Contractor Foreman vs. OmniFocus

As the name suggests, Contractor Foreman is GREAT for general contractors. However, being a consultant, I feel as though if upper management within the company I serve were more tech-savvy, they could accomplish much of the same tasks on other platforms that could give more advanced metrics. I also feel that the platform may feel outdated on purpose to ensure that those general contractors who aren't as tech savvy can understand the platform more.

Incentivized

If someone is in the Apple ecosystem, it's the best choice. Far beyond a simple task manager, OmniFocus is the only software I've found that can reliably track every aspect of one's life. If I want anything in my life to be different than it currently is, there's a place for it in OmniFocus.

Incentivized

• The service is top notch. You would be hard pressed to find other options with this kind of service.
• The ability to have your project flow through the modules makes it a breeze to use.
• Being able to track time as well is a key feature.

Incentivized

• Managing projects at both a broad and a granular level.
• Allowing you to build customized views of your work.
• Helping you review projects that have not been looked at in while.
• Separating projects from different aspects of your life (e.g. work, home, consulting)

Incentivized

• In the CDB, I'd like to be able to create a line item with a specified percentage, and when I pull that line item into an estimate or proposal, I'd like the system to automatically calculate it based on that contract value. (Example, Contingency line is always going to be 15% of the contract value).
• I'd like to be able to rearrange "blocks" on a page when I'm getting ready to send or print it. Lots of dead space on pages. Estimates 4 pages in total when it could be 2.
• I'd like to be able to create budget summaries. Where the line items are grouped into their respective master format categories, and the category has the sum of all the line items in that category.

• I would really like to see graphic presentations of how I allocate my time, what categories of tasks don't get accomplished, etc.
• I would like to see OmniFocus include Gantt chart functionality, such as allowing me to see how long it took me to accomplish a task from start to finish. Allowing me to actually input time spent, and seeing it on a Gantt chart, would be icing on the cake.

Incentivized

We have compiled so much information on CF it would be counterproductive to move to another software. We have also sold a lot of clients on the client portal feature. It is crucial for our communication between customers. The only reason we wouldn't renew the service is if somewhere offered the exact same service but at a lower cost

Incentivized

Over the past 4 years of use I still haven't found any product that comes close in terms of capability

Incentivized

Overall, Contractor Foreman is a great product, and I’m sure we’ve only scratched the surface of everything it has to offer. It can be a little quirky at times, occasionally displaying a 'Bad Gateway' message, but we haven’t experienced any timeout issues in the past few months. As we continue to use it, I’m confident we’ll uncover even more ways to streamline our workflow

Incentivized

This is a super usable tool to use. I really like the front-end user experiences, which makes using it really clear

Availability was good, FUNCTIONAL availability was more spotty

Incentivized

Many times we had issues that turned out to be errors and bugs. At first, we would be told forcefully that there were no bugs, then we would document them, and we would get an acknowledgement but no apology for essentially either gaslighting us or being ignorant of their system

Incentivized

We have only had one issue the entire time we have had Contractor Foreman and that was that we had the hardest time getting the platform to allow us to log in, but we called our support and within 5 mins we able to log back in

Incentivized

I have not had to call support for this product, so I don't really have any specific experience in that regard. I guess the good news is that the product has worked as advertised, so I haven't needed the support!

Incentivized

The team that does your implementation is amazing. They're skillful, kind, they will take as much time as you need, and they have a sense of urgency

Incentivized

A few of them were too specialized, and we're trying to limit the amount of software we have data entry into. Buildertrend was probably the biggest competitor we reviewed, but the cost and migration effort didn't seem enticing to us as a business. I think Contractor Foreman has its own quirks, but once you understand the methodology behind the software, it works very well, and at the price, it's hard to imagine migrating away to something that does the exact same thing for 2-3x the cost (plus all the data migration).

OmniFocus is built for the user with a lot going on - consequently, it does a great job at organizing lots of things in a manageable workload. It's perfect for taking a project and breaking it down into small tasks for yourself or teams. Once you get past the learning curve, it's quick at adding new tasks. Overall, it's an excellent product.

Incentivized

We had just 2 users

Incentivized

• It has allowed for more structure within the company
• It has given more clear communication from the sales office to the field
• It has increased the capacity of projects we are able to take on by allowing them to flow smoother and have less wasted time on projects

• OmniFocus keeps our tasks moving forward. Using a free script you can search all your current projects for projects that have no next step assigned to it to ensure nothing falls through the cracks.
• When we serve our clients, the attention to detail we are able to give them comes from accurate tracking of what we need to deliver.
• We complete projects 25% faster than before and we can see where the bottlenecks are immediate. We have also been forced to document tasks in a more concrete manner which allows for better execution.

Incentivized