Contractor estimate and invoice software: one record from estimate to paid invoice

Work order total

$863.16

Labour

$510

Parts, marked up

$288

Every figure on this page is computed from the inputs entered, by the method stated below it. Jobcardo publishes no tax rate, no wage figure and no trade standard: the rate, the markup and the tax on the parts line are yours, and the defaults are a worked example to replace with your own figures.

Most small contractors start with a template, and the template works until the second job of the week. The trouble is not the document, it is the retyping: the estimate is written once, the accepted version is typed into an invoice, the extras are remembered on Friday, and the numbers drift at every step. Contractor estimate and invoice software earns its keep when the accepted estimate becomes the job and the invoice reads the job, so the same figures appear on all three without anybody copying them across.

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Start from a contractor estimate example that can become a record

A contractor estimate example that is worth copying has a customer, a site, a dated scope, priced lines, an allowance with a rate, terms and a validity period. Those are exactly the fields a job record needs, which is why an estimate written properly converts in one step and a pretty PDF does not.

Let the changes land on the same job

Extras are the difference between a profitable job and a busy one. Each change gets a date, a description, a price and an approval, against the same record as the original estimate. When the customer questions the invoice six weeks later, the answer is a list rather than a memory.

Invoice from the record, then chase from it too

The invoice total is the accepted estimate plus approved changes, less any deposit. Because it is built from the record, the figures agree, and the record also holds what was paid and when, which is what you need when the second reminder goes out.

Contractor estimate and invoice software: common questions

Is a free contractor estimate template PDF good enough to start with? Yes, for the first few jobs. It gives you the lines and the habit. What it cannot do is remember: it will not tell you which estimates are outstanding, which jobs have unbilled changes, or which invoices are late, and those three questions are what start costing money at about a job a week.

What should a contractor estimate template free of charge still include? Customer and site, a dated scope with exclusions, priced lines, an allowance with its rate, a validity period, payment terms, and a signature line. If a free template leaves out exclusions and the validity period, add them by hand before you send it.

Do I need separate estimating and invoicing tools? Not for a small contracting business. Two tools mean two customer lists and a copy step between them, which is where the figures drift. One record that starts as an estimate and ends as a paid invoice is fewer moving parts and a shorter argument when one arises.

Jobcardo Pro

Keeping what you raise

The worksheets are free forever. Pro turns them into the record: every order you raise kept against the customer with its status from raised to done to invoiced, every change dated, your company name and logo on the sheet, no watermark, and an export when the bookkeeper asks.

• Download as PDF
• No Jobcardo watermark
• Save every work order and sales order and reopen it later
• Your business name and logo on the sheet
• Export every order and worksheet in one go
• Job-done and balance-due reminders emailed to your customers
• Connect your own Stripe account and get paid online
• Connect your QuickBooks Online or Xero

$25per month, whole team

Start Jobcardo Pro Free for 14 days. No card needed. Pricing

The first 14 days are free and no card is asked for. Add a card during the trial and the first charge is on the day it ends; do not, and your workspace becomes read-only with nothing deleted. Renews monthly at the price above until you cancel. We email you before any price change.

Will it do what you need for Contractor estimate and invoice software?

Tell us what your orders need and we will tell you straight whether Jobcardo Pro does it today, whether it is coming, or whether you need a different product instead. A person reads these and replies.

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