Handled — AI CRM

How to track parts inventory and van stock.

Every repairman knows the feeling: you are at the customer's house, the machine is open, and the part is not on the van. It was on the van last week. Or so you thought.

Van stock is money on wheels. The way to track it is simple: write the part off when the job closes, know what is left, and buy before you run out. Handled's Max does all three.

Disassembled appliance parts and tools on a workbench — Every part on the van is money. Every part you cannot find is a second trip.

Why van stock is different

Van stock is not warehouse stock. A warehouse has shelves, a scanner and someone whose job is the stock. A van has a box of parts, a tired technician and a customer waiting. The tracking has to happen without extra work — or it does not happen at all.

The ways shops track it

The notebook

It works until it doesn't. The notebook is in the van, the van is at the shop, and the part is at the supplier. The notebook also never tells you what to buy — it only tells you what you wrote down, when you remembered to write it.

The spreadsheet

Better than a notebook, worse than a system. Somebody has to type every part in and out, and that somebody is you, after a long day. The spreadsheet is always one tired evening behind reality.

QuickBooks

QuickBooks tracks money well and stock badly for a one-van shop. Housecall Pro itself points its users to QuickBooks Online Plus for inventory — and to a separate integration, Ply, for truck stock. That is two more tools to keep up, for a job that should happen by itself.

A CRM with real inventory

The part is written off when the job closes. The system knows what is left and tells you what to buy. No typing, no second count, no second trip for a part you thought you had.

What good looks like

The part is written off the moment the job closes — not at the end of the week, not from memory.
You can see what is on the van before you leave — per job, not just in total.
The system tells you what to buy — before you run out, not after.
The part search and the stock are the same thing — find the part, see the price, check the van, order it.

What the big tools do

Checked 2026-11-11. Housecall Pro has no native stock-quantity tracking — it lists equipment tracking (a record of the customer's machine), not van stock, and points users to QuickBooks Online Plus or the Ply integration. Jobber has no van-stock module; it has a Home Depot lookup for quoting — retail prices and local availability, not stock control and not ordering. Workiz does have inventory, but only on its top Ultimate tier, behind a sales quote. ServiceTitan has inventory and purchasing modules, built for multi-truck operations. None of the four was found to search stores for a part with retail and wholesale prices and draft the order.

How Handled does it

Max knows what is on the van. When a job closes, Max writes the part off. When the stock runs low, Max says what to buy. And when you need a part you do not have, Max searches stores with retail and wholesale prices and drafts the order — you approve it. Read Inventory and Parts search & ordering.

Max does not forget — you do

Here is the real problem with van stock: a technician forgets what parts he has. Not on day one — over time, when there are many parts, in many drawers and boxes. Max does not forget.

Photograph your van drawers and boxes and tell Max where each part is — Max remembers. On the job, when a part is needed, Max finds it in the Parts and Van tabs, tells you it is in stock, and even tells you which drawer or box it is in. That is the convenience: no digging through the van, no guessing.

And if the part is not on the van, Max finds it in the Parts tab across your suppliers and dealers — Marcone and others — and shows wholesale and retail prices right away. In Max chat, it can also recommend a price for the job.

Features checked 2026-11-11. Sources: the vendor pricing and features pages for Housecall Pro, Jobber, Workiz and ServiceTitan.

Questions

What is the best way to track van stock?

The way that needs no extra work: the part is written off when the job closes, and the system tells you what to buy. A notebook or a spreadsheet only works if somebody keeps it up to date — and that somebody is you, after a long day.

Does Housecall Pro track van stock?

No. Housecall Pro has no native stock-quantity tracking. It lists equipment tracking — a record of the customer's machine — and points users to QuickBooks Online Plus or the Ply integration for stock.

Does Handled track van stock?

Yes. Max knows what is on the van, writes parts off when a job closes, and tells you what to buy. See Inventory.

Does Max remember where each part is on the van?

Yes. Photograph your van drawers and boxes and tell Max where each part is — Max remembers. On the job, Max finds the part in the Parts and Van tabs and tells you which drawer or box it is in.