By Stephanie Ward, field-service project systems analyst with 9 years of experience configuring multi-day installations, work orders, purchasing, and cost controls
Last reviewed: July 21, 2026
FieldPulse can organize longer service work through projects, jobs, site visits, custom forms, purchase orders, estimates, invoices, and reporting. Site Visits let a business schedule several appointments beneath one parent job, which is usually cleaner than creating an unrelated job every time a technician returns.
This independent guide is not operated by or affiliated with FieldPulse.
Start with the parent project or job. Skip adding another work order until the existing visits, approved scope, materials, and billing records have been checked.
What is FieldPulse project management?
FieldPulse is field service management software for scheduling, dispatching, customer records, estimates, invoices, payments, and field operations. Its project-management tools are intended to coordinate tasks, resources, timelines, and teams across work that is more involved than one short service appointment.
A project can involve several connected records:
- Customer and service site
- Project
- Parent job
- Site visits
- Assigned employees or teams
- Subtasks
- Custom forms
- Material lists
- Purchase orders
- Estimates and invoices
- Files, notes, and comments
Each record answers a different question.
The project provides the wider operational container. The job represents defined work. A Site Visit places a particular return trip on the schedule. A purchase order requests materials from a supplier. An estimate or invoice records the commercial side of the work.
Problems begin when one record is forced to perform all five roles.
Site Visit or separate job?
FieldPulse describes Site Visits as additional appointments tied to one job. They are intended for follow-ups, multi-day installations, and other work requiring more than one trip. Each visit can have its own date, assigned team, notes, and status while remaining under the parent job.
That structure fits work such as:
- Initial inspection
- Equipment delivery
- Rough installation
- Electrical or plumbing follow-up
- Testing and commissioning
- Final walkthrough
Create a separate job when the new work is commercially or operationally distinct. Use a Site Visit when the team is returning to continue the same job.
The distinction affects reporting.
Five disconnected jobs may make one installation look like five separate sales opportunities. One parent job with five visits keeps the schedule detailed while preserving a unified work history.
Do this first: read the original scope and job description. Skip creating a new job merely because another calendar appointment is required.
What each Site Visit can track
A Site Visit can carry its own schedule, assigned users, notes, and status. FieldPulse’s reporting tools can also use Site Visit duration, assigned technicians, and status to build operational reports.
That allows the office to answer questions such as:
- Which visits remain open?
- Who is assigned to tomorrow’s installation stage?
- How long did each phase take?
- Which technician handled the callback?
- Which visits were completed late?
One visit should not be treated as the entire project.
A technician may complete Tuesday’s equipment placement while the parent job remains active because wiring and testing are scheduled later. Closing the full job at that point can make unfinished work disappear from ordinary operational views.
Check both statuses:
| Record | Status should describe |
|---|---|
| Site Visit | The individual appointment |
| Parent job | The overall body of work |
| Project | The broader project lifecycle |
| Estimate or invoice | The sales or billing stage |
Complete the visit when that appointment is done. Complete the parent job only when the company’s full completion standard has been met.
Why one appointment is missing
A missing visit may still exist outside the current schedule view.
Check:
- Parent job
- Site Visit list
- Scheduled date
- Assigned technician
- Status
- Active schedule filters
- User permissions
FieldPulse’s newer filtering controls allow users to save custom views and switch among pinned filter tabs. A saved view can quietly retain a team, status, or date condition that hides a valid record.
Clear filters before rebuilding anything.
A second friction appears when an employee has been deactivated. FieldPulse says records created or edited by that user remain available, but the deactivated person can no longer be assigned to future jobs or Site Visits.
The historical visit remains. The future assignment must be changed.
Do not reactivate or duplicate an old user simply to preserve previous records.
Site Visits and Google Calendar
FieldPulse has documented visibility for jobs and Site Visits in Google Calendar. It also supports inserting Site Visit duration and travel time into invoice line-item quantities for selected jobs and visits.
Those are separate functions.
Calendar visibility helps employees see scheduled appointments. Duration-based invoicing can use operational time as a billing input where the company’s pricing model supports it.
A calendar event is not automatically a billable time record.
The scheduled duration may differ from the actual duration. Travel time may be chargeable for one customer and included in the service rate for another. The invoice should follow the accepted estimate, contract, and company billing policy rather than blindly copying every calendar block.
Verify the selected visits before pulling duration into an invoice.
Skip billing from the parent job’s total elapsed period when only certain Site Visits or travel segments are chargeable.
Handling added work and change orders
FieldPulse does not require businesses to erase an original estimate when the customer adds work. Estimates and invoices are connected record types, and internal activity can show quantity or price updates, added or removed products, status changes, files, contracts, payments, and user activity.
For a scope change, preserve a clear record of:
- Original accepted scope
- Requested addition or deletion
- Revised price
- Material impact
- Schedule impact
- Customer approval
- Related estimate or invoice
- Related Site Visits
Do not edit the original description silently after work has begun.
A practical change-control method is to create a clearly identified revised estimate, addendum, or separate approved billing record according to the company’s process. The exact legal form varies by contract type and jurisdiction.
This matters in payment disputes. FieldPulse’s chargeback guidance lists signed estimates, final invoices, change-order documentation, and customer approval messages for added work among records that can help document a transaction.
Document before performing the extra work. Skip relying on a technician’s private note as the only evidence of approval.
Custom forms for project stages
FieldPulse Custom Forms can be attached to jobs, estimates, and invoices, and project-linked forms can be created or edited in Offline Mode. Forms can be used for inspections, safety checks, intake, installation documentation, and similar structured records.
