JobBOSS² ERP: Job Shop Software Overview, Features & Pricing

JobBOSS² ERP

JobBOSS — now sold as JobBOSS² — is a shop-management ERP system built specifically for job shops, machine shops and make-to-order manufacturers. It handles the quote-to-cash workflow that high-mix, low-volume manufacturing runs on: estimating, scheduling, shop-floor data collection, job costing and accounting in one system. If you are evaluating JobBOSS, the first thing to understand is that the modern product combines two legacy job-shop systems — the original JobBOSS and the E2 Shop System — into a single cloud-native platform from ECI Software Solutions.

Updated July 2026

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What Is JobBOSS² ERP?

JobBOSS² is a cloud or on-premise ERP system for small and mid-sized job shops and custom manufacturers, covering estimating and quoting, order management, scheduling, inventory, shop-floor data collection, quality, job costing and accounting. Built by ECI Software Solutions, it merges the former JobBOSS and E2 Shop System products into one platform.

The system is purpose-built for high-mix, low-volume manufacturing — the world of machine shops, fabricators, tool-and-die and mold shops, and contract manufacturers who make different parts in small batches to customer order. That focus is what separates it from a general-purpose ERP: the workflow starts with an estimate against a drawing or RFQ, converts the winning quote straight into a job, and then tracks that job through the shop floor to invoice, with true costs captured at every operation.

JobBOSS² is not a fit for everyone. It targets discrete, make-to-order production; process manufacturers (food, chemicals, pharmaceuticals) and large enterprises with complex multi-plant requirements are generally served better elsewhere. Its sweet spot is the owner-operated or mid-sized shop that has outgrown spreadsheets and QuickBooks but does not need a tier-one manufacturing suite.

PRODUCT INFORMATION:

Vendor: ECI Software Solutions

Current product: JobBOSS² (launched 2021)

Predecessor products: JobBOSS (1984) and E2 Shop System

Category: Job shop / make-to-order manufacturing ERP

TYPICAL FIT (ERP Research assessment):

~1–100 Employees (concentrated in the 1–50 range)

DEPLOYMENT:

✅ Cloud (SaaS)

✅ On-Premise

✅ Windows client, web browser and mobile apps

JobBOSS, E2 Shop System and JobBOSS²: The Naming, Explained

Three names circulate for what is now effectively one product line, which is a common source of confusion for buyers. Here is what each one actually refers to:

In everyday search and conversation, "JobBOSS", "JobBOSS 2", "JobBOSS ERP" and "E2 Shop System" are all used to mean the current platform. If you are being sold "JobBOSS" today, you are being sold JobBOSS². Existing E2 Shop System and original JobBOSS customers are the installed base ECI is migrating onto the unified product. For pricing on the legacy line specifically, see our E2 Shop System pricing page.

JobBOSS² Modules & Features

JobBOSS² covers the full job-shop workflow. The core functional areas are:

Estimating & Quoting

The starting point for a job shop. JobBOSS² builds estimates from material, labour and outside-service costs, stores them for reuse on repeat work, and converts a won quote directly into a job — removing the re-keying that eats margin on high-volume quoting.

Order Management

Sales order entry, order acknowledgements and release-to-production, tying each order back to its originating quote so nothing is lost between the estimate and the shop floor.

Scheduling

A visual "whiteboard" scheduling view of the shop, showing machine and work-centre load, job status and bottlenecks so a shop can see what is running where and re-sequence work when priorities change.

Inventory & Materials Management

Material tracking, purchasing and stock control aimed at reducing material cost and ensuring the right material is on hand for each scheduled job, with purchase orders tied to job requirements.

Shop Floor Data Collection

Real-time capture of labour and operation data from the floor, so job costing reflects what actually happened rather than an estimate. This is the module that turns JobBOSS² from an accounting tool into a true shop-management system.

Job Costing & Reporting

Comparison of estimated versus actual cost at the job and operation level, plus performance dashboards — the numbers a shop owner needs to know which jobs, customers and machines are genuinely profitable.

Quality Management

Built-in management of non-conformances, corrective and preventive actions and document control, with an advanced quality option delivered through a partnership with uniPoint for shops with stricter compliance needs (for example ISO or AS9100).

Accounting

A built-in accounting module — general ledger, AR/AP and cash-flow analysis — or integration with QuickBooks (desktop and online) for shops that want to keep their existing books.

