Simpro is enterprise-grade field service management trusted by 8,500+ trade and service businesses worldwide, covering quoting, scheduling, dispatching, job costing, inventory, and invoicing. FlowSpec does one move. It turns a spoken job into a Xero draft quote in about 30 seconds, priced from your own Xero items. An operations platform for growing teams, or a specialist for the quote.
See it draft a real quote into Xero.
Side-by-Side
| Feature | FlowSpec | Simpro |
|---|---|---|
| Speak the job into a quote | Yes, voice to draft quote | Catalogue-based, build from templates |
| Quote creation time | About 30 seconds | 10-30 minutes (multi-stage estimation) |
| Drafts the quote into Xero | Yes, native Xero draft quote | Creates quote in Simpro, syncs invoices to Xero |
| Prices from | Your own Xero items, your own sell prices | Simpro catalogues with cost centres, labour rates, and markups |
| Trade slang recognition | Yes, GPO, RCD, PRV, TMV and many more | Search catalogues by code or description |
| GST auto-calculated | Yes | Yes |
| Scheduling and dispatching | Left to your scheduling tools | Yes, drag-and-drop calendar with crew dispatch and GPS tracking |
| Job costing | Left to your other tools | Yes, real-time cost tracking against quoted, with variance reporting |
| Inventory management | Left to Xero or your supplier | Yes, stock tracking, purchase orders, and warehouse management |
| Fleet tracking | Left to your fleet tools | Yes, via Simtrac add-on |
| Multi-phase projects | One quote per voice memo | Yes, multi-stage workflows with progress billing |
| Digital takeoffs | Left to your estimation tools | Yes, via Takeoffs add-on (measure from digital plans) |
| Team management | Multi-seat with shared Xero connection | Full staff scheduling, timesheets, GPS, and contractor management |
| Accounting integration | Xero (native, two-way) | Xero and MYOB |
| Best for | Any trade, quoting from experience on site | Growing commercial trade teams (10+ staff) with complex jobs |
Simpro covers the full operation: quoting, scheduling, dispatching, job costing, inventory, fleet, and invoicing. FlowSpec is the specialist. It does one thing (the spoken Xero quote) and does it fast. See the full FlowSpec comparison hub to line it up against other tools.
Quoting Speed
Both tools produce a quote. The starting point and the time to get there differ. Walk through the same commercial air conditioning install in each.
Both tools get the quote to the customer. Simpro wraps it into a full operations workflow with cost tracking, scheduling, dispatching, and invoicing. FlowSpec gets the priced Xero draft done in about 30 seconds so the quote reaches the customer while the conversation is still warm.
Setup
How quickly you get to your first quote depends on which tool you choose. The difference is measured in months.
FlowSpec connects to your Xero account and syncs your items as a price list. Your Xero sell prices carry across. Record your first voice memo and the draft quote lands in Xero. From sign-up to first quote is measured in minutes.
Simpro implementation involves configuring workflows, importing catalogues and customer data, mapping account codes, setting up cost centres, and training office and field staff. The onboarding process is thorough and well-supported, with dedicated AU and NZ support available 24 hours, six days a week. For commercial businesses running complex operations, that investment sets up the platform to manage the whole business. The setup timeline reflects the breadth of what Simpro covers.
Many tradesmen spend 45+ minutes per quote after hours. Across a week that builds to 5+ hours of admin that stays on the tools instead.
The Core Difference
Two tools built for two different scales. Here is the honest read on each.
FlowSpec is a specialist quoting tool. It takes a spoken description of a job and turns it into a priced Xero draft quote, and it puts all its weight into that one move. It reads trade abbreviations like GPO, RCD, PRV, and TMV among many more, and it learns each user’s own phrasing over time. It prices each line from your own Xero items and calculates GST. It matches or creates the client in Xero and drafts the quote as a native draft. Scheduling, dispatching, inventory, and job costing stay with the tools you already run.
