Item: Contractor Foreman
Rating: 10
Author: Racheal Morgan

Overall Satisfaction with Contractor Foreman

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We mostly use CF to estimate currently, because we're still learning the system, but we will be putting the billing, punchlists, timecards, and a lot of other parts of the system into use very soon. We joined every training for a week and have reviewed the videos multiple times (they send you a link to download and view what you're learned) and had a private training session, which we think is one of the greatest things about Contractor Foreman. They really want you to learn how to use the system they've set up to your highest convenience.

Pros and Cons

Pros

The Gantt chart system is amazing!
The billing and invoice systems are pretty easy to use.
The timecard system is pretty good and provides geolocations!
Settings for every module allows you to customize the system a lot.

Cons

We already heard from CF that they might implement this, but a Gantt chart available while in the estimating tab, before you submit the project
If you don't do things juuuusssst so, sometimes the system doesn't update or rejects what you're doing. It can be picky.
You have to constantly refresh using their provided button. Fixes a lot of issues and becomes second nature, but a little annoying at first.

Return on Investment

To be honest, we haven't been using the system long enough to really show the impacts.
We do believe they will help us track better, most especially, and see where money is being lost.

Usability

The system is very picky. Like, if you don't create an estimate, get approval from the client for that estimate, create a project, make bills, do an invoice, get paid for that invoice, in that exact order and without making a mistake, it will start glitching and saying "your dates are incorrect," which is almost never the problem. So that is annoying. If you get this error, start checking everything except the dates, but the date is not the issue, probably. Basically, yes, you SHOULD follow this system, but sometimes you have a small job that you just knocked out day of, and that is not what CF is for. CF is for monster jobs where you have a lot of the system support to do your costing, etc. But when you DO have those jobs, it's downright amazing to have CF. It's so comprehensive and we really like using it, so I score it highly, though not perfect. What's perfect, anyway?

Alternatives Considered

Clear Estimates

There's just no comparing these two. I'm actually going to suggest we keep CE to my boss, and here's why: Clearestimates is perfect for what I just described. You have a little job that you just BOOM it's done? Put it into Clearestimates. That system does not care at all if you did it "properly."
Now Contractor Foreman does so. much. more. than CE. It just does. You can do everything on CF (just not anything haha). Most businesses wouldn't need anything else, but since we're still growing, we do some handyman stuff every now and again that CE is perfect for, and we don't have to go through CF's really picky system to make sure every little tiny thing is correct.

Key Insights

Do you think Contractor Foreman delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Contractor Foreman's feature set?

Yes

Did Contractor Foreman live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Contractor Foreman go as expected?

I wasn't involved with the implementation phase

Would you buy Contractor Foreman again?

Yes

Likelihood to Recommend

Nothing we've come across is really better at estimating, projects, billing, and invoices. The way the system is set up is simply the best for keeping track of things. Large jobs can be really hard to handle on different platforms, and this is really a good system for people who are working with big numbers, lots of workers, etc. It has what you need. We have one job that is, in our files, pretty messy looking, because we used something else. Specifically I think if we'd had CF at that time, and did the whole process on CF, our documents would be better in order for that job. We haven't had a job like that since joining CF, but I am excited to see what that looks like when it comes time.

Contractor Foreman Feature Ratings

Comments

Please log in to join the conversation

Falak Naz Khan
commented 5 months ago
Hi Racheal, Thank you so much for your thoughtful and detailed review! We’re thrilled to hear that you’re finding value in Contractor Foreman, especially with features like the Gantt chart, billing, invoicing, and timecard systems. It’s great to know that our training resources and private sessions have been helpful for you and your team—our goal is to ensure users feel confident and empowered when using the platform. We appreciate your feedback on the system’s structure and processes. We understand that while following the outlined workflow can help with accuracy and organization for larger projects, smaller jobs might require a more flexible approach. Your suggestion about having a Gantt chart available within the estimating tab is a great idea, and we’re excited to let you know that it’s something we’ve already been discussing internally for future updates. Regarding the occasional need to refresh the system and the error messages, we completely understand how this can be an inconvenience. Your feedback is invaluable, and we’re working on improving these areas to enhance overall usability and reduce friction for users. Thank you again for taking the time to leave such a detailed review, Racheal. We’re always here to support you, so don’t hesitate to reach out if there’s anything you need—we look forward to seeing how CF helps streamline your next big project! Best regards, Falak Naz Khan Head of Marketing Contractor Foreman

Does Everything (except the little stuff)