Electrical work quoted from your phone

You price work while you are standing in it. A board change in a hall cupboard. A rewire you have to look at before you can put a number on. A fault where the customer is asking what it will cost while you still have the cover off. YellowTradie is built for that moment. You say the job out loud and the priced quote writes itself while you are still on site.

The day, in the order it happens

The call you missed

You are under the stairs with the tester out and the phone is in the van. The customer leaves a message and it is written out and sent to you. If they leave nothing you see that too. You do not have to ring the same number twice to find out who called.

The job you have to price before you can start

Some jobs need a look before the number is real. You walk the house, count the points, note the cable runs and the board that needs changing. You say it out loud. Sockets, downlights, cable by the metre, the consumer unit, labour by the day. Each line goes into its own place on the quote and the app works out the total as you speak. You check the form and tap Make quote. The draft is saved and ready to send.

The certificate the customer wants is yours to give

The customer asks for the paperwork that goes with the work. That is your own record of the job and the signature to go with it. The job holds the address, the notes, the photographs and the costs, and the customer signs off on the bill link. The app keeps the record. The certificate is your work.

The invoice before you drive home

The board is in, the test is done, the covers are back on. You open the finished job and the next step is Invoice it. The bill carries the lines from the quote, the VAT you set, the payment note, your bank details and the invoice number as the payment reference. You send the PDF and the link from the van before you move off.

The customer who pays on the doorstep

A small job wants paying now. The customer has the link open on their phone. They can see the bill and your bank details and the reference. They pay by bank transfer while you are still there. You record the payment on the bill and the balance falls to paid.

The quote you sent on Tuesday

It is still sitting on Sent. The customer has not answered. On Home it shows when it is quiet, and when it has expired the chase card appears with your words, the bank details, the reference and the sign-off already in it. You send it. Nothing goes on its own.

What electricians need in one place

Your quote, built from speech

Open a quote and tap Talk. Say the customer, the work, the items and the price in any order. Finished sentences are read one by one and each line files itself into Materials, Labour, Travel time or Additional charges. You can type into the same form and you can mix the two. Nothing is saved until you tap Make quote.

A priced quote the customer can answer

Send the quote and the customer gets a link. They open it and press Approve or Decline, with a comment if they want changes. The answer comes back to your phone. Approval creates the job from the same details. A decline shows their words on the quote.

The job that keeps the record

The job holds the address, the day, the quote that made it, the invoice, the expenses, the timesheet, the photographs and the spoken notes. The address card lets you call the customer or open a map for the job. A job is Not Started until its start date, In Progress from that date, and Completed only when you press Finish job.

Photos of the work

You can add one before the work starts and one after it is done. The photographs live on the job and stay on your phone. You add them from the Photos tab.

A bill from the job

Invoice it from an accepted quote or from a finished job. The PDF and the customer's link both show your bank details and the reference. Part payments are kept and the balance is what the Home screen and the chase use. The customer can confirm the work is done on the bill link while it is unpaid and unsigned.

Chasing what is still owed

When a sent invoice is past its due date, the chase card appears on Home. The message asks for the balance, not the original total, and it carries the bank details and the reference and the link. The wording firms up each time and you choose when to send. The app never chases on its own.

Your money without the spreadsheet

Every payment is a row in the log with the date, the amount, the method and the bill it settled. A refund is a negative row so the cash in figure is the sum of the log. VAT sits on the quote and the bill and in the quarterly report. Tax and Making Tax Digital are covered on the tax pages.

Details that save a return visit

A note you speak on the job

Stand in the cupboard and say what you found. The note is saved against the job, spoken or typed, and it stays with the address.

Labour from your hours

Log hours on the job and they come into the invoice as a labour line. A job with no quote still gets its hours billed.

A receipt you photograph

Take a picture of the receipt and set the category. The cost is filed against the job. The photograph leaves the phone only when you ask the app to read it.

A deposit on a long job

Set the deposit on the quote. The customer sees the deposit and the balance when they approve. Raise the deposit bill when they say yes, and the balance when the work is done. Each has its own reference.

What it does not do

• It does not issue a compliance certificate. We do not issue EICRs or any other compliance certificate. The job keeps your record and the invoice that carries it. The certificate is your work.
• It does not send a quote or a bill on its own. You write it, you send it, and you send the chase.
• It does not keep a rate card and fill in your prices. The figures are the ones you say.
• It does not hold customer card numbers. Bank transfer is your own details on the bill. Card, when live, is taken on your phone with the customer in front of you.
• It does not take a payment on the customer's link. The customer pays you directly and you record it.
• It does not keep the records in the cloud. The jobs, quotes, invoices and photographs are on your phone.

Questions

Can I quote a board change from the hall cupboard?

Yes. Open the quote and tap Talk. Say the board, the circuits, the cable, the labour and the day. The app totals the lines. Check and send it from the phone before you leave.

The customer asks for my certificate. Does the app write it?

No. The app is not a certificate writer. It keeps the job record and the bill that goes with it. The record carries your work.

I have a deposit job. How does the app handle it?

Set the deposit on the quote. When the customer approves, the job is created with the deposit and the balance shown. Raise the deposit bill from the quote and the balance bill from the finished job.

Can I chase a quote that has gone quiet?

Yes. A sent quote that has expired appears on Home with its chase. A draft never does. The invoice chase works the same way when the bill is past its due date.

What if the customer pays part of the bill?

Record what they paid. The bill shows the money in and the balance. The chase and the Home totals follow what is still owed.

Related

• The six trades: pick the trade that is yours.
• Quote by talking: speak the job and the form fills itself.
• Quotes: the priced document and the customer's answer.
• Invoices: the bill that comes from the job.

Join the list

The app is not in the shops yet. Join the list and we will tell you the day it opens. £19.99 a month, 14 days free, card needed.