Glossary

These are the words you'll see around Homeforce and what each one means here. Where a term has its own how-to, the definition links to it.

#Account

Your company's Homeforce account: its settings, plan and billing. Only the owner can manage the company account and Plan & billing. Each person also has their own login, which they can delete from the mobile app without affecting the company's records.

#AI agent

A named AI assistant your company sets up with its own instructions and a list of company data it's allowed to look at. Agents can be run by hand or from a flow. See AI overview.

#AI approval

A setting that decides whether the AI acts on its own or waits for a person. In Settings → AI approvals you choose which actions need approval: messages to customers, estimate follow-ups, estimates, scheduling and dispatch changes, and pricebook changes. When approval is on, the AI drafts and a person approves. When it's off, the AI acts and logs what it did.

#AI receptionist

The AI that answers your calls, texts and website chats, qualifies the customer and books them into open capacity. It's set up under Settings → Agents & AI CSR. See AI overview.

#Arrival window

The span of time you promise a customer, like 8–10 AM, instead of an exact start time. The window appears in booking confirmations, reminders and job alerts. Arrival windows are the usual way service calls are booked.

#Automated message

A text or email Homeforce sends on its own when something happens: a booking confirmation, a 24-hour reminder, an "on my way" text with the tech's ETA, a job-completed message, estimate and invoice links, payment receipts and review requests. Turn each one on or off and edit its wording in Settings → Automated messages.

#Average ticket

Average revenue per completed job over a period. It's shown on the Business view in the mobile app and in reports.

#Budget vs actual

How a project's real costs compare with its budget. Homeforce adds up cost entries, sub bills and tracked crew time and shows the total actual, the remaining budget and the projected margin on the project. See job costing.

#Business unit

A division or location of your company, like "HVAC" and "Plumbing", or "North" and "South". Jobs can be tagged with a business unit so you can split reporting, phone numbers and teams. Set them up under Settings → Business units.

#Business view

What owners and office roles see on the mobile app's Home tab: money collected, visits today, unpaid invoices, close rate, average ticket and where each tech is. See Use the app as an owner or office user.

#Capacity

How much of each tech's workday is already booked. The Capacity view on the dispatch board shows each tech's jobs and booked time as a share of their day, and the AI receptionist only books into open capacity.

#Card reader

A card terminal registered to your company for in-person card payments. Readers are added under Payments on the web and can be assigned to a person. The mobile app doesn't connect to a reader. It opens the invoice's pay link instead.

#Change order

A priced change to a project's scope after the contract is signed, such as an extra room or a material upgrade. Each change order has an amount, a cost and any schedule impact in days, and goes from draft to sent to approved or declined. Approved change orders are added to the project's contract value. See Change orders.

#Checklist

A form a tech fills out on a visit, with checkboxes, pass/fail items, text and number answers. Items can be required. Your company builds checklists under Settings → Forms & checklists and can attach one to each job type. Also called a form.

#Close rate

The share of estimates presented that customers approved, over a period. It appears on the Business view and in reports.

#Collections

The list of overdue invoices, under Finance → Collections, so the office can follow up on what's owed. It's also available in the mobile app under More.

#Contact

An extra person on a customer record, like a property manager or a spouse, with their own role, phone and email. One contact can be marked primary.

#Cost entry

A real cost recorded against a job: labor, material, subcontractor, equipment rental, permit or other. Cost entries feed job costing and budget vs actual.

#Crew

A named group of people with a crew lead, like "Crew A". You book a crew as a unit for crew days, and everyone on it sees the visit on their phone. Crews are managed under Crews & Techs and Settings → Techs & crews.

#Crew board

The schedule view for crew work, labeled Crew & equipment, where you book crews and company equipment by the day. It's used for multi-day crew jobs and projects rather than quick service calls.

#Crew job

A job type mode for work that takes a crew one or more full days, like a re-roof or a system install. Each crew day is its own visit. Compare service call and project.

#Custom field

A field your company adds to customers, leads, jobs, estimates, properties or equipment, like "Gate code" or "Insurance claim #". Types are text, number, date, dropdown, checkbox and file. See Add custom fields.

#Customer

The person or business you do work for. A customer can be residential or commercial, and has contact details, one or more properties, tags, notes, and all their jobs, estimates, invoices and memberships. Customers can be marked do-not-text or do-not-email.

#Daily log

A short end-of-day report on a project: the date, weather, crew count, hours worked, work performed and any issues. Daily logs are customer-visible by default and show up as "Daily updates" in the customer's project report.

#Deposit

Money collected up front before work starts, set as a percent or a fixed amount on an estimate. Homeforce sends it as its own deposit invoice, and when the final or progress invoice is created, the paid deposit is credited so the customer is never billed twice. See Collect a deposit.

#Dispatch board

The office's main scheduling screen, under Operations → Dispatch. It has Timeline, Map and Capacity views, plus a list of unscheduled work to drag onto a tech. See Use the dispatch board.

