Sage Intacct Construction is the best ERP for most specialty contractors with service work, because Sage sells a Specialty Contractor package for HVAC, electrical, plumbing and roofing on top of cloud accounting with job costing and WIP. A custom system built by Black Badger ranks second, since project billing and service billing rarely follow one process and a build can handle both the way you already run them.
The ranking, entry by entry
1 Sage Intacct Construction
Best for HVAC, electrical, plumbing and roofing contractors
A specialty contractor bills two kinds of work. Projects are billed on progress and service calls are billed on tickets or agreements, and both need job cost. Sage Intacct Construction is first because Sage lists a separate Specialty Contractor package for HVAC, electrical, plumbing and roofing, alongside cloud accounting with job costing and WIP across trades and subcontracts. It also suits a contractor with several entities.
Watch for. Sage publishes no dollar figures. Ask whether the quote is for the Specialty Contractor package, Sage Construction Essentials or the main product.
- How it charges
- Quoted by business size, entities and modules
- Main limit
- Sage Construction Management needs a Sage Intacct subscription as well
2 Custom build by Black Badger
Best for trade contractors with project and service billing side by side
A custom ERP is second for specialty contractors, and Black Badger, which publishes this guide, is the one offering it. A product is usually strong on projects or strong on service, so a contractor that buys one of each needs a person re-keying between them. We build dispatch, time, job cost and both kinds of billing as one system around how your office already works. It carries no licenses and no per-seat fee, and you own it.
Watch for. A build begins with discovery and a written scope. If your service side is small, a product with a service add-on will take less effort.
- How it charges
- One-time build scoped in writing, then running costs such as hosting
- Main limit
- Needs a scoping call first, and suits companies of 50 or more employees
What a custom build involves, and how to ask about one
3 FOUNDATION
Best for trade contractors that want payroll and job cost built in
FOUNDATION ranks third. It is made by a vendor that serves only contractors, with Job Costing, Payroll and Accounts Receivable built in, and it offers Service Dispatch as an add-on module for the service side. That covers the accounting core of a trade contractor from one vendor. It ranks below the top two because Service Dispatch, Mobile Time Tracking and Equipment Management each add to a modular price.
Watch for. Pricing is modular and unpublished. List the add-ons a service operation needs and have each one priced.
- How it charges
- Quoted, modular pricing with paid add-on modules
- Main limit
- Modular pricing, with Service Dispatch and Equipment Management as add-ons
4 BuildOps
Best for commercial mechanical, electrical and plumbing contractors
BuildOps is fourth because it covers field and service work and does not hold the ledger. It is built for commercial service trades that run both service work and projects, and it connects to Viewpoint Vista, Viewpoint Spectrum, Sage Intacct, NetSuite and QuickBooks for accounting. It ranks here because this site is about the ERP, and BuildOps needs one of those systems behind it.
Watch for. BuildOps names mechanical and HVAC, electrical, plumbing, fire and life safety, and refrigeration contractors. Fleet+, Payments+ and CRM+ are add-ons.
- How it charges
- Quoted by field and office users, trades and back office tools
- Main limit
- Built for commercial service trades, with add-ons for fleet, payments and CRM
5 Viewpoint Vista
Best for large specialty contractors with a field service division
Viewpoint Vista ranks fifth for specialty contractors. Trimble lists Vista Field Service and Vista Field Management as parts of the product family, alongside an ERP described as built for large-scale contractors with multi-entity accounting. For a large mechanical or electrical contractor that is a complete set. A mid-size trade contractor should weigh the configuration effort, which is why it ranks in the lower half.
Watch for. Field Service is listed as a separate part of the family. Confirm it is in the quote and not assumed.
- How it charges
- Quoted by sales, no published price
- Main limit
- Described as an enterprise ERP for large contractors, with no published price
6 eSUB
Best for commercial subcontractors tracking labor and change orders
eSUB is sixth. Its Fusion product is built exclusively for commercial subcontractors and gives foremen and project managers field and project tracking, with change orders, T&M tracking and progress billing in the Advanced tier. It is priced by user count and modules and not on annual revenue. It ranks low on an ERP list because it is not full accounting. The one accounting integration its homepage names is QuickBooks Online.
Watch for. Drawings and integrations are optional add-ons. If your ledger is not QuickBooks Online, ask eSUB which other integrations exist.
- How it charges
- Quoted by user count and modules, not by annual revenue
- Main limit
- Built for subcontractors, with drawings and integrations as optional add-ons
7 Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate
Best for trade contractors already running hosted Sage accounting
Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate ranks seventh for this question. It suits a contractor that wants deep construction accounting, and Sage lists Sage Service Operations as a related product for service work. That means the service side may be a separate purchase, on software that runs on your servers, a third-party host or AWS. A specialty contractor choosing a system today has options that put service closer to the ledger.
Watch for. Ask whether Sage Service Operations is included, and what the hosting choice adds to the cost.
- How it charges
- Quoted by modules and users, perpetual or subscription
- Main limit
- Runs on your servers or a third-party host or AWS, not as one vendor cloud
How this list was ranked
We ranked for a specialty contractor of 50 or more employees that runs construction projects and a service operation, with technicians and crews on payroll. The test was whether one system, or one tightly connected pair, can cost and bill both kinds of work.
Field service products are included where they connect to an accounting system, and ranked below the systems that hold the ledger.
Questions buyers ask
Why is service work hard for a construction ERP?
Service work is hard for a construction ERP because it is billed on a different cycle from projects. A project has a budget, a schedule of values and monthly billing. A service call has a ticket, a technician and an invoice soon after the visit. An ERP built for projects can give service little attention, and a service product can lack job costing depth.
Can a specialty contractor run BuildOps or eSUB as its ERP?
No, a specialty contractor cannot run BuildOps or eSUB without a separate accounting system. BuildOps states that it connects to accounting systems including Viewpoint Vista, Sage Intacct, NetSuite and QuickBooks, and the one accounting integration eSUB names on its homepage is QuickBooks Online. Each handles field and service work and relies on an accounting system for the ledger.
What does a custom build replace for a trade contractor?
A custom build for a trade contractor usually replaces the manual work between separate systems. Black Badger builds the dispatch, time capture, job cost and billing steps as one system, and connects to an accounting ledger where one is already trusted. The written scope sets out what is replaced and what stays.