists could show up twice on some routes. Fixed a crash on iOS that happened when a tech tried to attach a video to a quote without granting camera access. Skimmer now asks for permission instead of crashing. Fixed an issue where viewing a quote's PDF on mobile showed a license error instead of the document. Fixed a bug where the Android app could get stuck on the splash screen after being closed and reopened. Make sure your team is on the latest version to get all of this:Update for iOS → | Update for Android →

A schedule changes and one of your techs is already three stops in. You call. It goes to voicemail, because they're at a pool with wet hands. You text, and nothing comes back. Twenty minutes later they call you, and by then you've reshuffled the day around them anyway.Now with tech alerts, you have somewhere to put that message. It goes straight to your tech's phone as a push notification, even when the Skimmer app is closed. You don't have to interrupt them, and you don't have to wait for a callback. The message is on their lock screen, and it's still in the app when they get to it.WATCH VIDEO How it worksLook for the paper plane icon in your top navigation and choose “Send tech alert” Pick who needs it: one person, a few people, or everyone in a role. “Add users by role” grabs all your route techs at once  Type your message, up to 500 characters. The title fills in with your name, and you can change it Send it. The alert lands on their phone right awayNOTE: If a tech misses it or swipes it away, it isn't gone. Every alert is saved on their phone under Settings › Tech alerts for 7 days.  Before this rolled out to everyone, a group of pros had been running tech alerts day to day.  Some of it is urgent, but a lot of it is just the small stuff that used to mean a phone call, a missed call, or a note that got buried. That's the real value here: one less thing you have to chase down by voice.Here's what showed up in their alerts:A route changed after the tech had already left A customer canceled or moved a stop Extra work got added at a stop Access details changed at a gate A quick heads-up to the whole team before the end of the day Walking a newer tech through something in the appA few things to knowTechs need version 12.15 or later of the Skimmer app. Anyone on an older version can't receive alerts at all, so ask them to update from the App Store or Google Play Update for iOS → | Update for Android → Each tech needs to open the app once with notifications allowed before alerts will reach them. If a tech says they're not getting alerts, that's almost always why. Alerts go one way. Techs can see your message but can't reply in the app There's no read receipt, so follow up on anything that has to be confirmed You can send to anyone on your team, not just techs. Office staff and managers too This feature is available on the Scaling Up and Enterprise plans.Click the link below to learn more about how Tech Alert works👇🏼:https://help.getskimmer.com/article/349-send-alerts-to-your-techsThis feature's only going to get better from here. Got a use case you'd love it to cover down the road? Drop it in the comments. 

Working Capital through Stripe is our new financing program designed specifically for Skimmer pool pros! We’re excited to provide this new opportunity for you to invest in your business and long-term growth. It gives you fast, simple access to funding when you need it most—whether that’s upgrading gear or equipment, hiring help, or just getting through the slower months. Working Capital through Stripe, the same company you trust for your payment processing, makes it easier for you to secure flexible, on-demand financing.  The application only takes a few clicks and is based on factors like your payment volume and history through Skimmer. If you’re approved, you can receive funds in as little as one to two business days.  For more information, check out our Help Center article 👉 [HERE]  Stripe Capital offers financing types that include loans and merchant cash advances. All financing applications are subject to review prior to approval. In the US, Stripe Capital loans are issued by Celtic Bank, and YouLend provides Stripe Capital merchant cash advances