#En route

The visit status after a tech taps On my way. Homeforce starts the tech's driving time and, if it's turned on, texts the customer an ETA.

#Equipment

Two different things in Homeforce. Customer equipment is what's installed at a property, like a furnace or water heater, with brand, model, serial, install date and warranty, and it shows on the tech's visit. Company equipment is your own gear, like trucks, trailers and rollers, booked on the crew board.

#Estimate

A priced quote you send a customer to approve. An estimate can have one or more options, each with line items, and goes from draft to sent, viewed, then approved, declined or expired. The customer approves and signs online. See Create an estimate.

#Financing

Pay-over-time offers for bigger jobs, shown on estimates and invoices as monthly payments. When a customer applies, Homeforce shows the offers they qualify for. Set it up under Settings → Financing.

#Flow

An automation your company builds: when something happens (a trigger), and certain conditions are true, Homeforce does the actions you list. Flows are found in Labs.

#Follow-up

A series of texts and emails that go out on set days after an estimate is sent, until the customer approves or declines. Follow-ups stop on their own when the estimate is decided. Find them under Sales → Follow-ups.

#Inbox

One list of every text, email and web chat with your customers. Replies go out from your company's number or email. On the mobile app, technicians can read conversations about their jobs but the office replies.

#Invoice

A bill for completed work, with line items, tax, discounts and a pay link. Statuses are draft, sent, partial (partly paid), paid, void and refunded. Invoices can be standard, deposit, progress or final. See Create and send an invoice.

#Job

Any piece of work you do for a customer at a property, with its own number. Every job is either a service job or a project, and every job has one or more visits where the work happens. A service call is a job, a multi-day install is a job, and a six-week remodel is a job run as a project. See Jobs vs projects.

#Job costing

Comparing what a job earned with what it cost. The Job costing page lists recent jobs with revenue, cost and gross margin, built from cost entries, parts used, sub bills and tracked labor. Only roles that can see costs and margins have access.

#Job status

Where a job stands: Lead, Unscheduled, Scheduled, In Progress, On Hold, Completed, Invoiced, Closed or Canceled. Homeforce updates it from the job's visits. For example, it becomes In Progress when a tech is en route, and Completed when every visit is done. Once a job is On Hold, Invoiced, Closed or Canceled, it stays there until someone changes it.

#Job type

A kind of work you do, like "AC Repair" or "Exterior Repaint". Each job type sets the default length, the skills needed, the checklist, whether it usually needs an estimate first, and its mode: service call, crew job or project with phases. Set them up under Settings → Job types & modes.

#Lead

A potential customer who hasn't booked yet: a call, web form, text, chat or referral. Leads move through New, Contacted, Booked and Lost on the Leads & Pipeline board, with separate residential and commercial pipelines. See Manage leads.

#Lead source

Where a lead or customer came from, like Google, Yelp, a referral or a yard sign. Each source can have a monthly cost and a tracking phone number, so reports can show leads, jobs, revenue and return on spend per source. Set them up under Settings → Lead sources & pipeline.

#Line item

One row on an estimate, invoice or change order: a name, quantity, unit, unit price and whether it's taxable. Line items usually come from your pricebook but can be typed in by hand.

#Location

See property.

#Member price

A lower price on a pricebook item for customers with an active membership. Items can also get the plan's percent-off repair discount instead.

#Membership

A maintenance plan a customer pays for monthly, quarterly or yearly. A plan sets the price, the number of maintenance visits per year, a repair discount and any perks, and Homeforce bills it, renews it and creates the maintenance jobs as they come due. Members show a Member badge. Commercial versions are called service agreements and can cover several sites. See Memberships.

#On hold

A job status you set by hand to pause a job, for example while waiting on parts or a permit. Homeforce won't change it on its own until you take it off hold.

#On site

The visit status after a tech taps I've arrived. Homeforce stops the driving timer and starts on-site time.

#Option

One choice on an estimate, with its own line items and total. Offering two or three options, often called good, better, best, lets the customer pick. One option can be marked recommended, and the customer's pick becomes the chosen option when they approve. See Present an estimate.

#Overdue

An invoice that's sent or partly paid and past its due date. Overdue invoices appear under Collections. Your company sets how many days after sending an invoice is due under Settings → Invoices & taxes.

#Pay link

A secure web page where a customer pays an invoice or deposit by card or bank, without logging in. It's included when you send an invoice, and techs open it on their phone with Take card payment. Card details go straight to the payment processor.

#Payment

Money received against an invoice, by card, bank (ACH), cash, check, financing or other. A payment can be pending, succeeded, failed, refunded or partly refunded.

#Payout

A transfer of the card and bank payments you've collected from the payment processor to your company's bank account. Payouts are under Payments on the web, for roles that can refund payments and manage payouts.

