Marine service software, built for the bay.

Where service shops actually lose time

Independent boat dealers make most of their margin in the service bay. They also lose most of their time there — not turning wrenches, but answering "is my boat ready?", chasing parts, and re-typing the same data into three different tools.

HelmDMS marine service software was designed by sitting at a real shop and watching where the time actually goes. The result is a service workflow that cuts the daily friction:

Work orders done right

• Concern / Cause / Correction — the industry-standard service documentation structure. Every work order captures what the customer said, what you found, and what you did.
• Who's paying selector — Customer Pay / Warranty / Internal — required field, no more lost warranty submissions.
• Multi-day jobs with technician assignment across days. Real boat service rarely fits in a single day.
• Estimated hours on every WO so the schedule reflects reality.
• Parts and labor lines with inventory decrement at add-time (not at checkout — so the lot guy knows when something's actually low).
• PDF attachments for Mercury diagnostic reports, Yamaha warranty docs, customer photos.

Status board the front desk can read

The single biggest time-sink at a boat shop: the front desk doesn't know what's going on in the back. Customer calls. Front desk takes the call, walks back to ask the tech, walks back to call the customer. Twenty times a day.

HelmDMS has a status board that updates as the techs work. Service Writer view shows everything in flight: what's diagnosing, what's awaiting parts, what's awaiting approval, what's ready for pickup.

Plus a separate Recently Finished tab for the front desk so "is my boat ready?" is one click. No walking back. No "let me check and call you back."

Scheduling that doesn't make you click 14 times

• "Next available" button — finds the first open slot for the right tech and books it.
• Drag-and-drop rescheduling on iPad and desktop. 30-minute snap.
• Per-tech availability strip — see each technician's next open hour at a glance.
• Card-on-file at booking with configurable deposit / no-show fee per your policy. Reduce no-shows measurably.
• Auto SMS reminders — 24 hours and 2 hours before. Customer can confirm via reply.
• Estimated completion time in the intake SMS so customers know what to expect.

Technician productivity, not surveillance

Two clocking systems, one purpose: pay people right.

• Time clock for payroll — IP-restricted to the shop network so techs don't deal with MFA at clock-in.
• Job clock — separately tie tech time to specific work orders, so you can actually report on tech productivity per job.
• Manager edits when someone forgets to clock in/out (because they will).
• Timesheet export to your payroll system.

"Your boat is ready" — without lifting the phone

When a tech marks a work order complete, HelmDMS automatically sends the customer an SMS, email, or natural-voice automated call (your choice, per the customer's preference). No more end-of-day "I forgot to call so-and-so."

This is what most marine DMS systems outsource to Kenect for ~$300/mo. We include it.

Connected to the rest of HelmDMS

Service software is one piece. The same platform handles your parts counter POS, boat sales pipeline, live supplier search, customer database, caller ID, and QuickBooks Online sync. Full feature list →

$499/mo flat. Founding pricing locks in for life. Book a demo.