July was very busy here at Skimmer HQ. These updates are about giving you more control with less manual work: order supplies without leaving Skimmer, get straight answers from AI Insights, move quote items to work orders without retyping them, and clear out alerts and issues in bulk instead of one at a time. Here's everything that shipped in July. Heritage ordering You can now order supplies directly from Heritage without leaving Skimmer, and link those orders to customers, quotes, and work orders. We also added a couple of safeguards: removing a line item from an order now asks you to confirm first, and leaving an order page with unsaved changes gives you a warning instead of silently losing your work. Want to see order history at a glance? There's now a procurement report, linked right from the reports page.Learn more:   AI Insights  AI Insights is officially out of early access and available to everyone. Ask it a question about your business in plain language, like how many stops got skipped this week and why, what your profit looked like last month, or what you spent on chemicals, and get a straight answer instead of building a custom report. We also fixed the accuracy on future and scheduled work questions, and profit answers now come from a tested, consistent source every time.Learn more:  Quote and job item handling   Picking line items off a quote and sending them straight to a work order or job is now built in. No more retyping what's already on the quote. Anything already taken care of is automatically hidden, so you only see what actually needs your attention. This also works in the mobile app starting with version 12.14.Note: Available on Scaling Up and Enterprise plans.WATCH VIDEO   Skimmer Home The Dashboard page has a new name and a new job: Skimmer Home. It's built to be your home base: new accounts get a getting started checklist, and everyone gets a view of what needs attention today, how routes are progressing, and how the business is doing overall. Learn more: Texting quotes Quotes can now be sent to customers by text, just like invoices already are. If you've already got invoice texts turned on, quote texts get switched on for you automatically. Check the  Service Text Settings if you want to change that. Service notes and issues Clearing out notes and issues just got faster. Select several at once and mark them all as resolved or reopened in one action, and you'll get a quick confirmation showing how many were updated.  Office alerts The alerts panel now updates instantly when a status changes, so you don't have to check two places. You can also filter the alerts bell and panel by type, and customer emails about an issue now include the service location's address. QuickBooks Online (QBO) improvements Pulling in products, services, categories, and accounts from QBO is faster now, especially if you've got a lot of data there. And if you haven't set up QBO payout sync yet, you can now pick a bank account for Payment Deposit To Account instead of being stuck until sync is configured. API and export enhancements A few improvements for anyone relying on Skimmer's API or automated exports: invoice queries and line items now carry more detail, and the nightly export includes customer activity log data.  Mobile app updates Mobile release 12.14 landed with a batch of field-facing improvements. If you're living out of your phone all day, this one's worth a look:Biometric login. Log in with Face ID or a fingerprint instead of typing your username and password every time, especially handy when your hands are wet or you're wearing gloves. PDF attachments on quotes. Attach and view PDF documents, spec sheets, warranty paperwork, signed proposals, right from your phone or tablet, no trip back to a computer needed. Swipe-through photo viewer. Browse job photos in a carousel instead of tapping back to a gallery between each one. Faster video uploads on Android. Videos are compressed better, so they upload quicker and use less data in the field. Duplicate issue fix. If an issue's type gets reassigned on the web, both issues now show up on mobile instead of one silently disappearing from the list. Route Dashboard improvements. The "on my way" button is bigger and easier to tap one-handed, and Skimmer now catches and prevents duplicate route stops. That's all for July. More to come next month.Don't forget to update your mobile app for the latest fixes and features:Update for iOS → | Update for Android → 

We rebuilt the first thing you see when you log in. Instead of jumping between screens to find what needs attention, Skimmer Home gives you one view of your day, your routes, and your business.Why it mattersMost mornings start with the same questions: What's overdue? Who's running behind? How's the business doing? Home answers all three in one place, so you can act before the day gets away from you.What you getNeeds your attention - Your morning gut check. It surfaces what's most likely to need action today: overdue invoices, failed payments, skipped stops, unscheduled work orders, quotes awaiting approval, new leads, and more. Each card shows a count or dollar amount and links straight to the list. Cards only show when there's something to act on, so an empty section means you're on track. Today's operations - A real-time look at how routes are progressing. See team totals for the day, plus each technician's start time with an on-time or late flag, stop count, estimated finish, and a progress bar. Click a tech for their full stop-by-stop timeline, or assign any work order that still needs a name on it. Business health - A quick snapshot of performance over the last 30 days: estimated revenue, customers serviced, skip rate, and chemical cost. Change the date range anytime, or click through to the full report. You can also ask about your business in plain language and get answers back.Ask about your businessBusiness health includes an AI insights drawer. Select Ask about your business and type a question in plain language, no reports to build or filters to set. Ask things like which customers you've lost this month or how your skip rate is trending, and get an answer back in seconds. It's available to anyone with the "Can view AI insights" permission.Make it yoursHit Customize in the top-right to turn sections and metrics on or off. Your setup is yours alone, so it won't change what anyone else on your account sees. Everything also follows your permissions, so you only see what you're cleared to see.AvailabilitySkimmer Home is live now for all accounts. Just log in to see it.Log in and take a look. Then tell us what you'd add next in the thread below.