#Phase

A stage of a project, like Demo, Rough-in or Finish. Each phase has dates, a budget, a status (not started, in progress, completed or blocked), a percent complete and optionally a crew. Phases can depend on another phase finishing first.

#Portal

The customer's own page, reached from a link you text or email them, with no password. It shows their balance due, appointments, open estimates and payment history. Projects also get a report page with daily updates.

#Pricebook

Your company's list of services, materials and equipment with prices. Each item has a cost, a price, an optional member price, a unit and whether it's taxable. Techs build estimates and invoices from it, including offline on the mobile app.

#Priority

How urgent a job is: Low, Normal, High or Emergency. High and Emergency jobs are flagged on the tech's day.

#Progress billing

Billing a project in stages as the work gets done, instead of all at the end. Each progress invoice bills the percent complete of the contract (including approved change orders), minus what you've already billed, minus retainage, minus any deposit credit. See Progress billing.

#Project

A job run in project mode, for work that takes weeks: phases, a contract value and budget, change orders, daily logs, a punch list, budget vs actual and progress billing. A service job can be converted to a project and keeps its history. See Jobs vs projects.

#Property

A service address that belongs to a customer, also called a location. A property has access notes (like gate codes) that techs see on every visit, plus the equipment installed there. One customer can have many properties.

#Punch list

The list of small items to fix or finish on a project before it's done. Each item can have a location in the house and a person assigned.

#Refund

Money returned to a customer from a payment, in full or in part, with a reason. Roles that can refund payments and manage payouts can issue refunds.

#Retainage

A percent of each progress bill the customer holds back until the project is finished, common on commercial work. Homeforce tracks the retainage held on each invoice.

#Role

What a person can see and do in Homeforce: Owner, Admin, Dispatcher / CSR, Sales / Comfort Advisor, Technician, Project Manager, Accounting or Subcontractor. The same role applies on the web and in the mobile app. See Users and permissions.

#Sales appointment

A booking at an exact time with a sales rep, usually to quote bigger work, instead of an arrival window with a tech. Sales appointments go on the Sales calendar.

#Segment

A saved group of customers built from rules, like "equipment over 10 years old" or "not a member", used to send marketing campaigns.

#Service agreement

The commercial version of a membership: a contract for scheduled maintenance that can cover several sites and carry a contract and PO number.

#Service call

The quick kind of job: a tech in and out in a few hours, booked in an arrival window, like an AC repair or drain cleaning. In Homeforce it's a job type mode, and each trip is a visit. Compare crew job and project.

#Subcontractor

Two related things. A subcontractor record is an outside company you hire, with its trade, insurance expiration and whether a W-9 is on file, and its bills post to job costing. Subcontractor is also a role for logins that can only see the visits they're assigned and track their own time.

#Sync

Keeping two systems matched. In the mobile app, sync sends your offline changes to the office and pulls down your latest schedule (see Work offline). With accounting, sync sends customers, invoices and payments to your books (see QuickBooks Online).

#Tag

A short label you add to customers or jobs, like "VIP" or "Warranty", to sort, filter and target them in marketing segments.

#Task

An item on your Tasks list, which Homeforce builds from live data: new leads to call back, hot estimates to close, past-due invoices to collect, jobs to get ready and drafts to review. Tasks drop off on their own when the work is done.

#Technician

A field worker who runs visits. The Technician role sees only the jobs they're assigned to, can update visits, build estimates and invoices, collect payment and track their own time, but can't reply to customers in the inbox.

#Time entry

A block of tracked time: a shift (clock in to clock out), driving, on site, or a break. Driving and on-site time start and stop on their own when a tech taps On my way, I've arrived and Complete visit. Managers review time under Timesheets & Payroll.

#Unassigned

A visit with no tech or crew on it yet. Unassigned visits are flagged for the office on the dispatch board and on the mobile Business view.

#Unscheduled

A job or visit that doesn't have a date yet. Unscheduled work waits in the list on the dispatch board until someone books it.

#Visit

One scheduled trip to the customer for a job, with a date, time or arrival window, and the techs or crew assigned. Visits are where the field work happens: status updates, checklists, photos, notes and signatures. A service call usually has one visit. A crew job or project has one per day of work.

#Visit status

Where a visit stands: Unscheduled, Scheduled, En Route, On Site, Completed or Canceled. Techs move it forward with On my way, I've arrived and Complete visit, and the job status updates to match.

#Void

Canceling an invoice that shouldn't be paid, with a reason. A voided invoice stays on record but no longer counts as money owed. If the invoice already has a payment, refund the payment first.

#Weather delay

A crew day pushed because of rain, cold or wind. Job types marked weather-sensitive are checked against your Settings → Weather rules, and Homeforce counts how many times each visit was pushed.

#Work order

Homeforce doesn't use the term work order. What other software calls a work order is a job here, and each trip to do the work is a visit.