Tree care runs on materials and equipment. Chemicals for plant healthcare, mulch and amendments for installs, fuel and bar oil and saw chains for the daily run, ropes and rigging hardware for climbing crews. Most tree service companies track this in a parts bin and a guy's head, until the day a crew rolls up to a job without the right pesticide or the saw goes down because nobody noticed the chain inventory ran out. ArborDash includes a real inventory and purchase order system so the materials side of your operation is as organized as the scheduling side.
Track every material with a per-unit cost, current stock level, reorder level, and supplier. Anything at or below its reorder level gets a Low Stock flag on the Inventory page, and the Planning tab lists what to reorder first. Add materials to a job and their cost goes into that job's cost breakdown, so your profit numbers include what the crew used. For chemicals and fertilizers, ArborDash deducts the amount from the container when a crew logs an application. Bulk materials (mulch by the cubic yard), discrete items (replacement bar tips, climbing carabiners), and consumables (fuel, bar oil) each get their own unit and reorder level.
Equipment tracking goes beyond consumables. Catalog every chipper, bucket truck, mini-loader, climbing line, and saw with make, model, serial number, purchase date and cost, and current location. Mark each item owned or rented (with its hourly or daily rate), track multiples such as six saws with four available, and list the licenses an operator needs to run it. Enter the hour-meter reading and the next maintenance due date, and the Inventory page flags anything due within seven days or overdue. Log equipment hours on a job, and a rented machine's hourly rate goes into that job's cost breakdown.
The supplier database keeps each vendor's contacts, account number, payment terms, tax rate, product catalog, and order history in one place. Upload a supplier's price list as a PDF or CSV, and ArborDash pulls the products and prices into their catalog for you to review. Build purchase orders with line items picked from that catalog, where the supplier's price fills in, or describe the order in plain words and let AI draft the lines. Email the PO straight to the vendor from ArborDash, with a note asking them to confirm expected delivery, or print it. When the order arrives, record what came in line by line, and the PO shows as partially or fully received.
What you can track
- Materials — chemicals, mulch, amendments, fuel, oil, saw chains, ropes
- Equipment — trucks, chippers, bucket lifts, climbers, saws, hand tools
- Suppliers with contacts, payment terms, price catalogs, and order history
- Purchase orders you build, email or print, and receive line by line
- Stock levels with a low-stock flag at your reorder level
- Chemical and fertilizer deduction from the container when a crew logs an application
- Equipment maintenance due dates with hour-meter readings
- Chemical records with lot numbers, expiry dates, Safety Data Sheets, and label files
- Material cost on jobs for accurate job profitability
- Supplier price lists imported from PDF or CSV
How It Works
- Add your materials and equipment. For chemicals and fertilizers, upload a photo of the product label and AI fills in details such as the EPA number, active ingredient, and signal word.
- Add suppliers and upload their price lists to build each supplier's catalog.
- Record the materials used and equipment hours on each job to see what the job cost. Chemical and fertilizer applications logged by the crew deduct from the container used.
- Items at or below their reorder level are flagged on the Inventory page. Build a PO from the supplier's catalog, or describe the order and let AI draft it.
- Email the PO to the supplier from ArborDash. When it arrives, record what came in and the PO updates to partially or fully received.