Moving from WorkflowMax
A WorkflowMax alternative built around sign work.
Move beyond general job management. SignBas3 connects estimating, artwork approval, production scheduling, purchasing, installation, job costing and accounting around the way a sign company actually works.
See the operating system
The core app carries the job across every department.
These are connected SignBas3 workspaces—not separate tools assembled around a timesheet. The quote becomes the operating scope, artwork is approved against the job, production is planned from current work, and reporting reads the evidence captured while the job runs.
Compare the complete sign-shop workflow
| Area | SignBas3 | WorkflowMax approach |
|---|---|---|
| Primary audience | Sign manufacturers, installers, print and wrap businesses. | Broad professional-services and project-based firms. |
| Running the job | Quote, artwork, production, purchasing, installation, labour and margin stay connected. | General quote-to-cash job and project management. |
| Estimating | Structure materials, labour, production, purchasing and installation into a sign-specific quote that becomes the job. | General estimates, tasks, costs and billing workflows. |
| Artwork approval | Proof versions, customer markup, comments and approval history stay attached to the work. | Documents and client collaboration sit within the broader job record. |
| Production control | Production tasks, readiness, scheduling, print evidence and workshop priorities work from the accepted scope. | General job schedules, tasks, time and document workflows. |
| Purchasing and installation | Buy, receive and allocate supplier cost against the job, then give installers the current site details, files and completion workflow. | General costs, purchase orders and job information. |
| Accounting | SignBas3 runs operations while Xero (available), QuickBooks (certification in progress) or MYOB (coming soon) remains the accounting system. | Accounting integrations connect job and accounting data. |
| Migration | Guided import, mapping, master tasks and representative reconciliation. | Native WorkflowMax records and workflow. |
Why change
Replace the patchwork around the job.
A sign job is more than a project number, due date and invoice. The estimator needs scope and cost. Artwork needs the current proof and approval. Production needs tasks, materials, files and readiness. Purchasing needs the job requirement. Installers need site details and completion evidence. Management needs the actual commercial result.
SignBas3 brings those teams into one operational thread. Information captured during the sale keeps moving with the job, so the workshop is not rebuilding scope from email, spreadsheets and memory.
What SignBas3 adds for a sign company
- CRM and structured estimating. Capture the client, site and request, then price materials, labour, production, purchasing and installation in the same commercial workflow.
- Quote-to-job continuity. Carry accepted scope and revisions into the live job without retyping the work for production.
- Artwork approval control. Keep proof versions, customer comments, markup and the final decision together so production uses the approved file.
- Production planning. Organise workshop tasks, readiness, remaining effort, staff capability and fixed commitments around real production work.
- Purchasing and receiving. Raise purchases for the job, record what arrives and preserve supplier-cost evidence for job costing.
- Mobile installation. Give the field team assigned work, contacts, sites, documents, photos, items and useful completion context.
- Job costing and reporting. Compare estimate with actual labour, materials, purchases, production and installation while the evidence is still attached to the job.
- Accounting handoff. Send the financial outcome to Xero (available), QuickBooks (certification in progress) or MYOB (coming soon) while SignBas3 retains the detail needed to run and improve the shop.
Migration plan
Bring the business forward without losing the story.
A successful WorkflowMax migration preserves more than a contact list. SignBas3 provides a guided path for importing and reconciling the clients, jobs, people, statuses, task structures and financial history your team relies on.
1. Prepare the source
Export the required WorkflowMax data and keep an unchanged source package. Identify active, completed, unusual and high-value jobs for testing.
2. Map the operating model
Resolve users, clients, statuses and master tasks deliberately. This is the moment to preserve useful conventions and remove workarounds that no longer serve the shop.
3. Reconcile representative jobs
Check relationships, status, dates and totals against the source. Follow at least one current job from customer and quote through tasks, costs and history.
4. Prove the new workflow
Price a real-style job, approve artwork, schedule production, purchase an input, complete an installation and read the margin. The migration is ready when the whole team can continue the work—not merely when rows exist in a database.
Keep accounting as the ledger, not the workshop.
Your accounting platform remains the financial source of truth. SignBas3 runs the operational detail before and around that handoff: what was sold, which artwork was approved, what production consumed, what suppliers delivered, what installers completed and how the job performed. Choose Xero (available), QuickBooks (certification in progress) or MYOB (coming soon) and keep the shop connected to the numbers without forcing production to operate inside accounting software.
Which WorkflowMax?
Compare the current product and the job system you are leaving.
Searches for a WorkflowMax alternative can mean two things. Xero retired its original WorkflowMax product in June 2024. WorkflowMAX by BlueRock is a current, independently operated product rebuilt around quote-to-cash job management for professional-services businesses. SignBas3 is the alternative designed specifically for sign manufacturing, wide-format print, artwork, workshop production, purchasing and installation.