Simpro is an enterprise field service management platform, founded in 2002 in Brisbane by electrical contractor Steve Bradshaw and software engineer Vaughan McKillop. Built from the ground up for commercial trade businesses, Simpro carries quoting, scheduling, dispatching, job costing with real-time variance tracking, inventory and warehouse management, fleet tracking via Simtrac, digital takeoffs, digital forms, and multi-phase project management. It connects to Xero and MYOB. In 2021, Simpro raised US$350 million and acquired AroFlo and ClockShark, expanding its footprint across six continents. For growing commercial trade operations with 10 or more staff managing complex multi-phase jobs, Simpro covers that ground.
Simpro is built for the commercial trade business that needs to run its entire operation from one platform. FlowSpec is built for the tradesman who knows the job and wants the price in Xero before the next call comes in. When quoting speed is the bottleneck, the spoken quote earns its place.
Xero Integration
Both tools talk to Xero. The depth and direction of that connection shapes how your bookkeeper works.
Xero sits at the centre of how FlowSpec works. Every quote FlowSpec makes is a Xero draft quote with the right line items, the matched contact, and your account codes. Your Xero items sync in as your price list, so your prices come out of Xero and your quotes go straight back into Xero. One sync, clean data end to end.
Simpro transfers customer and supplier contacts, invoices, credit notes, timesheets, and inventory journals to Xero through its Accounting Link. Simpro is the system of record for quoting, job costing, and operations. Xero receives the financial output. The setup requires careful account mapping, as tax codes and account codes need to match precisely, and misaligned mappings require manual fixes. For businesses already deep in Simpro, the sync works once it is configured correctly. Simpro holds a 3.65 out of 5 rating on the Xero App Store from 68 reviews.
Fair’s Fair
Simpro serves 8,500+ businesses across six continents. When any of these describe your setup, it is likely the better fit.
You run a growing commercial team with 10 or more staff
Simpro is built for mid-market commercial contractors dispatching field crews across multiple sites. It manages scheduling, GPS-tracked timesheets, crew assignments, and contractor management from one dashboard. For trade businesses at that scale, having operations, financials, and field logistics in one system reduces the number of tools to manage. FlowSpec handles the quoting step and leaves operations management to your existing tools.
You need deep job costing with real-time cost tracking
Simpro tracks actual costs against quoted costs across labour, materials, and subcontractors in real time, with variance reports showing where margin moves on each job. For commercial jobs where a 5% cost overrun on a $200,000 project means $10,000 off the bottom line, that visibility matters. FlowSpec focuses on the quoting step and leaves cost tracking to your project management tools.
You manage inventory, warehouse stock, and purchase orders
Simpro includes stock tracking, warehouse management, and purchase order workflows. For electrical or security businesses ordering from multiple suppliers and tracking stock across vans and warehouses, that inventory layer sits inside the same system as the quote and the job. FlowSpec drafts the quote and leaves inventory management to your supply chain tools or Xero.
You run multi-phase projects with progress billing
Simpro supports multi-stage project workflows with progress invoicing tied to completed phases. For a commercial electrical fit-out billed across rough-in, wiring, fit-off, and final connections, Simpro tracks each phase and invoices as it completes. FlowSpec creates a single quote from a voice memo. For multi-phase commercial projects, Simpro handles that structure.
Simpro is a well-established platform with real depth for commercial trade operations. If quoting is where your evenings go, FlowSpec gets the spoken Xero quote done in about 30 seconds.
Pricing
How the cost works differs as much as the feature set.
Unlimited quotes, voice input, Xero item sync, trade slang recognition, and GST handling. Every feature is included. Connect to Xero and start quoting the same day.
See flowspec.com.au/pricing for the current rate.
Pricing is tailored to team size and add-ons selected. Published third-party sources report starting points from A$30/user/month, with small teams of five to ten users typically spending A$300 to A$600 per month. Onboarding involves a separate setup fee covering data migration, account mapping, workflow configuration, and training.
Contact Simpro for a personalised quote.
