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What is Tradesmate and what inspired its' creation?

Loading a new job/task

Loading a new customer

Basic set-up

Setting up Services

Click on the title for an explanation of any listed topic. It may be worth looking at the app on a laptop first so that the things that normally happen below a form on a mobile will be left of the main form and you'll get a better picture of events as they unfold. There is a podcast explaining what to do on every screen.

Tradesmate is an app that allows anyone to record a job, price and due date in seconds. Either on the same page or separately in a specific service menu, you can create a service profile and it will NOT let you forget that the job or service exists.

It was created, because a friend of mine, on the way to a dog show, complained that an annual service of his central heating had not been followed up by an engineer. And then, another friend, complained that he had to go and finish his outstanding invoices. After a discussion with my wife, it turned out that the couple had previously had many major arguments about invoicing.

The stage was set – meet TradesMate.net.

THIS IS NOT AN ACCOUNTING PACKAGE

Purpose of the app:

Make life a little easier, out on the job, using a mobile phone. It will

1. remind you of what work is outstanding, – upcoming jobs
2. record a job in less than 1 minute
3. never miss sending an invoice or starting a service ever again
4. even store your ideas for later development

5. your own domain name
6. your own email address or use your existing one
7. your own contact details
8. your own brochure page, by category if required
9. your own SEO details – we can help
10. your own styling - logo and background image
11. your own social media link

Make the invoicing operative's job easier, using a tablet, laptop or desktop

1. complete and print an invoice in 1 minute
2. either print or convert invoices to pdf format and send via email
3. track outstanding invoices and payments
4. email customers automatically before a service is due

Also available:

1. Jobs can be allocated if there is more than 1 operative
2. VAT can be included, if required, and jobs are priced inclusive or exclusive of VAT
3. deposit or paid so far is available
4. services can be repeated at regular times, any multiple of weeks, monthls or years
5. invoice when job complete or on demand
6. lists of payments / VAT / completed jobs - on screen or downloadable by period as excel csv files
7. tap from your mobile to contact business customers
8. diary of completed work - on screen or downloadable by period as excel csv files

This is the heart of the app. When new work comes along either as a one-off job or it turns into a regular service, everything starts here.

Even though your mobile will probably be used to register new jobs, initially, the functionality is best viewed on a laptop or desktop to help you become familiar with how it works. Everything that normally happens on the left hand side of the screen will be present underneath any forms on a mobile.

First of all, if you\’re not VAT registered, nothing regarding VAT will be displayed in the form. Otherwise, you will be prompted with the usual VAT inclusive or exclusive pricing flag, VAT is usually included in the price when quoted to a customer or excluded if the company is a business. The selection is made from the preferred choice stored on a control record, but you can change it when loading the job or at any time before the invoice is complete.

Next enter the name of the customer. Every time you enter a letter, a choice of customers already on file that match your input will be displayed under the customer name on the input form. If you recognize the customer tap the button next to the name and all the details will be displayed in the form up to and including the address. Otherwise, just enter all or part of the name, mobile and address. If there is not a selection available, you need only enter a customer name and mobile number. For completeness, the name and address can be tidied later. An email address is needed, if you wish to send invoices by pdf.

The due date for the work is next, so tap the field, a datepicker will be displayed for your selection.

If your business has more than one operator, you must register the job to him / her. When logging in, a list of jobs is displayed but only for the individual operator. If you are a sole trader, this option will not be displayed.

If a deposit has been paid, you can record it and the details of the job / task can be added either by abbreviation or in full along with the price. See Task1 / Price1. However you can add more lines – see Line 2 etc, the only rule is that if a price is entered the job details must also be entered, either as an abbreviation or in full. Job details can be entered without a price.

Regular services can often start as a ‘one-off’ job, and if this is the case then load the service before completing / finalising the job and producing the invoice. In this case check the Make recurring charge? / Service? and the Recurring details will be displayed. Start by entering the Service ( name ) or choose from a previously populated list. Enter the frequency or service interval and tap the period, Weekly, Monthly or Yearly. For example, quarterly would be ‘3 M’ and fortnightly would be ‘2 W’ and yearly would be ‘1 Y’. Last of all, enter the next service start date by using the datepicker. Every new line can also be used to setup a new regular service.

