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Who uses this: Admins build the formulas in Company Settings, which only the Admin role can view; technicians and office staff who can create estimates and invoices use a saved formula on a record. Availability: All regions.
Formula-Based Quantities saves your company’s measurement math in FieldPulse so a technician enters a few numbers on an estimate or invoice and the material quantity is calculated on the spot. An Admin builds each formula once in Company Settings — tile flooring with an added waste factor, or the number of posts required per foot of fencing — and the technician picks that formula from the Quantity field on the record.

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Overview

A formula-based quantity is a saved calculation that turns job measurements into a line item quantity. Each formula is built from three pieces:
  • Variables — the values a technician enters on the record, such as Width, Length, or Roll Width. Each variable can carry a default value.
  • Fixed values — numbers a technician cannot change, such as a waste factor, a standard depth, or a labor multiplier.
  • Operators — multiplication, division, addition, subtraction, and parentheses, which set the math.
You build a formula once in Company Settings, and it is then available when adding items to estimates, invoices, and material lists. When a technician selects the formula in the Quantity field and enters the measurements taken on the job, FieldPulse calculates the quantity and inserts it into the record.

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Video walkthrough

Video walkthrough: Setting up and using Formula-Based Quantities

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Before you begin

  • Confirm your user role is Admin. Only the Admin role can view Company Settings, where formulas are built — see User Roles and Permissions Details.
  • Decide which numbers change from job to job and which numbers stay the same. The ones that change become variables the technician enters; the ones that stay the same become fixed values.
  • Confirm the team members who will use the formula can create estimates and invoices. Admins and Team Managers hold the Create & send Estimates/Invoices permission by default, and an Admin can enable it for a Service Agent.

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Step-by-step setup

  1. Select Company Settings in the left-side menu, then select Estimates & Invoices.
  2. Select the Formula-Based Quantities tab, then select Add Formula. The Formula-Based Quantities tab under Estimates & Invoices in Company Settings, with Company Settings highlighted in the left-side menu and the green Add Formula button in the top right
  3. Enter a Formula Name your technicians recognize. This name appears on material lists, estimates, and invoices when item quantities are entered.
  4. Select Add Variable and enter a Variable Name.
  5. Set a Default Value that populates for your technicians. A technician can override this value when needed.
  6. Check Different value for each use? to assign a separate value every time that variable is used in the formula, even when the entries share the same name. In a formula of Width + Height + Width + Length, for example, this lets the two Width entries take different numbers.
  7. Select Save in the variable panel, and repeat for every variable the formula needs. The new formula editor with Formula Name set to Turf Measurements and the Add Variable panel open, showing the Variable Name field, a Default Value of 0, and the Different value for each use? checkbox
  8. Drag each variable from the Variables list into the formula area on the right, and arrange the variables in the order you want. The Width variable being dragged out of the Variables list into the empty formula area, which reads Drop here to add first element
  9. Add the math your formula needs with the multiplication, division, addition, subtraction, and parentheses buttons.
  10. To lock in a value a technician cannot change, type the number in the Enter number field and select Add Fixed Value. Fixed values work well for waste factors, standard depths, and labor multipliers.
  11. Enter test values under the formula to confirm it calculates as expected, then select Save in the top right.
A finished formula reading ( Width * Length ) / roll_Width * 1.15, with the Width, Length, and Roll Width variables listed on the left and test values of 10, 2, and 2 returning a result of 11.5

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Use a saved formula on a record

Once the formula is saved, it is ready for use when adding items to estimates, invoices, and material lists.
  1. On the estimate, invoice, or material list, add your item.
  2. Select the arrow icon in the Quantity field.
  3. Choose your formula from the dropdown at the top of the panel.
  4. Enter the measurements you took on the job. FieldPulse calculates the Result.
  5. Select Insert Quantity to place the calculated quantity on the record.
The arrow icon selected in the Quantity field of a Turf line item on an estimate, opening the Turf Measurements formula panel with measurements of 5, 8, and 2 entered and a result of 23 above the Insert Quantity button

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Adjust a formula for one record

A formula sometimes needs an adjustment on the fly. If your formula measures the length of multiple surfaces, for example, a technician might find a different number of surfaces on each job. Select Edit Formula in the formula panel to change the formula for that record. The Turf Measurements formula panel on the estimate line item with the Edit Formula button highlighted An additional window opens over the record, with the same variable list, operator buttons, and fixed value controls used in Company Settings. The technician can temporarily add a new variable — an additional surface, for instance — and then select Apply Formula. The original formula saved in Company Settings is not changed. The Edit Formula window open over the estimate, showing the Variables list with Width, Length, and Roll Width, the operator buttons, the formula, and the Apply Formula button in the top right

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On mobile

Saved formulas are also available on the FieldPulse mobile app. The formula appears on the Add Line Item screen under Main Info, where the technician enters the measurements, selects Insert Quantity, and then selects Add Item to put the line item on the record. The Add Line Item screen in the FieldPulse mobile app showing the Rock Depth formula card for a Rock Tonnage item, with Width, Length, and Height values entered above the Insert Quantity link

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Settings reference

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Interactive demo

Take the Formula-Based Quantities interactive demo to see formula-based quantities in action.
Animated preview of the Formula-Based Quantities interactive demo, with a saved Turf / Rock Base (cubic yards) formula listed on the Formula-Based Quantities settings page behind the Start Demo button

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Still need help?

Reach the FieldPulse support team at support@fieldpulse.com or through the chat feature in the bottom-right corner of your screen. Your setup is working when a technician opens a line item, picks the formula, enters the measurements from the job, and the correct quantity lands on the estimate — no calculator and no guesswork on the waste factor.