In short
- Put maintenance rounds and project work on one schedule so you can see who is free.
- The quote should become the job without retyping, with variations priced and agreed before the work.
- Subcontractors need the address, the times and the photos for their own jobs, and nothing more.
A patio and a lawn round on the same Tuesday
Most landscapers do both: a build that runs over several days with materials and deliveries to plan around, and a maintenance round that pays the bills between projects. Software made for one-hour appointments shows the round and loses the build, or the other way round.
Put both on one schedule. With the patio blocked in from Monday to Wednesday and the fortnightly lawns already on the calendar, you can see that two of your three staff are tied up and Wednesday's lawns need moving. In Fieldfare that's a drag to Thursday in the week view, and the rest of the fortnightly pattern stays as it was.
Pricing the build and the variations
On project work the margin is set at the quote. Price materials and labour on separate lines so you can see where the money goes.
Variations are where builds go wrong. When the client asks for extra edging or different paving halfway through, price it, get it agreed and record it against the job before anyone starts, so the final invoice matches what they said yes to. Our guide to quoting and pricing covers the numbers.
Once the client accepts, Fieldfare turns the quote into the job with the site and notes filled in, ready to assign. Invoices are plain PDFs, marked paid when the money lands. If you take deposits and stage payments through Xero, QuickBooks or Sage, connect your account and those payments are read back in, and with no card payments there are no per-payment fees. More on the handover in turning approved quotes into live work.
Fieldfare
Put this week's build and your lawn round on one schedule
What subcontractors should see
When you bring in a groundworker or tree surgeon for part of a job, give them the address, the times and the photos for that job, and keep the rest of your client list and prices to yourself.
A subcontractor login in Fieldfare shows only the jobs you've assigned to that person. RAMS and COSHH sheets sit in one library with a record of which staff have signed them off, and spray records go against the jobs they belong to.
When the client rings two years later about a new border, the photos and notes from the original build are on the site record.
What to put through the trial
Run one real build and one real round through the same week. If you can still see who is where on the Wednesday without ringing anyone, keep it on the shortlist.
- Quote a job with materials and labour, then turn it into a multi-day job with the right staff.
- Add a variation after the work has started.
- Set up a fortnightly lawn visit and move one for rain.
- Give a subcontractor a login and check what they can see.
- Hand the phone app to your site lead for a day.
Landscapers usually ask
Can one system handle maintenance and projects?
It should. Two tools means two client lists, two schedules and twice the chance of double-booking someone.
Will it plan the best route between jobs?
Fieldfare shows the day's jobs on a map with where staff are heading, and you decide the order. On a build week the site fixes most of the day anyway.
How much does it cost with seasonal staff?
Nothing extra. It's £49 a month for the whole business, up to 99 users. If you're still setting up, see what it costs to start a landscaping business.