busybusy (www.busybusy.com) is a time-tracking solution for construction which enables field employees to track labor materials and heavy equipment in one mobile app. Jobsite data is organized by project and is instantly available to team members. The app is available in a free version, with several core functionalities, and in for-fee Pro and Premium versions carrying added capabilities.
The core app, which can support an unlimited number of users, features time tracking, including clock-in and clock out (with overtime calculations) and clock-in and clock-out location reminders; clock-in GPS; digital timecard signatures, job costing with charts showing budget and actual costs for each project, with breakdown of subproject budgets, and the ability to analyze job costing data from past and current projects; and equipment tracking. In remote areas with no cell phone service, the Automatic Offline Mode allows you to track time without service. Time entries, actions, and GPS locations are saved and uploaded when back in range.
The Pro version adds scheduling, GPS breadcrumbing; safety reports; photos and notes; and supervisor tools, including the ability to clock in individual workers or crews and view timecards with project name, time entry descriptions, and GPS stamp. Pro also can apply cost codes and track equipment. Data can be exported to most payroll systems.
The Premium version also includes daily project reports tracking employees, cost codes, and equipment, and documents and progress tracking.
Pricing: 14-day free trial of any version. After that, Pro and Premium are billed per user, per month or annually.
Square
Square (squareup.com), a technology company that enables customer payment at the point of sale or service using phones or tablets, offers several integrated software solutions suitable for home and repair service contractors. These include: Tap to Pay for securing taking contactless payments on Android phones and iPhones at a jobsite, Square Appointments, and Square Invoices.
How it works: Using a compatible Android or iOS device, you open the Square Point of Sale, Square Appointments, or Square Invoice app, enter the sale, and present the smartphone to the customer, enabling contactless payment at the project location. The customer will see the total amount owed along with the contactless payments symbol and can choose to complete the payment with a contactless credit or debit card or a digital wallet.
Square Appointments is an all-in-one point of sale booking and payments app that allows contractors to manage appointments on the go on Android and iOS. Square Appointments is also available on Square Terminal (a mobile payments terminal). Appointments also offers Buy Now, Pay Later through the integrated Afterpay, an option which contractors can select that gives customers the ability to pay in four payments over a six-week period.
Square Invoices allows you to send digital invoices and estimates, accept payments, send reminders, and track which invoices are paid and unpaid.
Square Contracts provides you with predefined templates as well as the ability to create your own contract from scratch. You can customize contact information, fees, and policies unique to your business and can edit a contract until it is signed. Because it is natively integrated with Invoices and Appointments, you can attach relevant files and purchase order to contracts.
Pricing: Tap to Buy is 2.6% + 10 cents per tap; Square Appointments Free is free for a single location with Square Plus and Premium carrying fees per month per location; Square Invoices Free has no monthly fee while Invoices Plus, featuring various advanced features, has a monthly fee. Both Invoices options allow sending unlimited invoices.
Finturf
Finturf (www.finturf.com), a multi-lender direct-to-merchant financing solution, has entered into a partnership with Microf (www.microf.com), a consumer financing and leasing platform that includes services for credit-challenged homeowners. This collaboration provides a way for HVAC contractors to receive funding from customers looking to purchase a new HVAC system.
Microf’s lease-purchase program typically requires two to three business days for contractors to receive funding for approved customers and does not entail any dealer fees. Approved homeowners have the flexibility to set up monthly payments over a period extending from 36 to 84 months. This financial agreement has no balloon payment at the end of the contract and offers early payoff discounts.
The process is straightforward: homeowners complete an application through a URL link that the contractor generates using Finturf. Upon approval, the contractor is notified in real time and receives funds in two to three business days.
Zuper Update
Zuper (www.zuper.co) field service management and customer engagement platform (reviewed in my March 2021 column), which already featured a booking widget, recently enhanced customer portal capabilities to enable heightened efficiency for businesses with field service operations. The customer portal provides end consumers with easy web-based access to real-time status of all their jobs, including scheduling dates, completion status, field service employees assigned, and real-time location of service employees. It also allows field service teams to give customers a unified view of quotes (approved or denied), outstanding and paid invoices, contracts and a one-click ability to write reviews of their business on third-party platforms, including Google.
Patti Feldman writes articles and web content for trade magazines and manufacturers of building products. She can be reached at [email protected].