Pluss PTM Vision

Overview

PTM Vision is the main product of Pluss Software, based in Kalispell, Montana. Pluss says it started in 1984, when Kevin Iverson built Part Time Manager (PTM) for his family’s heavy-duty parts and repair businesses and later sold it to other shops. Pluss became employee-owned in 2017 and was sold to Fullsteam in 2020. It reports more than 500 customers across independent parts and repair, fleet maintenance, RV service, truck body upfitting, component rebuilding and equipment.

PTM Vision is sold as modules: point of sale, parts inventory, purchasing, barcoding, accounting, batch billing, preventative maintenance, a customer portal, a VIN decoder and payment processing. The Mobile Service app is “an Android application designed for mobile trucks and mobile technicians.” Techs can create dispatch tickets, manage work orders, track travel time to the customer and tech time on the job, add parts and labor, and get work authorization and sign-off by signature. Orders sync back to PTM Vision for billing.

Pricing

Pluss doesn’t publish prices. Its homepage says the software is modular, with “No high-priced product bundles,” and Mobile Service, Preventative Maintenance and the portal appear as separate products, so the features a mobile fleet operation needs depend on which modules you buy. A free trial is available on request and requires Windows. Billing terms, minimums and setup fees aren’t stated; pricing goes through sales.

Strengths and weaknesses

PTM Vision suits businesses that sell parts as well as repair trucks, since counter sales, barcoding and purchasing sit next to work orders. The PM module sends text and email reminders for units that are upcoming, due or past due, and lets shops choose who gets them per customer and per unit. The portal lets customers view work history and invoices and pay on account. QuickBooks Online and Desktop sync both ways, and a cloud-hosted option promises 99.95% availability with 7 days of backups.

The drawbacks are platform and documentation. The trial requires Windows, the QuickBooks connector lists Windows requirements, and Mobile Service runs on Android only. Several product pages are thin: the PM page doesn’t say whether intervals run on miles, hours or dates, and no labor guide or telematics integration is named.

When to pick PTM Vision (and when not to)

Pick PTM Vision if you run a parts counter and a repair shop with service trucks, your techs use Android devices, and you keep your books in QuickBooks.

Look elsewhere if your field team uses iPhones, you want a browser-first system with published pricing, or you need labor guides and telematics built in.