Contractor Foreman vs. WorkflowMax

If we are working with an architect on a highly complex, custom-built home that requires 50 versions of a floor plan. The Limitation: While Contractor Foreman handles documents well, it isn't a dedicated "Blueprinting" or CAD-markup tool like Procore or specialized architectural software. If the job is more "design" than "construction," the tool's document versioning can feel a bit basic. The Scenario: A crew leader identifies $1,200 in structural repairs needed before the new siding can go up. The Contractor Foreman Solution: Instead of "calling the office" and waiting, the lead creates a Change Order on their tablet, attaches a photo of the rot, and has the homeowner sign it on the spot. The project doesn't stop, and the billing is updated automatically.

WorkflowMax is a good solution for the architecture and design profession in that it allows for multiple ways to track a project, apply time to a project, and invoice against a project. The ability to do staffing forecasting and future planning fills a need that most firms in this profession require.

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

• Great for managing teams which are not in one spot. Awesome for small or growing businesses with employees who might work from home.
• Really good for teams to keep up with where a project is at against the time left to achieve the goal
• Great for keeping all the information for each project in one spot.

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.

• Integration with inventory - there are a lot of companies out there which provide a service which includes selling items either purchased or held in stock or "kitted"
• User permission levels need to be more flexible and ideally closely tied to Xero
• Two way integration with Xero - ability to import invoices to specific jobs
• Ability to save pdfs to purchase orders, invoices (like Xero)

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

Because we can't imagine being without it!

Incentivized

The platform is straightforward for basic use, the more advanced features, like budgeting, scheduling and QuickBooks integration, require some time to learn, and there are some growing pains with the occasional bugs and the need for better security features. CF is a great tool for efficiently managing construction projects, tracking progress, and handling finances in small to mid-sized construction businesses, but it may not meet the needs of highly complex projects or those requiring extensive customization.

Incentivized

It's easy to use and provides me with instant online access to the management of my business whether I am at my desk or overseas

Incentivized

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

We have had very few issues with Max

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

Decide how to breakdown your ongoing jobs - are they monthly recurring or annual broken into chunks? What are you going to give clients i.e. how will your proposals and invoices look?

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).

I'm not sure if it was by Ascentis or not, and it may have been an old version, but we used a program called Timekeeper. It was very outdated, difficult to use, and didn't provide easily producible reports. WorkflowMax is infinitely better to use for our business.

Incentivized

We had just 2 users

Incentivized

• We were able to find a 18,000 change order that been signed but not billed. Contractor Foreman was great because we were able to find the discrepancy but it also would not have happened if the "billed" button made more sense in functionality.

Incentivized

• The time the company saves by using employees efficiently on each project makes the purchase of this software worthwhile. You can clearly verify how much time the staff spends on each project, with each client, and you can compare whether it is profitable or not the hours invested, thus increasing your profits.

Incentivized