CRM

A light CRM layer for contact management, call logging, follow-ups and sales-backlog visibility, sufficient for a shop that does not run a separate CRM system.

Who Is JobBOSS² For? Job Shop & Custom Manufacturing Fit

JobBOSS² is a specialist product, and its value is highest where the manufacturing model matches its design. It fits best in:

• Machine shops and CNC shops running many different parts in small quantities to customer order.
• Metal fabrication, tool-and-die and mold shops, where estimating accuracy and shop-floor tracking drive margin.
• Contract and custom manufacturers — the "custom manufacturing software" use case — who quote against drawings and need estimate-versus-actual costing on every job.
• Make-to-order and engineer-to-order shops that need to schedule around finite machine and labour capacity.

It is a weaker fit for process manufacturers (food and beverage, chemicals, pharmaceuticals), high-volume repetitive production, and larger enterprises needing deep multi-site or multi-currency consolidation. Those buyers should look at discrete manufacturing ERP options or broader MRP software suited to their production style.

The typical JobBOSS² customer is a shop of roughly 1–50 employees, though it is used by shops up to around 100. If you are much larger than that, or you run mixed discrete-and-process operations, weigh it against heavier alternatives before committing.

JobBOSS² Deployment: Cloud vs On-Premise

JobBOSS² was launched as a cloud-native product, and cloud (SaaS) is the deployment ECI leads with — automatic updates, no server to maintain, and access from anywhere. An on-premise option remains available for shops with specific data-residency, connectivity or control requirements. Users reach the system through a Windows client, a web browser and mobile apps for iOS and Android, so operators on the floor and managers off-site work from the same live data.

For most small shops the cloud option removes the IT overhead that made older job-shop systems painful to run. Shops with unreliable internet, strict on-site data policies, or heavy existing infrastructure sometimes still prefer on-premise — the choice mainly affects who maintains the servers and how updates are delivered, not the day-to-day functionality.

How Much Does JobBOSS² Cost?

ECI Software Solutions does not publish list pricing for JobBOSS², so the only way to get an accurate figure is a quote based on your shop's size and requirements. Pricing is subscription-based and driven by user count, the modules you licence, deployment choice (cloud or on-premise), customisation and implementation scope.

Third-party software directories have listed entry-level pricing from around $3,000 per year, but treat any single published number with caution: the total cost of ownership depends heavily on the number of users and the modules and services included. Budget separately for implementation — ECI and its partners typically quote an onboarding project measured in months, not weeks — and for any data migration off your current system.

Because job-shop ERP pricing is rarely transparent, the practical approach is to define your requirements first, then request quotes from JobBOSS² and two or three alternatives on the same specification. Our ERP implementation cost breakdown explains what sits inside a job-shop ERP budget beyond the software subscription.

How to Choose a Job Shop ERP

Selecting a shop-management system is different from choosing a general business ERP — the workflow and the costing model matter more than the brand. A sound process:

1. Map your quote-to-cash workflow. Document how a job moves from RFQ to estimate to shop floor to invoice today, and where it breaks. The right system should match how your shop actually quotes and schedules, not force a new model on you.
2. Prioritise estimating and shop-floor data collection. For a job shop these two modules make or break the ROI: accurate estimates win profitable work, and real-time floor data tells you whether you actually made money. Test both against your real jobs in a demo.
3. Decide cloud or on-premise deliberately. Let data-residency, internet reliability and your appetite for IT maintenance drive the choice — not the vendor's default.
4. Check the integrations you depend on. Accounting (QuickBooks or a built-in ledger), CAD/CAM, EDI for larger customers, and any quality or MES tools must connect cleanly.
5. Quote apples-to-apples. Give JobBOSS² and its alternatives the same requirements list and user count, and compare total cost of ownership — subscription plus implementation plus migration — not just the sticker price.
6. Talk to shops like yours. Ask each vendor for references running the same processes and roughly the same headcount, and ask those references specifically about implementation length and support quality.

Weighing up JobBOSS² for your shop? Get a personalised pricing estimate, compare it against the alternatives, or build a vendor-neutral requirements list first.

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JobBOSS² Alternatives

Shops evaluating JobBOSS² usually shortlist other job-shop and discrete-manufacturing ERPs alongside it. The most common alternatives:

JobBOSS² tends to win on job-shop specialisation and small-shop simplicity; the alternatives compete on depth, scalability or breadth of platform. The right answer depends on your size and how much you expect to grow — which is exactly what a structured requirements comparison is for.