Our Heritage integration lets you search Heritage's catalog, place orders, and track them directly in Skimmer, with every purchase tied to the correct work order, customer, and body of water. SEE IT IN ACTION BELOW Here’s what you can now do with the Heritage integration:🛒 OrderingSearch Heritage's full catalog or your linked Skimmer products by name or part number Place an order without leaving Skimmer: select products, quantities, and delivery method Set role-based permissions so techs can draft orders while admins review and submit so that spending stays controlled📋 Order managementTrack every order in one view with live status updates: draft, submitted, on hold, acknowledged, shipped, invoiced Track what your company buys through Heritage Orders and how much you're spending with the procurement report.📝 Quote-to-orderAdd Heritage items to a quote with live pricing The parts cost in your quote reflects what Heritage is actually charging, not what you looked up last week🔗 Job costingTie Heritage purchases to work orders, bodies of water, and customers Supports billing accuracy and gives you a record of what was installed and where One-off purchases are tracked through "other" so th Getting started: You'll need an active Heritage Pool+ account to place orders.If you're already using the Heritage integration, you're all set — log in and go to Heritage orders. New to Heritage in Skimmer?https://help.getskimmer.com/article/344-heritage-ordering walks you through how it works and how to set it up quickly Have questions? Drop them in the comments below :)  

You know that question you answered three times this week — "how many customers do we have on AutoPay?" or "which pools have CYA over 100?" — the one where you had to open a report, filter it down, and still weren't sure you were looking at the right thing? AI Insights is built for exactly that.Starting today, AI Insights is available to all Skimmer customers on the web app. It's a data assistant you can access from your home page or the Reports page — you type a question about your business and get a clear, summarized answer back in seconds.  Here’s how you can use it for your business: 📋 Ask anything about your businessQuestions or statements both work — "which customers owe me money?" or "show me skipped stops this month" Covers customers, routes, stops, chemicals, dosages, invoices, work orders, and more For the sharpest answers, keep questions short and specific. Questions outside that scope get a clear fallback.⚡ Less digging, faster answersAnswers come back in seconds, not after navigating multiple screens Download results as a CSV (up to 10,000 rows) for deeper review Work order, invoice, and customer references are clickable — go straight to the detail page from your answer🔒 Built with privacy and security in mindAI Insights can only read your data, never change it Sensitive information — stored cards, gate codes — is blocked by design Your data stays scoped to your company only Getting startedLook for "Ask about your business" on your Skimmer home page, or find it under Reports. The more you use it, the better it gets. Use the thumbs up/thumbs down on each answer to let us know how it's doing.Need more guidance? Check out the link below to learn morehttps://help.getskimmer.com/article/332-ai-insights  

June's updates are about giving your team cleaner data and fewer dead ends — whether that's finding a customer faster, keeping your product list accurate, or getting a heads-up before a small problem becomes a big one. Office alerts & issues You asked for a way to know what's happening across your routes without waiting for a tech to tell you. Office alerts let you set up notifications for the things that matter most to your business — chemistry readings outside your thresholds, missed service stops, overdue invoices, and more. At the same time, your techs can now log issues from the field directly in the mobile app, with a photo and description attached, so your office always has context when something goes wrong.This is one of the bigger additions we've shipped in a while. If you want the full walkthrough, we put together a dedicated post with everything you need to get started.[Learn more about alerts & issues →  Customer lead sources You can now create up to 50 lead sources, up from the previous limit of 25. If your business has grown past the old cap or you've been tracking lead sources outside Skimmer to work around it, this gives you more room to track where new customers are actually coming from.  Customer search by service location address When you search for a customer, Skimmer now checks all service location addresses on the account, not just the billing address. If you know the pool address but not the account name, you can find it now with a quick search.   AI phone: revamped statistics and leads tabs If you're using AI phone, a clearer picture awaits you. The statistics and leads tabs have been redesigned to show you exactly what AI phone is doing for your business — the revenue captured from calls you missed, the types of calls coming in, and when those opportunities happen most often.  Discontinued products You can now mark a product as discontinued from the Add Product or Edit Product fields and also filter the product list to view active products, discontinued products, or both. Discontinued products remain visible on your Products page with a discontinued icon, so you know they're there, but they won't appear when you select products in quotes, work orders, shopping lists, or service stops on mobile. NOTE: If a product was already added to an existing record before it was discontinued, it'll stay on that record — discontinuing only prevents new selections going forward. Service types in the service rates pageYou can now see and update the service type for each service location directly from the service rates page. Use the dropdown to update a single location on the spot, or use bulk edit to update multiple locations at once. As always, don't forget to update your mobile app to the most current version for the latest improvements.Update for iOS | Update for AndroidMore coming in July! 🚀🚀 

