Since 1984, DockMaster has been at the forefront of marina management technology, making life easier for staff to stay on top of their business. Time and time again, DockMaster products have proven their worth in not only helping marinas save time and money, but opening doors to users in improving their operations, as well as discovering fruitful opportunities. After more than 35 years, DockMaster has not only won awards for its complete marine software, it’s earned a great deal of accolades crediting the company’s technology in improving any given marina’s bottom line.

Testimonials have outlined several ways in which DockMaster has helped their performance. Here’s five of them:

Improving efficiency

DockMaster is designed to cover all financial aspects of a marina’s operations. Therefore, not only can a company check out the results of revenue streams, it can also look at anomalies in cost centers that may have strayed from budget projections. 

Take the case of DockMaster professional sales rep Aaron Sacks, who praises the software for “the ability to understand what parts of my business are most profitable and where I am not making the profit I should be.”

In one instance, Aaron noticed a discrepancy in how much labor he was paying for. A new service yard under his watch didn’t record billable hours and a report he ran off indicated only 20 confirmed hours. 

When approached, the service yard techs were astounded, responding that people were actually paid for 320 hours of work. “Hence to say they changed their time recording and fired the manager,” recalls Aaron.

User Friendliness

Any software that’s geared towards detail and comprehensive coverage of transactions in a marina is bound to be cumbersome, especially if the business is considerably larger and more sophisticated than a mom-and-pop operation. Yet, regardless of company size, DockMaster’s designed their systems to make them easy to use, even if you just have rudimentary accounting knowledge.

You also don’t need to be restricted to a keyboard or mouse to operate a DockMaster platform, as touchscreens and inventory scanners makes tracking and transactions easier. “With our software being so user friendly, you can have a new employee up and running with very little training,” says application support employee Bob Rappa. 

DockMaster also backs up its user-friendly technology with additional training and follow-up to cover any areas that might confuse customers. “The software is developed with the end user in mind and live support is available.” adds professional sales rep Ed Albright.

Flexibility

DockMaster fully realizes that no two marinas are alike. It doesn’t matter whether the operation is run corporately, by a family or whether the sources of revenue vary extensively. DockMaster’s marine management system is created to be customized to any business that uses the technology.

“DockMaster was engineered from the beginning to be flexible to the needs of the customers,” says John Hoadley, the company’s director of operations.  

“When the program is flexible you need to have a flexible team and at DockMaster, our Professional Services team constantly demonstrates that they are up to the challenge. Starting with the initial PIV (Personal Identity Verification), the team works with new customers to hear how they’re currently using their software as well as what the challenges with the current processes are that prompted them to search for new software.”

Whether marinas have issues surrounding boat launch scheduling, rentals, fuel management, or even concession sales, DockMaster can adapt to any revenue or cost center that’s part of the company.

Comprehensive

Even for all its ability to be used by computer neophytes, that is no indication that DockMaster sacrifices quality of operation coverage. Designers have ensured that no detail is too small to be considered when it comes to the financial well-being of a marina.

“I have never seen one single piece of software covering so much and being able to handle it all,” says James Pate, a Dockmaster IT support employee who spent days going over the platform. “From service, inventory, accounting, financing, point of sale, unit sales, storage and reservations, I cannot think of another piece of software that would touch that many areas and still function as well as DockMaster.”

Reduced Workload

Part of what makes DockMaster so attractive is that the software can do most of the work for you when it comes to recording transactions. Every aspect of the business, from accounts receivable, accounts payable to revenue and overhead is integrated into one neat bundle to get a quicker overview of the company.

Double-entry bookkeeping in a journal automatically adds the transaction amounts into ledgers of the affected accounts. That information is automatically retrieved when it comes time to create reports. The time saved not only cuts down on labor costs, it also frees the company up to work on operations that need more attention or opportunities that warrant pursuing.

DockMaster is an integrated comprehensive program to assist the user in the management of all facets of the marine operation,” says Ed Albright.

“Information from each area of the business whether it be dockage, transient rental, boat service, boat sale, over the counter parts or accessory sales, or inventory management is shared and culminates in financial statements using the general ledger. It’s all in one package.”