FieldPulse also supports separating internally visible fields from customer-facing fields. This lets the team retain operational notes without exposing every internal entry on the customer’s version of the form.
That division deserves review.
An installation form might contain:
- Customer-visible equipment checklist
- Customer signature
- Internal quality-control notes
- Technician measurements
- Follow-up requirement
- Photos
- Manager review field
Mark internal fields correctly before distributing the form. Skip placing candid staff comments in a field intended for the customer.
Another hands-on detail: offline forms may not appear to office staff until the device reconnects and synchronizes. Check the technician’s original record before creating a replacement inspection.
Material lists and purchase orders
FieldPulse purchase orders can be created and emailed to suppliers, used to replenish inventory, and combined into customer estimates or invoices. Custom fields can also be added to purchase-order line items for supplier details, part specifications, or company-specific job information.
Materials should be separated into three stages:
- Planned materials
- Ordered materials
- Materials actually used
Those figures may differ.
A project can require ten units in the estimate, twelve on the purchase order because of packaging, and nine in actual installation after one design change. Copying the same quantity everywhere hides that distinction.
FieldPulse’s supplier integrations can generate draft purchase orders from estimate or invoice items. A draft still needs review. For example, the Reece integration can create a draft PO automatically, while users must choose the branch and place the order.
Do not treat “draft created” as “supplier accepted.”
Review supplier, availability, delivery location, quantity, and current price before sending the order.
Inventory changes after added work
Inventory can be deducted when a record is completed. FieldPulse notes that items added to a completed record as a change order are deducted when the record is completed again.
That is a specific source of stock confusion.
A completed job is reopened, another item is added for approved work, and the record is completed again. Inventory movement may then occur for the added material.
Check the item activity before manually reducing stock.
Skip entering a second inventory adjustment merely because the original job had already been marked complete. The later completion event may have handled the added item.
Serialized equipment needs extra attention. Confirm that the precise unit, not only the general item, was assigned to the project and installation record.
Formula-based quantities on project estimates
FieldPulse supports formulas that calculate quantities for estimates, invoices, or material lists from measurements. Fixed values can represent waste factors, standard depths, labor multipliers, and similar assumptions. A technician can temporarily add a variable for a specific record without permanently changing the base formula.
This is useful for project work involving area, length, volume, or repeated fixtures.
It also creates four review points:
- Measurements entered
- Formula selected
- Fixed factors
- Temporary variables
A mathematically correct result can still be commercially wrong when the wrong formula was selected.
Check the measurement inputs first. Skip overwriting the calculated quantity with an unexplained manual total.
When a one-off variable is needed, use the record-level adjustment rather than changing the company’s standard formula for every future project.
Customer visibility during longer work
FieldPulse’s Customer Portal gives customers access to job information, schedules, estimates, invoices, payments, and communication with the service business.
Portal access can reduce status-check calls during multi-visit work, but customers may not see every internal project field.
A visit can be scheduled internally before the company chooses to communicate it. Internal forms and notes may also remain hidden. The portal configuration and business workflow determine what is exposed.
Use the portal for approved customer-facing information. Skip assuming that an internal Site Visit note has been sent to the customer.
For important schedule changes, confirm the actual communication method and recipient instead of relying only on the existence of a portal record.
Project reporting and cost control
FieldPulse’s project-management product emphasizes tasks, timelines, resources, teams, budgets, and centralized project visibility. Site Visit reports can be built by status, assigned technician, and duration.
Useful project checks include:
- Original estimate
- Approved additions
- Invoice total
- Purchase orders
- Materials used
- Labor and visit duration
- Outstanding tasks
- Open Site Visits
- Customer payments
Do not measure project performance from invoice value alone.
A project can have strong sales and weak margin because labor, return visits, or material purchases exceeded the estimate. It can also appear late because the parent project remains open after all field work is finished but the final billing task was never completed.
Define what “complete” means for the project, operations, and accounting teams.
FieldPulse pricing and support
FieldPulse currently uses seat-based pricing. Full-access seats cover the broader platform, including scheduling, dispatching, customer management, estimates, invoicing, Pricebook, and reporting, while field-only seats have narrower mobile access. Pricing is provided through a customized quote.
Project-management, purchasing, forms, and other capabilities may depend on the company’s selected configuration.
FieldPulse’s Help Center publishes support@fieldpulse.com and 469-382-5668 across its documentation.
Before reporting a project problem, note:
- Customer and project
- Parent job
- Site Visit
- Assigned employee
- Current status
- Expected schedule
- Estimate or invoice
- Purchase order
- Form or file
- Whether the device was offline
Do not include credentials, authentication codes, or confidential payment information.
Frequently asked questions
What is a FieldPulse Site Visit?
An additional appointment tied to a parent job.
Should every return trip be another job?
No. Use a Site Visit when the trip continues the same job.
Can Site Visits have separate technicians?
Yes. FieldPulse says visits can have their own assigned teams, dates, notes, and statuses.
Why is a Site Visit missing from my schedule?
Check the parent job, visit date, assigned user, status, saved filters, and permissions before recreating it.
Can Site Visits appear in Google Calendar?
Yes. FieldPulse has documented Google Calendar visibility for jobs and Site Visits.
Can FieldPulse forms work offline?
Project- and job-linked Custom Forms can be created or edited through Offline Mode. They must synchronize after connectivity returns.
Does a generated supplier purchase order mean it was sent?
No. Some integrations create a draft that must be reviewed and submitted.
What should be checked before closing a project?
Confirm all Site Visits, forms, approved scope changes, materials, purchase orders, invoices, payments, and remaining internal tasks.
