How to Set Up Flat-Rate Pricing in Your Field Service Software
TLDR
Setting up flat-rate pricing in your software takes 2-4 hours if you already have your pricebook built. Import or enter your top 30 tasks with parts cost, markup, and labor rate. Configure tech access so prices show on the mobile app. Test with one tech for a week before rolling out to the team. The biggest mistake shops make is building a pricebook in a spreadsheet but never loading it into their dispatch tool.
- Flat-Rate Pricebook
- A pre-built list of service tasks with fixed prices that techs present to customers before starting work. Each entry includes the task description, flat-rate price, and after-hours price. The pricebook ensures consistent pricing across all techs and eliminates on-the-spot price calculations.
DEFINITION
- Parts Markup
- The multiplier applied to your wholesale parts cost to set the customer price. HVAC shops typically use 2.5-3.5x markup. A $20 part at 3x markup becomes $60 on the customer invoice.
DEFINITION
Why Your Pricebook Needs to Live in Your Software
A spreadsheet pricebook works until your second tech joins the team. Then you have two copies of the pricebook, one on each phone, and they drift. Your office manager updates prices in the master spreadsheet. One tech downloads the update. The other tech quotes yesterday’s price.
When the pricebook lives inside your dispatch software, every tech sees the same prices on every call. Updates happen once and push to everyone. The price on the invoice matches the price the tech showed the customer. No discrepancies, no callbacks, no arguments.
Which Tools Support Pricebooks
Not every field service tool includes a pricebook feature. Here is the breakdown for the tools small HVAC and plumbing shops commonly evaluate:
Built-in pricebook: CrewRoute (all plans), FieldEdge (all plans), ServiceTitan (all plans)
Custom price lists (not a full pricebook): Housecall Pro
No pricebook feature: Jobber, Workiz, Kickserv, ServiceM8
If your shop runs on flat-rate pricing, this is a filter that eliminates half the tools on the market before you compare anything else.
The Setup Process
The actual software configuration is the fast part. Most of the work is in preparing your data beforehand. If you followed a standard pricebook-building process and have a spreadsheet with task names, prices, and categories, the software setup is straightforward data entry.
Import your tasks. Organize by category. Set standard and after-hours prices. Test on a mobile device. That is the entire process.
The real work is the organizational change: making techs present prices from the software instead of from memory or a paper sheet. That takes a week of practice and a clear expectation from the owner that the software pricebook is now the only source of prices.
Quarterly Maintenance
A pricebook is not a one-time project. Parts prices change with supplier updates. Your labor rate changes when you give raises. New repair types come up that are not in the book.
Set a quarterly review: pull your top 30 tasks, check parts cost against your current supplier pricing, and adjust flat rates where your margin has slipped below target. Most software tools let you edit prices in bulk. If yours requires editing each task individually, that is a factor worth considering when choosing tools.
Q&A
How long does it take to set up flat-rate pricing in dispatch software?
If your pricebook data already exists in a spreadsheet, software setup takes 2-4 hours: importing tasks, configuring categories, setting after-hours rates, and testing on a mobile device. If you need to build the pricebook from scratch first, add 4-6 hours for pricing calculations.
Q&A
Which field service tools support flat-rate pricebooks?
CrewRoute, FieldEdge, and ServiceTitan include built-in flat-rate pricebooks. Housecall Pro supports custom price lists but does not have a dedicated pricebook feature. Jobber and Workiz do not include pricebook functionality at any tier. For shops where flat-rate pricing is standard, this is a primary feature filter.
Q&A
What is the most common mistake when setting up a pricebook in software?
Building the pricebook in a spreadsheet and never loading it into the dispatch tool. Techs keep using the spreadsheet on their phone, prices drift out of sync, and the software pricebook sits empty. The fix is straightforward: enter the data, test it, and make the software pricebook the only source of prices.
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