You can register an approximate value of purchases but this only serves as a reminder to store the paper purchase invoice, at the moment.

Finally tap on the status of the job and then tap on the 'New task invoice' button.

At this point the job is loaded and is available for later correction or completion. An invoice is immediately available but will probably not be presentable. The service will have been setup and can be viewed or changed in the Admin/Services section.

Completed jobs are listed in the Admin/Reports and CSVs/Diary section.

If the customer is already on file, but not selected ie a partial name and mobile no, the job can be re-assigned to the correct customer in the Admin/Customer section. Merely select the customer you wish to change and tap on the right for the customer who it should be. All details will be transferred and the previous customer deleted.

You can go back at any stage and change the job to reflect the current situation including adding more descriptive lines, optionally, along with its associated price. Tap the checkbox to the right of the price, marked line 2 etc.

All that is required to load a new customer is the name, an optional landline number, the mobile number and an optional email address. The email address will allow you to send invoices in PDF format to your customer.

Then add the address, where the address lines should be separated by a comma to improve the presentation of the later invoice. There is a place for notes if there is something that you want to specifically remember about a customer.

If you choose your own forward facing website, there is an option to allow business customers access to view and print their invoices ( they cannot see anyone else’s ), just setup their username and password and they will have access to their invoices only, by just logging in like you. Finally press ‘Register New Customer’.

If you want to amend a customer click on the radio button to the left of the name in the customer list and the details will be placed in the form. When you have made your changes simply press ‘Amend customer details’.

To the right of the ‘Amend customer details’ button is a checkbox, which if ticked displays outstanding invoices and a radio button which will print a form requesting validation of their details.

Finally, if a new job has been loaded with a partially formed name and the customer already exists, click on the radio button tp the left associated with the newly input name. The details will be displayed in the form. A second list of customers will be displayed on the right of the table of customers. Click on the radio button to the right of the customer who is to become the new or real owner of the job. The details will be transferred to the existing customer and the original partially formed named customer will be deleted.

Setting the stage

Basic Info

A certain amount of information is required before starting. Name, mobile or landline and email address to communicate with your customers. An address if you wish to send invoices.

VAT details ( optional ) If you are VAT registered, your registration details, start date and whether your prices will normally be quoted inclusive or exclusive of VAT. This can be changed prior to the production of an invoice.

Banking Details (optional ) Work done for companies and some customers will usually be paid on invoice and direct to your bank account. Others customers may pay in cash.

Service Headings ( optional ) If you provide any regular service options, up to 10 basic headings can be registered.

You can load previous information, time and inclination allowing to give you a good picture for the year, but this is not imperative. As I previously mentioned this is not an accounting package, so whilst downloaded data may be wholly accurate, and that’s a good thing, you choose what you forward to your accountant.

Before I start explaining loading a service, the original details you supplied included up to 10 headings of the typical service plans you offer. These headings are used when creating a service.

First of all we have to identify the customer, if setup. Either select from the list of customers underneath / to the left of the form or enter a few characters and you can select from the matching names displayed. If the customer has not already been set up via the customer or job / task screen it will have to be entered before you can continue.

Once the customer has been selected, a list of all of the services plan you offer will be displayed. Check the checkbox to the left of each one that is applicable to your customer. Details for each plan will be displayed. You will enter the date the service is due and the frequency of the service. An annual service will have a frequency of 1, however, if a service plan is for a number of months, the frequency may be 6 then the checkbox to the right of frequency will be checked indicating 6 months.

The service price will be entered along with any relevant notes. Please remember that at this stage any VAT content will be as originally setup but you can change this at the point of invoicing.

Once the service plan has been setup, a further checkbox will be displayed after the name of the service plan enabling you to cancel the plan if required.