Hey community!We just launched Alerts & Issues and we know that sometimes the hardest part isn't turning it on — it's knowing where to start.So ​@cshalli put together something that makes that easy: starter packs. Each one is a small group of alerts and issues built around a specific problem your business already has, and tells you exactly what to turn on and what you get for it.The packsProtect the relationship(start here) — field-reported issues only. Your tech flags a problem, your customer gets a heads-up email automatically. No more finding out when they call you. Protect the margin(popular) — alerts for over-dosing, too much time at a stop, and aging equipment. Catches the things quietly eating into your profit.. Cover your back — timestamped photos and notes when something was already broken before your tech got there. Documented proof, every time. Green pool prevention(popular) — low chlorine, high CYA, and cloudy water issues all in one pack. Catch a pool going bad before the customer sees it. Cash flow — get notified when a payment fails, AutoPay turns off, or a card expires. Stop losing money because nobody noticed Eyes for the pipeline — aging equipment, cracked plaster, heaters not firing. Turns every stop into a chance to find your next repair job. Did the work actually happen — alerts when a stop was too short or readings weren't entered. Good for making sure service actually happened the way it should. Don't forget to invoice — get notified when a work order finishes or a job wraps up. Nothing falls through before you send invoices. Where to start If you're new to this, turn on the protect-the-relationship pack and the don't-forget-to-invoice pack first. They solve the two things every pool company feels: customers calling angry and money left on the table.Once those are running, you can layer in the rest.The setup guidesEverything you need to get started are covered in the links below:Starter guide to Skimmer Alerts & Issues — all the packs with full detail How to set up alerts Alert inspiration: thresholds worth considering How to set up issues Customer email templates for issues Let us know what alert types you’ve set up so far in the comments! 

You set up a reading alert two weeks ago and forgot about it. Then this morning, you received a notification that your tech recorded a chlorine level of 0.2 at a customer’s property. Twice in a row. Without an alert, you’d have found out when they called to complain. Instead, you caught it in time to act.That’s what alerts & issues are built for. Skimmer watches your operation in real time and tells you when something needs your attention — the moment it happens, not days later.WATCH THE VIDEO TO SEE HOW IT WORKS!  🔔 Office alerts Configure alerts for the conditions that matter to you — readings or dosages out of range, a tech who hasn’t started, a stop that got skipped, a route left unfinished, a payment that failed, a quote approved or rejected, and more Alerts land in a new bell-icon panel in your top nav, visible from anywhere in Skimmer — no separate page to navigate to Set urgency on any alert so the bell shows an orange dot when something needs immediate attention Mark alerts resolved (or reopen them), and your whole team sees the updated status — no duplicate follow-up Configure email delivery per alert type, including additional recipients for specific alerts (e.g., only your billing person gets payment alerts) New alerts default to panel-on, email-off — you opt in to email for the alerts that warrant it 📱 IssuesTechs can now report structured field problems from mobile during any service stop or work order stop not just freeform service notes They select a pre-defined issue type (Water Level Low, System Down, No Power, Bad Weather, Repair Needed), add a description and up to 5 photos, and sync issues land in a dedicated issues tab on the Notes & issues page (previously Service Notes), separate from service notes, filterable, and trackable Office staff can review tech notes and photos, add an office note, and mark the issue resolved with a full audit trail of who handled what and when Optional: You can configure a customer-facing email to notify pool owners automatically when a specific issue type is reported at their property Export any filtered view to CSV for reporting, insurance documentation, or customer communication ⚙️ SetupOffice alerts : go to Settings > Office alerts  to configure your alert rules. Readings and dosage alerts need a one-time setup because Skimmer needs to know which readings you track and what thresholds matter to you — This takes about 5 minutes Issues: configure issue types in Settings > Office alerts . Default issue types are available but start off. Turn on and customize the ones you want before your techs start using them Admins and owners get panel access automatically. You can extend panel visibility to other roles under Settings > Roles & Permissions Questions or early feedback? Please drop them in the comments :)  

