Field Service Terms Every Trade Owner Should Know
The definitive glossary for scheduling, job costing, dispatch, and running a trades business.
A
Average Ticket Size
The average revenue collected per job. Calculated by dividing total revenue by total jobs in a period. Tracking this metric helps trade businesses identify pricing opportunities and measure the impact of upselling strategies.
“An HVAC company with $500K revenue and 1,000 jobs has a $500 average ticket.”
Related: Live Profitability Forecasting →B
Billable Hours
Hours worked by a technician that are charged to a customer, as opposed to non-billable time like drive time or admin. Maximizing the ratio of billable to total hours is one of the fastest ways to improve profitability in a trade business.
“A tech works 8 hours but only 5.5 are billable — the rest is driving and paperwork.”
Related: Live Profitability Forecasting →C
Change Order
A documented modification to the original scope of work on a job, usually requiring customer approval and a price adjustment. Proper change order tracking prevents scope creep and protects margins on larger projects.
“The homeowner wants to add a second bathroom to the remodel — that’s a change order.”
Related: Estimates & Proposals →Crew Management
Organizing, tracking, and optimizing your field workforce — including scheduling shifts, tracking location, measuring productivity, and calculating labor costs. Effective crew management ensures the right people are on the right jobs at the right time.
“Crew management shows that Team A completes 8 jobs/day while Team B averages 5.”
Related: Crew Management →Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
The total revenue a single customer generates over their entire relationship with your business. Understanding CLV helps you decide how much to invest in acquiring and retaining each customer.
“A customer who gets annual HVAC tune-ups for 10 years at $200/visit has a $2,000 CLV.”
Related: Business Intelligence →Customer Manager (CRM)
A system for tracking every interaction with customers — contact info, job history, revenue, preferences, and communications — in one place. A CRM built for trades ties customer data directly to jobs, estimates, and invoices.
“The CRM shows this customer has spent $12,400 over 3 years with an average margin of 31%.”
Related: Client Manager →Customer Portal
A web-based interface where end-customers can view job status, track technicians, access documents, and make payments — without calling your office. Customer portals reduce inbound calls and increase payment speed.
“The customer clicks a magic link and sees their plumber is 12 minutes away.”
Related: Customer Portal →D
Dispatch
The process of assigning a technician to a job and routing them to the location. Efficient dispatch reduces response times, lowers fuel costs, and keeps technicians productive throughout the day.
“The dispatcher assigns Mike to the emergency leak repair because he’s closest.”
Related: Smart Scheduling →F
Field Service Management (FSM)
Software that helps trade businesses manage scheduling, dispatch, invoicing, customer communication, and field operations from one platform. FSM replaces the patchwork of spreadsheets, whiteboards, and disconnected tools most shops start with.
“SkilledOS is field service management software built for skilled trades.”
Related: SkilledOS Home →First-Time Fix Rate
The percentage of jobs completed on the first visit without requiring a return trip. A high first-time fix rate lowers labor costs, improves customer satisfaction, and frees up capacity for new jobs.
“A 90% first-time fix rate means only 1 in 10 jobs needs a callback.”
Related: Offline Mobile App →Flat Rate Pricing
A pricing model where customers are quoted a fixed price for a specific service, regardless of time spent. Flat rate pricing gives customers price certainty and rewards efficient technicians.
“A toilet replacement is $450 flat rate — whether it takes 1 hour or 3.”
Related: Estimates & Proposals →Fully Burdened Labor Rate
The true cost of an employee per hour, including wages, payroll taxes, benefits, workers comp, and PTO. Using the burdened rate instead of the wage rate prevents underpricing jobs and eroding margins.
“A tech earning $25/hr costs $42/hr fully burdened after taxes and benefits.”
Related: Live Profitability Forecasting →G
Geofencing
A virtual boundary around a geographic area that triggers actions when a technician enters or exits. Geofencing automates time tracking, arrival notifications, and compliance logging without manual input.
“When the tech arrives at the job site, geofencing auto-clocks them in.”
Related: Intelligent Routing →Good/Better/Best Pricing
A proposal format offering three service tiers at different price points to increase average ticket size. This strategy gives customers a sense of control while anchoring their expectations around the middle option.
“The HVAC proposal shows a basic repair ($400), upgraded parts ($650), and premium warranty ($900).”
Related: Estimates & Proposals →I
Invoice Factoring
Selling unpaid invoices to a third party at a discount to receive immediate cash. Factoring can bridge cash flow gaps for trade businesses that do commercial or insurance work with long payment cycles.
“Instead of waiting 30 days for payment, the contractor factors the invoice for 95 cents on the dollar.”
