Project, estimate, employee, and customer management are the best items in Contractor Foreman. It's nice to be able to assign leads out and use the same card to convert a customer through the entire process. I really like the kanban method of managing projects, and Contractor Foreman is well-suited to that.
Service AutoPilot is a fantastic system for client service tracking and scheduling. While there are a few features and details I would personally like to see changed or added, the ultimate purpose of the system is well executed, fairly simple to use, and easy to understand. My recommendation would be to add more specific details such as canceled or closed clients and closed/canceled service history on active clients to remain permanently.
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.
when closing/canceling a service completely from a clients account it would be nice to still have the history to see what they had done in the past incase they change their mind later and wish to continue the service
cancel/closed client historys would also be nice as if someone sold their home, it would be nice to be able to see what was done on that property prior to inform new owners, etc.
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
Service Autopilot has a versatile set of features that we use across all facets of our business. We use it for history tracking on clients properties, notes specific to the service and/or the client, as well as pricing details
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
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
Absolutely top notch! They were always there to help and immediately. Very happy with the communication they provided and the knowledge they had of their product. I would venture to say that they are one of the best in terms of support in their space.
Contractor Foreman’s pricing is much more cost-effective for small to mid-sized construction businesses, making it a better fit for my company’s budget. It offers an intuitive interface with pre-built construction templates, minimizing setup time and making it easier at least for my team to adopt and start using. The platform’s focus on project tracking, financial management, and nice integrations that makes it highly efficient for tracking project progress, staying on budget, and managing subcontractors/bills. These factors combined made it the ideal choice for meeting my company's specific needs efficiently and cost-effectively.
We use the two systems collaboratively. Both systems offer different features which we use bits and pieces of what we need from each to make the system work for our needs.
Prior to using Contractor Foreman we had to wait until the end to capture all change orders in one summary. Now, with the client portal, we can capture in real time and the client has visibility.
We have been trying to reduce administration time in tracking field expenses and with Contractor Foreman our field crew can uplaod reciepts and track expenses right from their mobile phones.
Punchlist - the punch list and To Do features are so robust we have drastically improved getting punchlists and small tasks completed in single trips without the wasted time and travel of multiple trips due to missed/forgotten items.