History

JobBOSS² is the product of two separate job-shop software lineages that ECI Software Solutions brought together. The original JobBOSS launched in 1984 in Minneapolis and built a following among small manufacturers over the following decades; ECI acquired it in 2017. The E2 Shop System came from Shoptech, a company founded by manufacturers who built the software in their own Cincinnati job shop in the 1980s; ECI acquired Shoptech in late 2020, adding E2's cloud-native, user-friendly platform to its portfolio.

In May 2021 ECI launched JobBOSS², combining E2's modern platform with JobBOSS's depth of functionality into a single cloud-native ERP for small and medium manufacturers. The legacy JobBOSS and E2 Shop System products are now treated as the installed base being consolidated onto JobBOSS². ECI Software Solutions, headquartered in Texas, also markets other manufacturing systems — including M1 — across its small-business software portfolio.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is JobBOSS²?

JobBOSS² is a job-shop ERP system from ECI Software Solutions for small and mid-sized make-to-order manufacturers. It covers estimating and quoting, order management, scheduling, inventory, shop-floor data collection, quality, job costing and accounting. Launched in 2021, it combines the former JobBOSS and E2 Shop System products into a single cloud-native platform.

Is JobBOSS the same as JobBOSS²?

Effectively yes. JobBOSS is the original product name and JobBOSS² is the current product that superseded it. ECI Software Solutions merged the original JobBOSS and the E2 Shop System into JobBOSS² in 2021, so a buyer being sold "JobBOSS" today is being sold JobBOSS². The terms are used interchangeably in the market.

Is JobBOSS² the same as E2 Shop System?

JobBOSS² is the successor to the E2 Shop System. ECI acquired Shoptech, the maker of E2, in late 2020 and folded E2's platform into JobBOSS², which launched in 2021. Existing E2 Shop System customers form part of the installed base ECI is consolidating onto the unified JobBOSS² product.

Who is JobBOSS² for?

JobBOSS² is designed for small and mid-sized job shops and custom manufacturers — machine shops, fabricators, tool-and-die and mold shops, and contract manufacturers running high-mix, low-volume, make-to-order production. It is typically used by shops of 1 to about 100 employees. It is not aimed at process manufacturers or large multi-plant enterprises.

Is JobBOSS² cloud-based?

JobBOSS² is a cloud-native ERP and cloud (SaaS) is its primary deployment, with automatic updates and no server to maintain. An on-premise option remains available for shops with specific data-residency or control requirements. Users access it through a Windows client, web browser and mobile apps.

How much does JobBOSS² cost?

ECI Software Solutions does not publish JobBOSS² list pricing; cost is quoted per shop based on user count, modules, deployment and implementation scope. Third-party directories have listed entry pricing from around $3,000 per year, but total cost of ownership depends on your specific configuration, so request a quote and budget separately for implementation and data migration.

What are the alternatives to JobBOSS²?

Common alternatives include Global Shop Solutions, Epicor Kinetic, DELMIAworks and Acumatica. JobBOSS² tends to win on job-shop specialisation and small-shop simplicity, while the alternatives compete on depth, scalability or breadth of platform. The best choice depends on your shop's size and growth plans, so compare them against the same requirements list.

What does JobBOSS² do for a job shop?

JobBOSS² manages the full quote-to-cash workflow of a job shop: it builds and stores estimates, converts won quotes into jobs, schedules work across machines and labour, captures real-time data from the shop floor, and compares estimated against actual cost on every job — so a shop can quote accurately, run the floor efficiently and see which work is genuinely profitable.

Related Resources

• E2 Shop System Pricing — pricing detail on the legacy line now folded into JobBOSS²
• Global Shop Solutions — a leading JobBOSS² alternative for order-driven manufacturers
• Epicor Kinetic — a deeper manufacturing ERP for shops planning to scale
• DELMIAworks — discrete and mixed-mode manufacturing ERP with built-in MES
• Acumatica Overview — modern cloud ERP with a manufacturing edition
• Discrete Manufacturing Software — the wider category JobBOSS² sits in
• MRP Software — material requirements planning for manufacturers
• MRP vs ERP — where shop-management ERP fits versus standalone MRP
• ERP Implementation Cost Breakdown — budgeting a job-shop ERP project
• Compare ERP Systems — run JobBOSS² against alternatives on your own requirements