Related: Invoicing & Payments →J
Job Costing
Tracking every cost associated with a specific job — labor, materials, drive time, equipment, overhead — and comparing it to revenue to determine profitability. Job costing is the foundation of understanding which services, customers, and crews make you money.
“Job costing revealed the kitchen remodel cost $3,240 to deliver but only invoiced $3,800 — a 14.7% margin.”
Related: Live Profitability Forecasting →L
Lead Scoring
Assigning a numeric value to inbound leads based on estimated job value, urgency, location, and likelihood to close. Lead scoring helps office staff prioritize follow-ups and avoid wasting time on low-value inquiries.
“The $8,000 roof replacement lead scores 92/100; the price-shopping drain cleaning scores 34.”
Related: Lead Management →M
Marketing Attribution
Tracking which marketing channel (Google Ads, referrals, website, etc.) generated each lead and resulting job. Attribution data tells you where to spend more and where to cut, based on actual revenue — not vanity metrics.
“40% of jobs came from Google Ads, 35% from referrals, 25% from the website.”
Related: Marketing Automation →N
NPS (Net Promoter Score)
A customer satisfaction metric ranging from -100 to 100, based on how likely customers are to recommend your business. NPS is a leading indicator of referral potential and long-term retention in service businesses.
“After asking ‘How likely are you to recommend us?’, the HVAC company scored an NPS of 72.”
Related: Business Intelligence →O
Overhead Allocation
Distributing fixed business costs (rent, insurance, office staff, vehicles) across individual jobs to understand true profitability. Without overhead allocation, jobs that look profitable on paper may actually lose money.
“The $130/day overhead allocation covers rent, insurance, and office staff — divided across 4 jobs.”
Related: Live Profitability Forecasting →P
Pricebook
A catalog of standard prices for services, parts, and labor that technicians reference when creating estimates. A well-maintained pricebook ensures consistent pricing across your team and eliminates guesswork in the field.
“The plumbing pricebook lists a water heater install at $1,800 including labor and materials.”
Related: Estimates & Proposals →Profit Margin
The percentage of revenue remaining after all costs are subtracted. Calculated as (Revenue - Costs) / Revenue × 100. Healthy trade businesses typically target margins between 15% and 25% depending on the trade.
“A $4,200 job with $3,240 in costs has a 22.8% profit margin.”
Related: Live Profitability Forecasting →R
Recurring Service
A job that repeats on a scheduled interval — weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually. Recurring services provide predictable revenue and improve customer retention for maintenance-oriented trades.
“The lawn care company mows 200 properties every week on a recurring schedule.”
Related: Smart Scheduling →Revenue per Technician
Total revenue generated divided by the number of technicians, measuring productivity per team member. This metric helps you identify top performers, spot training needs, and plan hiring decisions.
“With $1.2M revenue and 6 techs, revenue per tech is $200K/year.”
Related: Business Intelligence →Route Optimization
Using algorithms to calculate the most efficient sequence of job stops, minimizing drive time and fuel costs. Route optimization directly increases billable hours by reducing windshield time between jobs.
“Route optimization reduced the landscaping crew’s daily mileage from 85 miles to 52.”
Related: Intelligent Routing →S
Service Agreement
A contract for recurring maintenance services, typically billed monthly or annually. Service agreements create predictable revenue, improve customer retention, and fill slow-season schedules.
“The HVAC service agreement includes 2 tune-ups/year and priority scheduling for $199/year.”
Related: Estimates & Proposals →Service Level Agreement (SLA)
A commitment to respond to or complete service requests within a specific timeframe. SLAs are common in commercial contracts and set clear expectations for response and resolution times.
“The commercial contract requires a 4-hour response time for emergency calls.”
Related: Support →T
Time and Materials (T&M)
A billing method where customers pay for actual labor hours and materials used, rather than a flat rate. T&M is common for diagnostic or troubleshooting work where the scope cannot be predetermined.
“The electrical troubleshooting job billed at T&M: 3 hours at $95/hr plus $180 in parts.”
Related: Live Profitability Forecasting →U
Upsell / Cross-sell
Offering additional or upgraded services during an existing job to increase ticket size. Effective upselling is based on genuine customer need — presenting options the customer would want to know about.
“While replacing the filter, the tech upsells a duct cleaning for $299.”
Related: Estimates & Proposals →W
Work Order
A document that authorizes and details a specific job — including customer info, service requested, parts needed, and scheduling. Work orders are the central record that connects scheduling, dispatch, and invoicing.
“The dispatcher creates a work order for the AC repair and assigns it to the 2pm slot.”
Related: Smart Scheduling →