The world of job management can be overwhelming at times. With the range of software options available, and the discussions that need to take place, making the best decision can be difficult for many business owners. In our opinion, one of the greatest challenges is that ‘job management’ is a very broad term.
That’s why it’s a good idea to split job management into two areas: Service-based job management and project-based job management. The business objectives of these two groups are fundamentally different, and the most important step is to determine which structure your business fits into. This article delves into the key differences between the two business structures.
Service-based: You manage many jobs and reduce non-billable downtime
Service businesses often have staff on the road and a high turnover of jobs within a day. These businesses include plumbers, electricians, PC repair, HVAC, cleaners, security, equipment hire, mechanics and home maintenance. You’re looking to easily track time and materials on the go, manage multiple jobs in a day, and schedule staff so that these jobs are delivered on time. You need to begin job management with a correct billable rate for your staff. This rate should be suitable for their skills and expertise level, and consistent with industry standards. The rate also has to cover labour costs, operating expenses and profit margin.
Once you’ve got your rate correct, you need to make the most of billable time and ensure all billable work is invoiced and paid for based on this calculated hourly rate.
Project-based: You deliver a project within timeframes and within budget
The project-based business commits to deliver a project within budget. Project-based job management businesses include engineers, architects, consultants, IT project managers, creative agencies and those in the building and construction industry. You need to plan in advance, separating projects into stages with key milestones throughout. To meet these milestones, you use budgeting and forecasting tools to plan timeframes and costs by stage. You take on the risk because of the potential to reap the rewards if the project is delivered under budget.
The key requirements for a project-based business are to measure against previous projects to be sure the quoted rate is accurate; track profitability throughout a project, with detailed reporting at each stage; set key dates and milestones, plan your resourcing, assigning staff and setting timelines to deliver specific outcomes.
Why considering your business type is important
Once you understand the broad job management category that your business fits into, you and your decision-makers can narrow your search, rather than feel overwhelmed by the vast array of options on the market. This in turn will help you ask the key questions to get the best results for your business.
- Service-based job management software examples include: Tradify, Geo-Op, Fergus, SimPro, Service M8, SmartTrade
- Project-based job management software examples include: WorkflowMax by BlueRock, ProWorkflow, Tidybuild, Harvest, BuilderTrend, Microsoft Project
The features to look for
Here’s a summary of the features to look for in service-based job management software and project-based software:
Service
- Easily manage lots of jobs in a single place
- Handle a high job turnover
- Have the ability to on-charge time and materials
- Reduce admin time
- Easily plan and adjust the daily schedule for all staff
- Create jobs, quotes and POs on the go
- Track all time under a single ‘labour’ task
- Easily link to supplier product lists
- Apply a standardised billable rate across many jobs
- Access geo-tracking and photos in the app
- 5 or 6 tabs per job (task/costs)
Project
- Easily track the profitability of each job against a quote
- Handle longer-term jobs lasting over two weeks
- Estimate costs, timeframes and deadlines (mostly fixed price)
- Back-cost time and materials against estimates (budgeting)
- Access all job information in a single place to improve job planning and budgeting
- Break down projects into stages to split time and costs into key deliverables
- Track time and costs at each stage to improve reporting by stage
- Customise jobs for different clients, categories, stages, and billable rates
- Longer term job scheduling across all staff and projects
Add WorkflowMax by BlueRock to your research list
WorkflowMax by BlueRock is built from the ground up for project-based businesses. In addition to the features above, you can track time eight different ways, invoice any way you want, report on performance and much more. Have a look at all the features and start a free trial to see how it fits your requirements.