When we launched AI phone in April, we said it would handle the calls that pool pros don't have time for. We are over 30 days post-launch and we’d love to share what we’ve seen so far. Across pool pros using AI phone:12,000+ calls answered. 99% of incoming calls were picked up, including nights, weekends, and during routes. 3-6 hours saved per pool pro, per month on phone time and data entry. That's a full workday of phone time back, every month. 4-6 missed leads captured per pool pro. These are calls that would've gone to voicemail and never gotten a callback. ~$200k in captured revenue, from calls AI phone answered. 96.6% positive or neutral customer interactions. Very few pool owners even knew it was an AI. Most importantly, pool owners are getting what they need when their pool pros are busy. Here’s feedback from a pool pro like you:"Holy cow, what an amazing system. We set it up last week, and within 3 to 5 minutes after I finished setting it up, I had 2 calls. Both were sales. AI phone picked it up, took in all the information of the new clients, and put it in the system. All I had to do was schedule it. It's paid for itself already for at least the next 7 months, just off 2 sales that I missed."Larry, Bluewater Pools AZ Why this will be useful for your business:It's built into Skimmer, so it already knows your customers, your route, and your schedule It's trained on proprietary pool service data and language, not generic call center scripts 10-minute setup, no extra apps to wire up If you haven't turned on AI phone yet, here's the experiment we'd suggest: turn it on for 30 days, see your own numbers, and decide from there. [Turn on AI phone in your Skimmer account] Not considering using AI phone? We would love to hear why below. 

May's releases are focused on the field — giving techs better tools to document what they find, communicate it clearly, and keep the back office informed in real time. Alongside that, two significant invoicing updates give pool service businesses more control over how they bill. Here's what's new: Mobile 12.13:  A significant mobile update shipped this month with several improvements worth knowing about.Video attachments on quotes — Techs can now record and attach up to two videos directly from the mobile app when building a quote. Equipment noise, leaks, water flow issues — anything that's easier to show than describe. Videos are compressed on the device before uploading and queue automatically when a connection becomes available.Note: video recordings include audio, so techs should be mindful of what's captured.Confirmation before deleting media — A confirmation prompt now appears before a photo or video is permanently deleted from a quote. Date and time stamp on all service photos — Every photo taken through the mobile app now includes a timestamp printed directly on the image, reflecting the device's local time at the moment it was taken,  even if it was taken offline and synced later.Photos and videos now open in the browser — Media links from emails and other sources now open in-line in the browser instead of triggering a file download. Additional image types now viewable in the app — WebP, GIF, and BMP images added to quotes on the web now display correctly in the mobile app. Product catalog updates — The Add Product and Edit Product screens now include cost, markup type, markup value, default price, manufacturer ID, and Heritage ID fields. Techs can also mark products as discontinued from the mobile app. Discontinued products are automatically hidden from product selection screens to prevent accidental additions.[Update for iOS ] | [Update for Android ]Learn more here →  Auto invoicing by customer date  Pros can now bill each customer on their own day of the month instead of running all invoices on a single company-wide date. Once configured, Skimmer automatically creates invoices for the right customers on the right day — no manual runs needed. Invoice categories and pool service types New custom invoice categories and pool service types give pros finer control over how revenue is organized, reported, and synced to QuickBooks Online. Set up the categories that match how your business operates, and Skimmer routes revenue to the right place automatically. AI phone updates When AI phone is deactivated, the account owner now receives an automatic email confirming the agent is no longer answering calls, notifying them that Skimmer will retain their AI agent and phone number for 30 days, and explaining how to remove call forwarding.  Additionally, Skimmer now automatically creates an AI phone lead source and assigns it to any customer created through an AI phone call,  making it easy to track which customers came in through this channel. Turn off invoice texts for individual customers   Admins can now disable invoice text message notifications for a single customer without changing the company-wide setting. You can find it under the mobile phone field on the customer record. Customer intake form — embed code   The customer intake form can now be embedded directly on a website using a copy-paste embed code, available in Settings > Customer Portal. The "No additional cost" label has also been removed from that page. Reporting updates The Payment Methods on File report and the Labor report have both been updated to match Skimmer's standardized report design. You can expect consistent color coding, updated button alignment, Excel and CSV export options, and improved filter behavior.Learn more here → API update The Public API invoice endpoints now include a ‘Deleted’ field, allowing connected integrations to identify and handle deleted invoices in Skimmer.Learn more here → As always, don't forget to update your mobile app to the most current version for the latest improvements.[Update for iOS ] | [Update for Android ]That's a big one for May. More coming next month. 🚀🚀 

