Blog
Job costing for solar installers
Most install businesses cost jobs from the quote, not from what was spent. Where the gap opens up, and what accurate job costing needs in practice.
Alex Simon
August 25, 2026
Operations
13 articles tagged with Operations
How-to Guide
Build a custom document template without touching HTML
Payaca document templates are now built by conversation - describe the handover certificate or commissioning form you need and Agent Dave writes the layout for you, live, no HTML required.
Jamie Duncan
August 14, 2026
How-to Guide
Find any setting by typing what you're looking for
Company Settings has been rebuilt: a searchable left-hand nav replaces the old 13-tab wall, so you can jump straight to any setting by name, or by what it does.
Jamie Duncan
August 4, 2026
How-to Guide
Make Payaca's AI sound like your company
Agent Dave now takes standing instructions - tell Payaca's AI assistant how your business works once and it applies that context to every conversation. A setup guide with example instruction sets for heat pump, solar and service-plan installers.
Jamie Duncan
July 27, 2026
How-to Guide
Stop re-keying leads: enquiry forms that build the project for you
Payaca's enquiry forms are now live on every account. A lead lands as a ready-made project - no re-keying, and UK heat pump enquiries arrive with EPC data attached.
Ben Clarke
July 16, 2026
Blog
What a pallet of panels really costs your margins
Bulk-bought stock used to land its whole cost on one unlucky project. Payaca's Stock Locations, now live on every account, hold it at real weighted average cost until a job actually uses it.
Matt Franklin
July 13, 2026
Blog
Solar installer capacity: what permitting sprawl really costs your operations
US solar installers don't have one national permitting clock - they have as many as they have AHJs. Here's what that variance actually costs a growing install business, backed by NREL data.
Matt Franklin
July 10, 2026
Blog
We built an MCP server for Payaca. Here's what it lets your team do.
Connect your AI assistant straight to your Payaca account and ask it to do real work: pull stuck jobs, bulk-update projects, draft follow-ups, build reports. Here's why we built it and the practical things install teams can do with it.
Matt Franklin
June 4, 2026
Blog
Why in-house and bespoke CRMs don't survive growth (US installer playbook)
Mid-sized US solar and clean-energy installers spend two engineers a year keeping a bespoke CRM alive that handles maybe 60% of the workflow. Permits, AHJ inspections, NEM interconnection and ITC handling end up on spreadsheets. The real cost of the build, and what the off-ramp usually looks like.
Matt Franklin
May 27, 2026
How-to Guide
Migrating from HubSpot to Payaca: what actually moves (US installer guide)
Decision-stage migration guide for US clean-energy installers leaving HubSpot. What imports cleanly, what doesn't, what HubSpot stays good at, and how to sequence a 4-week cutover without losing project history or AHJ permit state.
Matt Franklin
May 25, 2026
Blog
Pipedrive vs Payaca for solar and battery installers: where the Pipedrive line stops
Pipedrive is the SMB sales pipeline that lots of US solar and battery installers reach for first. It does the sales side well and stops at deal-closed. A side-by-side workflow walkthrough through permitting, interconnection, ITC documentation, install and PTO.
Jamie Duncan
May 22, 2026
Blog
EV charger operations: running a high-volume install business without the chaos
EV charger install businesses live or die on throughput. A practical operational playbook for teams running 40+ installs a month - scheduling density, quote speed, mobile field completion, and keeping margin tight as volume grows.
Jamie Duncan
April 28, 2026
How-to Guide
How to diversify your solar business: 25+ revenue streams beyond panels
The solar companies that thrive in 2026 won't just install panels. Here's how leading installers are diversifying into home energy companies with recurring revenue, adjacent services, and new business models.
Ben Clarke
February 27, 2026