Roofing work quoted from your phone

Roofing work is priced where the roof is. In the loft with a torch counting the timbers. On the ladder where you can see the lead and the ridge. On the scaffold where the wind decides if you can start. YellowTradie lets you say the job out loud and the priced quote writes itself before you come down.

The day, in the order it happens

The survey from the loft

You are in the loft with a torch. You can see the felt and where it has failed and the timbers that are still sound. You say what you see out loud. The length and the pitch and the covering that has to come off. The felt and batten and the tiles or slates that will go back. Each line goes into its own place and the total is worked out as you speak. You check the form and tap Make quote. The draft is ready to send from the van.

The measured job

Some jobs need a full measure before the number is real. You walk the roof and count the area and note the ridge and the verge and the valleys that turn the water. You say labour by the day and materials by the area and access and waste. The quote holds the measure and the price. The customer gets the link and taps Approve or asks for a change.

The scaffold and the weather window

A roof lives around two things you cannot move. The scaffold has a date and the sky has a mind of its own. You give the job a start date and an end date and the diary shows it as busy. When a day shifts you move the date on the job and the diary follows. The job is Not Started until its start date and In Progress from that date. You mark it Completed only when you press Finish job.

The emergency call out

The phone rings with water coming in. You are on another roof. The caller leaves a message and it is written out and sent to you. You read who it is and what is wrong without calling back blind. If they leave nothing you see that too. You price the call out as its own quote and the job keeps the notes and the photographs of where the water got in.

The photograph of the valley

A valley or a chimney or a flat roof seam is the place the customer will ask about later. You photograph it before and after the repair. The photographs live on the job and stay on your phone. You add them from the Photos tab and the job keeps them with the address and the date. The sign off on the bill link keeps the record of what was done with their name and the date.

The bill before you drive home

The ridge is pointed and the scaffold is booked off. You open the finished job and the next step is Invoice it. The bill carries the lines from the quote and the VAT you set and your bank details and the invoice number as the payment reference. You send the PDF and the link before you move off.

What roofers need in one place

Your quote, built from speech

Open a quote and tap Talk. Say the customer and the address and the work and the price in any order. Finished sentences are read one by one and each line files itself into Materials and Labour and Travel time and 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 ask for changes. The answer comes back to your phone. Approval creates the job from the same details. An expiry date guards the price and you can extend it from the quote.

The job that keeps the record

The job holds the address and the day and the quote that made it and the invoice and the expenses and the timesheet and the photographs and the spoken notes. The address card lets you call the customer or open a map for the job. The job shows Not Started or In Progress or Completed.

Photos of the work

A leak and where it was and the valley after it was done. Ridge and verge and chimney and flat roof. The photographs live on the job and stay on your phone.

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 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 and the amount and 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 on the tax pages.

Details that save a return visit

A note you speak on the roof

Stand on the ridge and say what you found. The note is saved against the job 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.

One tap to call or map

You can call or open a map straight from the job. You do not have to copy the address into another app.

What it does not do

• It does not issue a compliance certificate. We do not issue any trade 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 and 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 and quotes and invoices and photographs are on your phone.

Questions

Can I quote a re roof from the loft?

Yes. Stand in the loft and say the job. Area and covering and ridge and waste and scaffold and labour. The quote fills itself line by line. Check the total and send the link before you leave.

The customer wants a photograph of the valley. Does the app take it?

Yes. Add the photograph to the job from the Photos tab. Before and after if you have both. The photographs live on the job and stay on your phone.

A storm call comes in while I am booked. How do I handle it?

Raise a new quote for that address. The job keeps its own start date and the diary shows both. Move the non urgent job if you need to.

The scaffold was charged as a separate hire. Where does that go?

As a cost on the job with the receipt. It sits with your other costs and the job total shows what the job really made.

What if the customer pays in stages?

Raise the bill for the stage that is done. Each bill has its own reference. The chase follows the balance on each bill.

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.