Contractor Foreman-lots of function for a moderate price
Updated February 27, 2025
Contractor Foreman-lots of function for a moderate price
Score 3 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Contractor Foreman
**UPDATE 2-27-25 We have been on this app now for 3 years and I have some thoughts; One, the promises made on improving the app, in estimnating and bid management in particular, have been poor. In both cases, the app developers have plainly stated that they design for the lowest common denominator, not something you want to sign up for if you are a business that is aimed at excellence. And yes, it IS designed and KEPT THAT WAY, despite dozens of their clients asking for more, and leaving the app once they are ignored, or worse, gaslighted into believing it was going to be done'soon, we are working on it!', which is what I've been told since the day I signed up! Unfortunately, this has become a bigger problem as time goes by, as the developers prioritize more 'whiz bang' in favor of just allowing their 'power users' an override code to MAKE the app work for them. For this reason, I am moving on to a different app (and there ARE other apps, with better performance and about the same cost). ______________________________________________________ I use Contractor Foreman for just about everything to do with our company. I am a trained cost estimator, and though the estimating module is likely their weakest, the one spectacular thing about this company is how hard they work to improve their product. Could they listen to their knowledgeable clients a bit more? Emphatically yes, but they seem to have muddled through the other upgrades fairly well, I'll reserve judgement until I see the upgrades. We also use the program for back-office. Unfortunately we have unresolved issues with their payment system (it just does not work for us) but it seems to function well enough. The learning curve to integrate with Excel is rather long and complicated, but this module does an awful, lot, so we have been able to find 'workarounds' for what we need so far. We use the time clock function, and it has the issues that ALL time clock apps have with connectivity, location tracking, etc., but they have been improving it a lot recently. The one place I would really love to see some love is the 'Invitation To Bid' functionality. This is a contractual 'step' in the bidding process and is not being treated that way, but I have hope they will see the light here as well.
Pros
- Time/employee tracking
- Contact directory
- Permission structure (employee and client)
- The client portal is decent
Cons
- Estimating
- Excel/Payment integration
- 'Invitation To Bid' functionality
- A written help product. Many of their chat techs are either new or behind the curve and there is no written help section to reference
- Bid management, from top to bottom
- The ability to implement a full 'defensive system' for employee management has saved us hundreds of dollars in lost time defending against false unemployment claims.
- The app availability and permission structure for clients access to info has made change orders easier (and less costly from a labor standpoint) than it ever has been. The structure however has always needed work.
- As much as the estimating and bidding module needs upgrades, what is available has made it a bit easier to send and track ITBs. This was and remains one of the main 'time sucks' we are attempting to tame.
- 3 years without improvements to core competencies has left me with a very bad taste in my mouth. I have at least 100 'workarounds' to deal with failures in this app to actually produce functional modules. It has probably cost me more time and money than if I had stayed on my own system/
Of all the myriad different systems I have used over the last 20 years, Contractor Foreman seems to not only be better, but more serious and dedicated to continuous improvements to their platform. THAT will make for the best app, not just today but every year it continues this practice. This is how I run MY company and I consider it the only sane way to do so if you want to have a lifespan of more than a few years. CF currently does onsite app better than anyone I know but it still needs work CF has a good timekeeping setup, it needs to get better at integrating with ALL payroll companies because it's own module is not quite up to snuff yet CF has a decent bidding module, but my own setup is still superior in too many ways to adopt theirs 100% just yet, but I'm close. (Most estimators using this level of software are not as demanding as I am) CF is very good at uploading files, it needs to better at organizing and presenting them better and at salient points in the GUI. (It HAS gotten better recently) CF has an EXCELLENT contact tracking system. Integration with internet enabled phones would be awesome, but I'm nit picking. I WOULD like the ability to add contact books and permissions for those books, just because I want to be able to use it for personal contacts as well! The CF 'internal project landing page' is very good. It has an intuitive layout and has everything available to access all aspects of that project. The CF client landing page is very good, I would like the ability to embed HTML for 'widgets' like weather and maps, but CF has actually addressed this and added some functionality on this since we signed up.
Do you think Contractor Foreman delivers good value for the price?
No
Are you happy with Contractor Foreman's feature set?
No
Did Contractor Foreman live up to sales and marketing promises?
No
Did implementation of Contractor Foreman go as expected?
Yes
Would you buy Contractor Foreman again?
No
Contractor Foreman Feature Ratings
Using Contractor Foreman
2 - Back office and estimating/bidding
1 - If you are not a little familiar with this kind of app, the learning curve is very steep. Especially for an app that is not intuitive and works like the others in the industry
- HR
- Estimating
- CRRM
- Bid management
- None, it does not allow that
- We are leaving the app due to a paucity of improvement in core modules
Evaluating Contractor Foreman and Competitors
Yes - CoConstruct. I am familiar with BuilderTrend, which is overpriced and under featured for that price, so I tried CoConstruct knowing it had less features as well. It was a disaster, did not function as was promised. One bright spot there? The ability to use an 'open book' management system. I have experience with Sage-far too complicated and more than we need.We tied Striven-not enough functionality and they charge for service Smartsheet, Procore, Autodesk Build and Houzz Pro did not even make it to a trial implementation
- Price
- Product Features
- Product Usability
Contractor Foreman had all the components that I was looking for, but were not implemented in the app as well as they should have been. I heard their dedication to improvement and took a chance. THAT dedication to improving their product was the single largest part of our decision, and it seems to be paying off so far
I wouldn't. I designed a very rigorous and detailed evaluation process based on decades worth of experience. Ask ANY one of the companies I trialed, or even CF and you will get an earful on this for sure... I actually asked them if they wanted me a customer, told them from the beginning I was going to challenge them at every turn. They welcomed the challenge.
This is a company I can get behind for this very reason
Contractor Foreman Implementation
- Implemented in-house
Change management was a minor issue with the implementation - Implement with a new project, do not try to import any projects. Too many hills to climb and too many compromises
- Poor understanding by tech of what and how estimating actually works (I am a certified estimator)
Contractor Foreman Support
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved Kept well informed Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response | Need to explain problems multiple times |
Support was included. This was HUGE part of my decision to implement their software. Any company that charges large sums for service has not sufficiently developed their app or their GUI.
Yes - I have reported a few, especially early on. Some were fixed quickly, one I know of took months. That is STILL miles ahead of many other apps
I have had regular calls from senior techs to resolve issues that their (admittedly) junior techs on their chat system cannot answer. What Contractor Foreman excels at is 'escalating' their own issues. I have not found a lot of 'defiance' techs there (will not escalate, usually because company culture punishes for that). Ask me about how terrible Bluebeam is at this....
Using Contractor Foreman
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
None | Do not like to use Unnecessarily complex Not well integrated Inconsistent Slow to learn Cumbersome Feel nervous using |
- Easy or elegant? None of them. All modules required workarounds, some extensive, some simple
- ESTIMATING!!!
- BID MANAGEMENT!!!
Yes - It works well for employee timekeeping. The rest of the modules require so may workarounds that the mobile app is worthless to me otherwise
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