Simpro delivers a full enterprise operations suite for the per-user price: scheduling, dispatching, job costing, inventory, fleet, and invoicing. FlowSpec puts that investment into one thing, the 30-second path from site visit to priced Xero quote. Give back 5 hours a week of quoting admin and it covers its cost quickly.
The FlowSpec Fit
FlowSpec is purpose-built for one scenario: getting the quote out in about 30 seconds from site.
You quote from experience, straight from what you know
An electrician quoting a switchboard upgrade or a plumber quoting a hot water replacement. You know what the job needs and what it costs. You want the price on paper fast. FlowSpec is built for that: speak the job, get the Xero draft.
You run Xero and want quotes to land there as native drafts
With Xero as your system of record for invoicing and bookkeeping, FlowSpec drafts quotes straight into Xero with matched account codes, line items, tax types, and the right contact, priced from your own Xero items. One sync, one source of truth. Simpro syncs financial data to Xero downstream, but quotes and job data stay inside Simpro.
You want to start quoting today, with zero setup time
FlowSpec connects to your Xero account and your items sync as the price list. The first voice quote can go out on the same day you sign up. Simpro requires a structured onboarding process over two to three months. Both are appropriate for their scope: Simpro is setting up an entire operations platform, FlowSpec is connecting a quoting tool to Xero.
Simpro is more platform than you need right now
Simpro is built for growing commercial operations. If you are a sole trader or a two-person team doing residential work, the dispatching, fleet tracking, inventory, and warehouse modules go beyond what you need. FlowSpec covers the quoting step. It gets the quote from your head into Xero.
You want your evenings back
Quote from the ute in about 30 seconds and keep the kitchen table for dinner. Every fitting, valve, length of cable, and hour of labour is captured from your voice memo and priced from your own Xero items.
Weighing up other tools too? See how the spoken Xero quote sits against FlowSpec vs Fergus, FlowSpec vs ServiceM8, or browse the full comparison hub.
FAQ
Yes. Simpro handles job management, scheduling, dispatching, job costing, and invoicing. FlowSpec handles the quoting step, turning a spoken job into a priced Xero draft in about 30 seconds. Both connect to Xero, so your bookkeeper sees consistent data. A tradesman using Simpro for operations can use FlowSpec to get quotes out faster than building them through Simpro's quoting workflow.
They serve different scales and different problems. Simpro is an enterprise-grade platform for commercial trade businesses with field teams, inventory, fleet tracking, and multi-phase project management. FlowSpec is a specialist voice quoting tool that drafts the Xero quote in about 30 seconds. If you run a growing commercial operation with dispatched crews, Simpro covers that breadth. If you are a sole trader or small team and quoting is where your evenings go, FlowSpec handles that one step.
Simpro quoting is built for detailed project estimation: you build a quote from catalogues, cost centres, and job templates, with labour rates, material markups, and multi-stage phases. That depth suits complex commercial jobs. FlowSpec starts from your voice: describe the job in a 30-second memo and it matches each item to your own Xero price list, calculates GST, and drafts the quote straight into Xero. For tradies who know the price and want it on paper fast, the voice route saves the data entry.
Simpro quoting works through catalogue-based templates with structured forms, cost centres, and labour rate schedules. Voice-to-quote from a spoken job description is what FlowSpec is built for. The two tools approach quoting from different starting points: Simpro from a detailed estimation workflow inside a broader field service platform, FlowSpec from a voice memo that lands as a Xero draft.
Simpro implementation typically takes two to three months, including onboarding, data migration, account mapping, and team training. The setup fee covers this process. FlowSpec connects to your Xero account and syncs your items as a price list. The first voice quote can go out on the same day you connect.
Yes. FlowSpec drafts quotes straight into your Xero account, so a Xero subscription is part of the setup. Simpro integrates with Xero and MYOB, so it supports more than one accounting platform.
FlowSpec fits Xero trades who want the quote done in about 30 seconds. Watch it turn a spoken job into a priced Xero draft.
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