The verdict in three sentences
For a maintenance company with 35 technicians, a custom field service scheduling app costs 50,000 to 120,000 CAD in Toronto and 30,000 to 75,000 EUR excl. VAT in Bordeaux, versus 35 to 70 EUR per technician per month for an off-the-shelf field service SaaS. Custom becomes profitable once your processes (maintenance contracts, on-call rotas, compliance reports) leave the standard path or the subscription passes 20,000 EUR per year. The real gain shows up elsewhere: +1 job per technician per day and invoicing on day 1 instead of day 15.
What the app includes and what each module costs
A serious field app has two sides: a back office for dispatchers (drag-and-drop work orders, map view, skills, on-call rotas) and a mobile app for technicians (work order, photos, customer signature, PDF report sent automatically). The budget mostly depends on the number of job types and on integrations with accounting or the ERP.
| Functional module | 2026 range (EUR excl. VAT) | Indicative timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Dispatch board (day/week view, drag-and-drop, map) | 8,000 to 18,000 | 4 to 6 weeks |
| Technician mobile app (PWA or native) | 9,000 to 22,000 | 5 to 8 weeks |
| Customer signature, photos, automatic PDF report | 3,000 to 7,000 | 2 to 3 weeks |
| Maintenance contracts and recurring jobs | 4,000 to 10,000 | 2 to 4 weeks |
| Invoicing connector (Sage, QuickBooks, Pennylane) | 3,000 to 9,000 | 2 to 3 weeks |
| Offline mode (basements, boiler rooms, car parks) | 3,000 to 9,000 | 2 to 3 weeks |
| Total project | 30,000 to 75,000 | 3 to 5 months |
Offline mode is often underestimated. A technician working in a boiler room or an underground car park loses signal: without deferred sync, photos and signatures get lost and the report goes out late.
Custom or field service SaaS: the 5-year math
Field service SaaS tools charge 35 to 70 EUR per technician per month, plus office licences and sometimes paid modules (contracts, inventory, customer portal).
| 5-year cost item (35 technicians) | Standard field SaaS | Advanced field SaaS | Kolonell custom build |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subscription or initial build | 35 EUR x 35 x 60 = 73,500 | 70 EUR x 35 x 60 = 147,000 | 30,000 to 75,000 |
| Setup and data migration | 3,000 to 6,000 | 6,000 to 12,000 | included |
| Office licences (4 dispatchers) | 6,000 to 10,000 | 10,000 to 18,000 | 0 |
| Hosting and maintenance | included | included | 12,000 to 24,000 (200 to 400 EUR/month) |
| Specific features | limited, vendor roadmap | paid, case by case | on demand |
| Total 5-year cost (estimate) | 82,500 to 89,500 | 163,000 to 177,000 | 42,000 to 99,000 |
| Code and data ownership | no | no | yes |
Below 15 technicians, a standard SaaS is almost always the right call. Above 30, or if your reports must follow a format imposed by a client (social landlords, manufacturers, public bodies), custom becomes cheaper and fits your trade.
Measured operational gains
| Indicator | Before (paper, Excel, WhatsApp) | After the app | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jobs per technician per day | 4 | 5 | +25% capacity |
| Delay between job and invoice | 15 days | 1 day | better cash flow |
| Weekly scheduling time | 12 h | 5 h | -58% |
| Lost or incomplete reports | 8% | under 1% | fewer disputes |
| Kilometres per technician per day | 110 km | 90 km | -18% fuel |
| Customer calls "where is the technician?" | 40 per week | 10 per week | automatic SMS alerts |
Route gains come from geographic clustering: grouping jobs in Scarborough or Etobicoke, or on Bordeaux's right bank, into the same half day changes everything in a city jammed at rush hour.
Bordeaux and Toronto compared
| Criterion | SME in Bordeaux | Company in Toronto |
|---|---|---|
| Custom build budget | 30,000 to 75,000 EUR excl. VAT | 50,000 to 120,000 CAD |
| Field SaaS per technician per month | 35 to 70 EUR | 45 to 110 CAD |
| Senior developer day rate | 550 to 750 EUR | 900 to 1,300 CAD |
| Main regulatory constraint | GDPR, employee geolocation (CNIL) | PIPEDA, provincial privacy laws |
| Time to production | 3 to 5 months | 3 to 6 months |
Mini case study
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Thomas, technical director of an HVAC maintenance company in Bordeaux, runs 35 technicians billed on average 180 EUR per job. He invests 58,000 EUR excl. VAT in a custom app.
- Capacity gained: 35 technicians x 1 job x 200 days = 7,000 potential jobs per year. Under a cautious assumption he only sells 20%, i.e. 1,400 jobs x 180 EUR = 252,000 EUR of additional revenue.
- Cash flow: 14 days of invoicing delay saved on 1.6 M EUR of annual revenue frees about 61,000 EUR of working capital.
- Scheduling: 7 h saved per week x 46 weeks x 40 EUR = 12,880 EUR per year.
Even with a 30% margin on the extra revenue (75,600 EUR), the project pays back in under 9 months. A Toronto firm with the same profile at 120,000 CAD reaches payback in roughly 10 to 12 months.
FAQ
Do technicians need a native app or a PWA?
A PWA is enough in 80% of cases: it works offline, accesses the camera and costs 30 to 40% less than a native app. Native is justified for advanced barcode scanning or Bluetooth integration with measuring devices.
Is tracking technicians' location legal?
Yes, within limits: in France the CNIL requires a declared purpose, employee information, works council consultation and no tracking outside working hours, with location data generally kept 2 months. In Ontario, written electronic monitoring policies are mandatory for employers with 25+ staff.
How long until we are operational?
Allow 3 to 5 months, with a first usable version in 8 to 10 weeks on a pilot group of 5 technicians. Full rollout then happens site by site in 2 to 4 weeks.
Can we migrate history from our current SaaS?
Yes, most tools export customers, equipment and history as CSV or via API. Migration usually costs 2,000 to 5,000 EUR depending on data quality.
What maintenance budget should we plan?
Plan 200 to 400 EUR per month for hosting, security updates and support, plus an evolution budget of 10 to 15% of the initial cost per year.
Let's scope your project. Send us your technician headcount, job types and invoicing tool: we will price a realistic scope between 30,000 and 75,000 EUR (50,000 to 120,000 CAD) with a pilot within 10 weeks. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
