Home services
Field techs, scheduling and invoicing that finally agree
In a home services business, the schedule, what the tech did in the field and what ends up on the invoice should be the same record, and usually they are three.
I connect or consolidate them so a job flows from booking to paid without re-typing, usually as Connect at $5,000 or Consolidate at $20,000.
What this usually looks like
Booking through a website form or Google Calendar, dispatch in Jobber or Housecall Pro, photos and notes in a group text, invoices in an accounting tool, and routes in a spreadsheet.
The office re-types what the tech did into the invoice. Add-ons sold at the door get lost. Recurring customers fall off the schedule.
The owner finds out a job was not billed when the customer calls about the next one.
Why it got this way
Field service tools are built for the average trade. If you run routes, recurring service or anything unusual, part of your process lives outside the tool.
I ran Wash A Bin, a route-based bin-cleaning business in Las Vegas, for five years. The software almost fit, and I re-typed what it could not do. That gap is where the money leaks.
The fix, three ways
Connect, $5,000
keep the tools, fix the plumbing
If Jobber or Housecall Pro fits and the problem is getting jobs into your accounting software, Connect at $5,000 makes them agree, with alerts when a sync fails. It is the wrong choice if your techs work around the field app every day.
Consolidate, $20,000
one app for the daily work, keep what still earns its place
If your process does not fit the field tool, Consolidate at $20,000 builds one app for booking, routes, the field and the invoice, and keeps your accounting software connected. Techs use it on their phones.
Replace, $75,000 to $100,000
rebuild the part of the big platform you actually use
If you are paying for a large field service platform like ServiceTitan and using a slice of it, Replace at $75,000 to $100,000 rebuilds that slice as software you own.
What it looks like when it's done
I built BinBird, SaaS for route-based bin-cleaning operators, because I was the customer first.
The closest client example is Spark, used by 150+ reps in the field and 15 admins in the office. Spark replaced four tools and a payroll done by hand in Excel. It saves BigDog Solar 20+ hours a week of manual work and roughly $60,000 a year, and billing issues now live in 1 system instead of 3.
Read more: Spark for BigDog Solar.
When you should not do this
If Jobber does the job, buy Jobber. I mean that. A cheaper copy of a tool that already fits is a bad use of your money.
If fewer than about five people touch the systems every day, the tools you have are probably enough.
Questions about this
Can you connect Jobber or Housecall Pro to our accounting software?
If your accounting software has an API, usually yes. Jobber and Housecall Pro both have one. The work is in the details: which items map to which accounts, how add-ons and discounts flow, and what happens when an invoice is edited after it syncs. Discovery pins those down before I build.
Will my techs need a new app?
Only with Consolidate or Replace. Connect keeps the field app they already use. If they do get a new app, it is built around the few things they do on every job, so it is simpler than what they have now.
Do you understand route-based businesses?
Yes. I founded, ran and sold Wash A Bin, a route-based bin-cleaning business in Las Vegas, and built BinBird for that trade. Routes, recurring service and door-step add-ons are exactly where generic field tools fall short.