We just shipped three updates to invoicing that work together to give you a clearer picture of where your money is actually coming from and more control over how and when your customers get billed. Service types You can now label the type of work each customer receives — full service, chems only, gold package, whatever your tiers look like and tie those labels directly to how revenue is categorized in your reporting and QBO sync.Before this, everything landed in one bucket. If you run multiple service tiers across a few routes, there was no clean way to see which service type was driving revenue at the end of the month. Now you can — without touching a spreadsheet. Invoice categories We’ve added custom invoice categories,  so your billing reflects how your business actually reports on income. Instead of everything collapsing into a generic "pool service" or "repairs" line, you can break income down into the categories that matter to you — residential repairs, commercial repairs, different service tiers.For larger operations managing multiple service lines or crews, this is a significant addition. It's the difference between Skimmer feeling like a field tool and actually running your business out of it.TIP : Service types and invoice categories work together — set them up once and they categorize automatically at invoicing time. Auto invoicing by customer date  Invoice each customer on their own billing day, automatically. No more forcing everyone onto one company-wide date.This is especially useful if your customers are on different billing agreements — the 1st for some, the 15th for others. It also makes a real difference if you've acquired another book of business. The last thing you want when bringing on new customers is to change their billing date on day one. This lets you honor the dates they're already used to, keeping the transition smooth. Questions about setup? Leave them below and we'll help you get going.

Mobile 12.13 is live, and the headline feature is one we've heard from you for a while: you can now record and attach a video directly to a quote from the Skimmer app. Record video from quotes Sometimes a photo doesn't cut it. A gurgling pump, a slow leak, equipment that only acts up when it's running — these are the moments where video does the work. Now your techs can capture up to two videos per quote, right from the app. Videos compress on the device before uploading and queue automatically if they're offline and attached videos show up as downloadable files on web.A quick heads up: video records audio too. Great for capturing pump sounds, but worth keeping in mind if there's side conversation happening at the job site. What else is new in 12.13Photos taken in the app now have a date and time stamp printed directly on them — including photos taken offline. It appears in the top right corner wherever the photo is displayed.Photos and videos now open directly in the browser instead of prompting a file download when accessed from a link. WebP, GIF, and BMP images added to quotes on the web now also display correctly in the mobile app. A confirmation prompt now appears before deleting any photo or video from a quote, so nothing gets removed by accident. The product catalog on mobile now matches the web more closely — cost, markup, and manufacturer ID fields are all there, and you can mark products as discontinued directly from the app. Error messages now surface clearly when an action fails, so techs aren't left wondering whether something went through. Required fields are now consistently marked with a red asterisk across all forms.Make sure you've updated to the latest version to get all of this.[Update for iOS ] | [Update for Android ]Are you already using the video feature? Drop a comment — always good to hear how you're using it in the field.

April's updates are focused on two things: giving pool pros back time they shouldn't be spending in the first place, and making the financial side of the business easier to manage. From AI-powered call handling to a cleaner reporting experience, here's what's new: AI phoneCustomers can now call in and get answers without waiting for your team. Forward calls to an embedded AI agent that uses your customer data and a configurable knowledge base to respond — so routine questions are handled automatically, around the clock. 30-day free trial ends June 1st, and the launch price is $99/month after that. This video shows you how easy it is to set it up!  Reporting updates: Several reports got meaningful upgrades this month:The Service Credits Report is now available directly from the Reports page The AR Aging Summary report now defaults to yesterday's date automatically The Income by Category report has been updated with consistent color coding, a right-aligned Export button with an Excel option, and an empty state message Voided payments are now included in the Payouts Report You can now jump directly to a customer's statement from their Customer Details page The Reports menu has been tidied up — old links removed, "New" labels cleared Lead form updatesEnabling or disabling the form now saves instantly when you flip the toggle — no more saving the entire page to apply the change. API enhancements Several new fields are now available on Product endpoints, including ManufacturerSku, HeritagePartNumber, MarkupType, and more.  New endpoints let you search all work orders and pull all work order types via the API. Rate limiting documentation has been added to the developer portal.Learn more here → Customer export updateThe customer export now includes the suspended customer flag, so you can see which customers have overdue invoices without pulling a separate report. As always, don’t forget to update your mobile app to the most current version for the latest improvements.Update for iOS Update for Android That’s all for April’s updates. Keep an eye out next month 🚀🚀 