The decision is therefore not simply old software versus new software. It is whether the business wants another general job-management platform or a sign-industry operating system that keeps commercial scope, approved artwork, production work, purchased inputs, site completion and final margin together.
WorkflowMax alternative checklist for a sign company
| Decision | What to prove | SignBas3 outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Accepted scope | Can production identify the exact quote revision, products, materials, labour and installation allowance without rebuilding the estimate? | The accepted estimate becomes the operational baseline on the job. |
| Artwork release | Can the workshop find the approved proof, customer feedback and version history without searching email or document folders? | Browser review, markup and the formal decision remain connected to production. |
| Material readiness | Can purchasing show what was ordered, approved and received for a job before production capacity is committed? | Purchase and receiving evidence stays attached to the requirement and actual supplier cost. |
| Workshop execution | Can the manager see readiness, owned tasks, remaining effort, staff capability, equipment context and fixed commitments together? | The production plan works from current jobs rather than a separate project schedule. |
| Field completion | Can installers reach current sites, contacts, files, items and scope, then return photos, notes and completion evidence? | Mobile field work continues the same operating record outside the workshop. |
| Commercial result | Can management explain estimated versus actual labour, material, supplier, production and installation cost? | Job costing uses evidence captured while the work was run. |
| Accounting choice | Can operations remain detailed while the finance team keeps its selected accounting platform? | Xero (available), QuickBooks (certification in progress) or MYOB (coming soon) remains the ledger and SignBas3 runs sign operations. |
Choose by operating fit
Move to software built for the work your company performs.
WorkflowMAX by BlueRock centres quoting, time, job costing, work in progress, invoicing and accounting integration for professional-services workflows. That model can fit firms whose delivery is primarily projects, tasks and billable effort.
Sign companies carry additional operational gates. Customer artwork must become an approved production version. Substrates and bought-in components must arrive. Print, fabrication and finishing tasks must become executable. Fixed site work needs current field information. The final margin depends on evidence across the workshop and installation—not timesheets alone.
SignBas3 makes those sign-specific handoffs part of the core app. It is built for businesses whose jobs move through sales, artwork, production, suppliers, field crews and accounts before they are truly complete.
What should move from WorkflowMax?
A useful migration should preserve the customer and job story required to keep trading. Prepare clients and contacts, active and historic jobs, users, statuses, master tasks, dates and relevant financial history. Retain an unchanged source export so every mapping and reconciliation decision can be checked against evidence.
Do not judge migration by row count. Select representative jobs: one active job, one completed job, one with unusual status history, one with meaningful costs and one the team knows well. Confirm relationships, dates, states and totals, then prove the new operating workflow around accepted scope, artwork, production, purchasing, installation and margin.
A practical WorkflowMax replacement test
- Bring a representative sign job with a revised estimate, artwork, purchased material, workshop tasks and installation.
- Ask sales to find the customer, accepted commercial version and next action.
- Ask artwork and production to identify the exact approved file and the work authorised by it.
- Ask purchasing what the job requires, what has arrived and which actual supplier cost belongs to it.
- Ask the production manager what is ready, blocked, late and next without opening a side spreadsheet.
- Ask the installer to find current site information and return completion evidence to the office.
- Ask management to explain estimated versus actual performance from the job record.
- Confirm the accounting handoff supports Xero (available), QuickBooks (certification in progress) or MYOB (coming soon) without turning the ledger into the production system.
WorkflowMax alternative questions
Is the original WorkflowMax by Xero still operating?
No. Xero retired the original WorkflowMax product in June 2024. WorkflowMAX by BlueRock is a current independent product. SignBas3 provides a separate alternative built around sign-company operations.
Is SignBas3 only a WorkflowMax migration archive?
No. Migration brings useful business history forward, but SignBas3 is the live core app for CRM, estimating, artwork approval, production, purchasing, installation, costing, accounting handoff and reporting.
Can I keep Xero after moving away from WorkflowMax?
Yes. Choose Xero (available), QuickBooks (certification in progress) or MYOB (coming soon) as the accounting platform while SignBas3 runs the operational workflow and retains the evidence behind each job result.
Does SignBas3 handle more than time and invoicing?
Yes. Labour is one actual-cost input. The core app also connects sold scope, artwork versions, materials, purchasing, production, field completion, invoicing and profitability.
Put SignBas3 through a real migration test.
Bring one representative WorkflowMax job to a demo. We will use it to compare the complete workflow—from estimate and artwork through production, purchasing, installation, costing and accounting—against the way your sign company works today.