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Are flat-rate pricing models working in FieldPulse for anyone?

Connor Burke

so our shop has been doing time + materials forever basically and we're looking at switching to flat-rate pricing for hvac installs and repairs. my boss wants to know if anyone's actually made this work in FieldPulse or if it's more headache than it's worth

the main thing i'm wondering is like... do you set up flat-rate items as services in the catalog? or do you handle it some other way? and how do you deal with when a job ends up being way more complicated than the flat rate covers

also curious if customers push back more on flat rate vs seeing the actual time on the invoice. we've got some elderly customers who really like seeing the breakdown

anyway would love to hear what's actually working for people in the field bc the office is all theory and no practice lol

  • Flat rate works fine if your rates aren't fantasy...

    Most shops undervalue their own time. Run your numbers. Actual burdened cost per hour. Add 40% minimum. That's your floor.

    FieldPulse doesn't care how you price. It's just math.

  • Hi everyone! I'm new here and still learning FieldPulse so sorry if this is a silly question, but I've been reading through all the pricing discussions and trying to understand how this all works because we're a small family business and my dad has always just priced things based on what he thinks is fair, which worked when it was just him but now that we've hired two more technicians we're realizing we need something more systematic!

    So anyway I was wondering if there's a way in FieldPulse to set up different flat rate books for different technicians? Like if one is more experienced and can do things faster, does that mean his flat rate should be lower or the same? And how do you handle travel time — is that built into the flat rate or separate?

    Also sorry this is so long, I just have a lot of thoughts about this transition and want to make sure we do it right! Thanks so much for any help!!

  • in reply to Brianna Simmons
    • One flat rate book per service type, not per tech. Customer pays for the repair, not the technician's speed.
    • Travel: build first 30 minutes into base rate, charge additional zones for rural/outlying areas.
    • Tech efficiency differences show up in your margin, not customer pricing.

    Track actual time in custom fields. Review weekly. Adjust rates quarterly if needed.

  • in reply to Brianna Simmons

    Strong agree with Sylvia on all points. I'll add: don't apologize for long posts when you're asking good questions. The folks here are happy to help (and we've all been there).

    Pro tip: start with your most common 10-15 jobs. Get those flat rates dialed in before building out the full book. Perfect is the enemy of launched.