I wanted to share two resources created by our workshop training guru ​@cshalli to help you get the new AI Phone feature actually working for your business. Not just turned on. Really working for your business!1. AI Phone Getting Started Guide [ACCESS HERE]This guide walks you through the full setup in under 30 minutes, covering how to train your agent, configure transfer rules, set up call forwarding, and test before you go live.A few things worth knowing before you dive in:AI Phone is a safety net, not a replacement. It's designed to catch the calls you can't get to. Don't forward 100% of calls to it as your only call handling strategy. The Knowledge Base is everything. The AI answers based entirely on what you train it. The more specific you make it, the better it performs. Test before you activate. Call the number, walk through a new lead scenario, an existing customer question, and an urgent situation. Check the recording after each one, and you'll spot gaps fast.2. Knowledge Base & Transfer Rules Starter Kit [ACCESS HERE]This is a plug-and-play library of ready-to-copy entries for the calls you get every day: new lead intake, equipment repair triage, billing questions, water chemistry, leak inquiries, and more.Every card has a title and prompt ready to paste straight into AI Phone > Knowledge > Add Knowledge. The red cards are Transfer Rules, and those go in the Gear Icon > Transfer Rules instead.Pick what fits your business, skip what doesn't, and edit anything before you add it. These are starting points, not a script.Some of what's in the kit:Full new lead and equipment repair intake flows Responses for the most common current customer questions Billing self-serve guidance pointing customers to their portal A complete set of Transfer Rules for electrical hazards, billing disputes, angry callers, and anyone who asks to speak to a real personOne pro tip from the guide worth calling out: Check your calls each morning and follow up with any new leads from the day before. The faster you respond, the higher your close rate.Drop any setup questions below or share how it’s working for your business so far👇

Hey Pool Deck,If you've ever finished a job, checked your phone, and seen a missed call from a number you don't recognize, you already know the problem this solves. That caller didn't leave a voicemail. They called someone else. AI phone was built to make sure that doesn't happen again.It's 24/7 call answering built directly into Skimmer. When you can't get to the phone — because you're changing a filter, driving between stops, or it's 9pm on a Saturday — it picks up. It answers using your real business data, handles the call the way you'd want it handled, and logs everything back into your account automatically.Our in-house expert @CShalli created this video that walks you through how AI phone works.   Here's everything it can do: 🏊 Pool-specific knowledgeTrained on pool industry knowledge — chemical readings, equipment types, service terminology, and seasonal patterns Recognizes your customers, your services, and how your business works  Custom knowledge layer: add your specific pricing, service areas, and procedures Auto-categorizes and summarizes every call so you can scan at a glance what needs action📞 Call handlingWorks through your existing phone number — no new number needed Missed calls mode(recommended): your phone rings first, AI phone picks up if you don't answer All calls mode: every inbound call goes to AI phone first  24/7 availability — nights, weekends, holidays, peak season🔀 Call transfersYou can set up to 10 routing rules to escalate calls to the right person based on call type Before connecting, AI phone lets you know who's calling and why.🧠 Customer intelligenceRecognizes existing customers by number and greets them by name Captures new lead info automatically — name, contact, pool type, reason for calling — and creates a lead in Skimmer Email alerts after every new caller so you can follow up fast⚙️ Setup and controlLive in under 30 minutes using your existing Skimmer data and website Choose whether the agent identifies itself as AI or not. Pick your agent's name and voice Block spam numbers, listen back to any call, adjust anytime Getting started takes about 5 minutes. Log into Skimmer, go to AI Phone, and the setup wizard walks you through the rest.Skimmer customers on a paid plan can also try it free for 30 days — but the free trial offer closes June 1st. After that, it’s $99/month at our launch price.We'd love to hear what you think in the comments.