Business software · FieldPulse
FieldPulse
Field service management with cost-basis margin visible before the bid goes out.
- Home services
- Professional services
- B2B
- Automotive
- Retail
An independent assessment. Vigilant can place FieldPulse, and is paid the same either way — which is why the drawbacks are on this page too.
What it is
FieldPulse is the operating system for a trade business — scheduling and dispatch, work orders, estimates and invoices, customer records and communication, inventory and assets, dashboards, and a mobile app with an offline mode that works in a crawlspace. FieldPulse's own figure is that customers save 15–20 hours a week; it holds 4.8/5 across 2,500+ reviews.
The feature operators single out is the cost-basis view on proposals: as-bid profit margin visible before the quote is sent. As one contractor put it, if you bid a job with losing margins it is not going to get better. That one screen changes which jobs you win and which you are relieved to lose.
At the larger end it does custom workflows, centralised pricebooks, multi-location and franchise management, and customer-site management for commercial contracts. ClearPath adds workflow automation and Operator AI books after-hours calls. Verticals run across HVAC/R, plumbing, electrical, garage door, locksmith, appliance repair, property management and commercial equipment maintenance.
Our partner relationship pairs it with Full Stack Payments so that payment on completion happens in the same app as the work order.
Who it fits
Best for
Trade and home-service businesses past the point where a whiteboard and a phone work — roughly three vans and up — and franchise groups standardising across locations.
Probably not ideal for
Businesses without field crews. If nobody drives to the customer, this is the wrong category entirely.
Key capabilities
- Scheduling and dispatch
- Match the right technician to the right job and cut windshield time across locations.
- Estimates with margin
- Cost-basis view shows as-bid profit margin before the proposal is sent.
- Mobile with offline
- Full job information in the field, including administrative functions, without signal.
- Pricebooks and proposals
- Centralised pricing and branded dynamic proposals that close faster.
- Franchise and multi-site
- Customer sites, franchise networks and standardised processes with network oversight.
- Automation and AI
- ClearPath workflow automation and Operator AI for after-hours call booking.
- Reporting
- Dashboards that show where the margin actually went, by job, tech and location.
Strengths and tradeoffs
Strengths
- Cost-basis margin on every proposal — you see the as-bid profit before the quote goes out, which changes which jobs you chase.
- The mobile app has a real offline mode, so a tech in a crawlspace or a mechanical room still has the full job record.
- Customisable workflows rather than a fixed pipeline — it adapts to how you already dispatch instead of forcing a rebuild.
- Multi-location and franchise management with per-site and consolidated reporting, at a price well under enterprise FSM.
- Centralised pricebooks and branded proposals keep pricing consistent when you have more than a couple of techs quoting.
- 4.8/5 across 2,500+ reviews, with US-based support and implementation help included rather than sold as onboarding.
Tradeoffs
- Priced per user, so a large crew of light-touch users costs the same per seat as your best technician.
- It is a full operating system, not a quick install — expect real configuration time before it pays back.
- Inventory is adequate for truck stock, not for a parts warehouse; heavy distribution needs a separate system.
- The breadth means a one-van operator will pay for workflow, franchise and pricebook features they never open.
- Payments are integrated through a partner rather than native, so the processing rate is a separate negotiation — which is where we come in.
Pricing
Per-user subscription tiered by feature set. Priced per seat, so it scales with crew size rather than revenue.
Pricing reflects what the vendor publishes or what we have seen quoted. Your actual terms depend on volume, card mix and what is negotiated — which is the part we do.
Vigilant's assessment
The right call once you are past roughly three vans and the whiteboard has stopped working. The margin-before-bid view alone usually pays the subscription, because most trade businesses we score are losing more to jobs they should never have won than to their processing rate. Below three vans, SwipeSimple plus Hyfin does the same job for a fraction of the cost, and we will tell you so.
How it compares
All three of these are available through us, so this is a straight comparison rather than a pitch. They sit at genuinely different sizes: Square is the cheapest way to look professional, Roc Services bundles the job tools into the processing relationship, and FieldPulse is the one that actually runs a growing crew.
| Criterion | FieldPulse Full field service management | Square Home & Repair Estimates, invoices, booking | Roc Services by Payroc Job tools inside the merchant account |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best at | Running a crew — dispatch, margin control, multi-location | Getting a one- or two-van business paid quickly | Bundling scheduling and invoicing into processing you already need |
| Scheduling & dispatch | Smart scheduling, tech matching, multi-location dispatch | Online booking and appointments; no real dispatch board | Full calendar, team assignment, real-time job tracking |
| Estimates & proposals | Branded dynamic proposals with as-bid margin visible | Digital estimates and contracts with e-signature | Estimates that convert to invoices on completion |
| Job costing / margin | Cost-basis view per proposal — the standout feature | None — you price by hand | None — invoice totals only |
| Mobile in the field | Full app with offline mode | Mobile app, needs connectivity | iOS/Android app with a BBPOS Chipper 3X reader |
| Accounting | Integrations with the major accounting packages | QuickBooks, Xero and others | QuickBooks Online two-way sync |
| Payments | Integrated via partner — rate negotiated separately | Flat rate: 2.6% + 15¢ in person, 3.3% + 30¢ invoices, 1% ACH | Interchange-plus, or RewardPay Choice / ConsumerChoice dual pricing |
| Software cost | Per-user subscription, tiered by features | $0/month — you pay only the processing | Bundled with the merchant account |
| Where it breaks down | Overkill and overpriced below ~3 vans | No dispatch, no job costing, no franchise tools | Lighter than FieldPulse on workflow and reporting depth |
| Pick it when | You have a crew, real margin leakage and want one system | You are starting out, or you just need to look professional and get paid | You want the job tools without a second subscription |
Verdict. Under two vans, Square. Two to three, Roc Services — the job tools ride along with processing you are paying for anyway. Past three vans, or the moment you cannot tell which jobs made money, FieldPulse. We place all three, so whichever way that lands, it is the same conversation with us.
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