Guides, tools and comparisons for contractors

Setting up: choosing the software

Choose software by running real jobs on it, not the demo: schedule a job from your own week, have a tech finish it on their phone, then send the invoice and take a payment with the clock running. Before you commit, ask who moves your customer list and what the plan you need really costs.

• GuideChoosing field service management softwareGuideThe features you must have, the real price of the plan you need, and a field test on real jobs.
• GuideMoving from paper scheduling to softwareGuideA step-by-step plan: the customer list, the first week, and training your techs.
• ArticleWhat is field service management software?ArticleWhat it does, who needs it, and how to tell when your business is ready for it.
• ArticleHow to choose a CRM for a service businessArticleWhich features matter, which to skip, and how to avoid paying for the rest.
• CalculatorROI calculatorCalculatorA year of software cost set against the no-shows, admin hours and bookings you expect it to change, on your own assumptions.
• Articles
  Starting a trade businessArticles

  PlumbingHVACCleaningHandymanLandscaping

When the call comes in

A call nobody answers can go to the next contractor on the list, so reply within minutes. Text back as soon as you can, send after-hours callers a link to book online, and call back between jobs rather than at the end of the day. Then count what the calls you still miss are costing you.

Pricing the job

Build the price from your costs up: labor at what a tech really costs per billable hour, the materials with their markup, a share of the overhead, and the profit on top. On larger jobs, ask for a deposit when the job is booked, not on the day of the work; a quarter to half of the estimate is common.

• GuideHow to price plumbing jobs: hourly vs flatGuideWork out an hourly rate, mark up parts, build a flat-rate price book, and set an after-hours rate.
• Articles
  How to price the work, by tradeArticles

  PlumbingHVACElectricalLandscapingCleaning

Booking it in

Most no-shows are forgotten appointments, not refusals, and a reminder fixes forgetting. Confirm the visit when it is booked, remind the customer the day before with a way to reschedule, and tell them when the tech sets off. Put your policy on the booking page and in every message.

• ArticleHow to reduce no-shows and cancellationsArticleKeeping the schedule full when customers cancel late or are not home.

Scheduling and routing the day

The order of the day decides how many jobs fit in it. Give each tech jobs that sit near each other, set every job’s real duration and the customer’s time window, then put the stops in the order that drives the fewest miles. When an urgent call comes in, re-route the day rather than adding it to the end.

• ArticleHVAC scheduling tipsArticleBooking more jobs into the day and cutting callbacks.

Invoicing and getting paid

Send the invoice before you leave the job: the work in plain words, the deposit already paid, the balance due and your terms. Let the customer pay on the spot, by card or on their phone. Anyone who doesn’t pay then gets a reminder a few days later and another on the due date.

Asking for the review

Ask when the work is done and the customer is pleased, on the doorstep, then send a direct link to your Google review form by text the same afternoon. Name the job, keep the ask small, and never offer anything in return: Google’s policies prohibit paying for a review in any form.

After the job: the numbers

Read the numbers at three scales. For each job, what it kept after labor, materials and overhead. Each week, who owes you money and how full the next two weeks are. And when you plan ahead, what the business itself is worth: owner earnings times a multiple, plus its assets.

• One job

  $569 kept on the $1,850 sample job

  $1,281 it cost

  $569 kept
  Profit margin calculatorGross margin, net margin and markup from revenue, materials, labor and overhead.

  31%

  margin, $569 of the $1,850 price

  44%

  markup, $569 on the $1,281 it cost

• Every week

  • Money owed to you
  • Work booked, next two weeks
  • Revenue vs the same week last year
  • Profit by job type
  • Hours per tech
  • Repeat customers
  Better decisions with automated reportingMoney owed, booked work, profit by job type and hours per tech — and what each one tells you to do.

  In Business GenieJob costing shows what each job made, and GPS time tracking records the hours behind it. Job costing · GPS time tracking · Reporting
• The business

  Owner earnings×a multiple+the business’s assets

  Business valuation calculatorA value range by the SDE multiple method: owner earnings times a multiple, plus business assets.

  Growing itWays to grow a field service business: scaling a plumbing, HVAC or electrical business, from automation to keeping customers.