5 Ways to Get More from Your Simpro Reporting with AI
Simpro is a fantastic tool for running a trade or field service business. Quoting, scheduling, job management, invoicing. It does a brilliant job of keeping your operations running smoothly day to day.
But like any operational platform, Simpro is built to manage work, not to be a full field service reporting suite. And as your business grows, the questions you need to ask of your data grow with it. That's where additional tooling comes in.
Here are five areas where Simpro users often want to go further with their reporting, and how AI is opening up new possibilities.
1. Taking Your Data Beyond Day-to-Day Operations
Simpro does a great job of capturing everything that matters: job details, costs, customer information, technician hours. It's all in there. The next step for many businesses is getting that data out into a format that's designed for analysis and bigger-picture reporting.
GridTec, a Leeds-based electrical business, experienced this first-hand. They found it easy to input data into Simpro but much harder to extract it in a way that was meaningful for the wider business. They could manage individual projects well enough, but seeing the bigger picture across all projects was a real struggle.
How AI solves it: With Tugger's AI Insights, you don't need to "extract" anything. Your Simpro data is automatically synced to a secure warehouse and connected to AI tools via our built-in MCP server. You simply ask a question ("How are our active projects performing against estimates?") and get an instant answer. No export, no spreadsheet, no waiting.
2. Going Deeper Than the Built-In BI Reports
Simpro includes built-in BI reporting which is a great starting point for standard views. As your business grows and your questions get more specific, many users look to extend this with additional reporting tools. More flexibility around customisation, fresher data, and the ability to drill into areas like job profitability, technician utilisation, and estimate-to-actual comparisons are common next steps.
For businesses that want that deeper level of insight, Tugger provides two ways to extend your Simpro reporting.
How AI solves it: First, a full suite of pre-built Power BI reports for Simpro that cover job analysis, quotes, maintenance, utilisation, and more, all automated and customisable. Second, AI Insights lets you ask any question about your data without building a report at all. Between the two, there's no question you can't answer.
3. Freeing Up Time Spent on Manual Reporting
Many Simpro users start their reporting journey by exporting data into spreadsheets. It works, but as the business grows, this process can become time-consuming and error-prone. Spending hours, sometimes days, pulling data, manipulating it, and formatting it into reports is time that could be spent running the business.
Envirotech FM experienced this first-hand. Their reporting was entirely manual, with data extracted from Simpro into Excel and individually processed to produce reports for each customer. It was costly, slow, and fragile.
After connecting Tugger, their entire reporting process was automated. Pre-built dashboards replaced the spreadsheets. Live data replaced static exports. And now, with AI Insights on top, quick questions don't even require a dashboard. Just type and ask.
How AI solves it: AI eliminates the ad-hoc reporting burden entirely. Instead of building a new report every time someone has a question, you ask the AI. The structured dashboards handle your recurring KPIs, and AI handles everything else. The result? Hours of reporting work reduced to seconds.
4. Seeing the Full Picture Across Multiple Systems
Most Simpro users run other platforms alongside it. Xero for accounting, maybe HubSpot for sales and marketing, and probably a few spreadsheets for things that don't fit neatly anywhere else. Simpro does its job brilliantly, but no single platform is designed to give you a unified view across every system your business relies on. That's a reporting challenge for any business, regardless of what tools they use.
Thompsons Group faced exactly this. Their reporting was fragmented across Simpro and Xero, making it difficult to get a unified picture of business performance. It wasn't until they connected both systems through Tugger that they finally had the clarity they needed.
How AI solves it: Tugger connects to Simpro, Xero, HubSpot, and other platforms, storing everything in a single data warehouse. Because the AI sees all your data in one place, you can ask cross-system questions naturally: "What's the invoiced revenue in Simpro versus what's been reconciled in Xero this month?" One question, one answer, no manual data merging.
Read Thompsons Group's full story
5. Making Custom Reports Accessible to Everyone
Power BI is a fantastic tool for building on top of your Simpro data, but it has a learning curve. Custom reports require knowledge of data modelling, DAX formulas, and visualisation design. Not every business has someone with those skills on the team, and hiring a consultant to do it can be expensive.
ARH Group's Commercial Business Partner, Damian Winstone, made this point clearly. He chose Tugger partly because it came with pre-built reports that he could use immediately, without needing to be a Power BI expert. The important thing was not having to start from scratch, because getting data out of the business is one challenge, but building the reports is another one entirely.
How AI solves it: AI Insights removes the skills barrier completely. You don't need to know Power BI, SQL, or data modelling. You type a question in natural language ("What's our technician utilisation rate this month?") and get an answer. Anyone in the business can get the insights they need, not just the person who knows how to build reports.
The Bottom Line
Simpro does a brilliant job at what it's built for: managing trade and field service operations. When you're ready to take your reporting further, whether that's a live Simpro dashboard, cross-system visibility, ad-hoc answers, or deeper analytics, additional tools make a real difference.
Tugger's Simpro integration fills that gap with two approaches that work together: automated Power BI reporting for your regular dashboards and KPIs, and AI Insights for the quick, ad-hoc questions that come up every day. No coding, no SQL, no specialist skills. Just your data, made accessible.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Tugger replace Simpro's built-in reporting?
It extends it. Simpro's built-in tools are useful for standard reports, and Tugger adds automated Power BI dashboards, custom reporting capabilities, and AI-powered natural language queries on top.
How current is the data in Tugger compared to Simpro's built-in BI reporting?
Simpro's built-in BI can rely on a saved copy that's up to 24 hours old. Tugger replaces static exports with live, automatically synced data in your warehouse, so both the AI Insights and the Power BI dashboards work from up-to-date information.
How long does it take to set up?
Minutes, not days. You connect your Simpro account, Tugger syncs your data, and you're ready to start exploring through Power BI reports or AI Insights.
Do I need Power BI experience?
Not for AI Insights. You just ask questions in natural language. For the Power BI reports, Tugger provides ready-made templates so you can start without building anything yourself.
Can Tugger combine Simpro with Xero and HubSpot for cross-system insights?
Yes. Tugger connects to Simpro, Xero, HubSpot, and other platforms and stores everything in a single warehouse. Because the AI can see all your data together, you can ask natural cross-system questions like "What's the invoiced revenue in Simpro versus what's been reconciled in Xero this month?" with no manual data merging.
What kinds of reports and KPIs are available out of the box?
Tugger includes a full suite of pre-built Power BI reports covering job analysis, quotes, maintenance, utilisation, and more for your recurring KPIs. Use AI Insights for quick, ad-hoc questions that don't warrant building a report. Together they cut manual reporting time from hours to seconds.
Can I try it before committing?
Yes. Tugger offers a free trial with no contract and no commitment. Start your free trial
Want to get more from your Simpro data? Start your free trial or book a demo
