A rate card that is yours
Labour, materials, plant, subcontractors, waste and margin per item, kept in one place. Change a supplier price once and every future quote uses it, while old quotes keep the price they were issued at.
Trades × Quoting & invoicing
Measure once. Quote before the evening.
Takeoff quantities go in, priced lines come out from your own rate card, and a branded quote goes to the client with an accept button and a deposit. The server re-prices every quote, so a slipped decimal can’t reach a customer. It’s quoting and invoicing software for jobs priced by the square metre, not by the hour.
Sound familiar?
The quote is where you lose the job or the margin.
You get the perit’s drawings by email on Tuesday, measure on Wednesday and price at ten at night in a spreadsheet you built three jobs ago. The labour rate is right, the concrete price changed last month, and the waste allowance is whatever you remembered. A client waiting a week for a quote has asked two other contractors. A quote priced too low loses money; one that arrives late loses the job.
- Every quote starts as a copy of the last one and is edited by hand.
- Material prices change and the spreadsheet is only updated when someone notices.
- Exclusions, provisional sums and conditions are retyped, and sometimes forgotten.
- Accepted quotes are retyped into the invoicing app, with a typo each time.
- Nobody follows up the ones that went quiet.
What gets built
The parts, shaped to you.
Pick the ones you need. Each is built around how your team already works, then joined up on one set of data.
Takeoffs in, lines out
Enter or import measurements (area, volume, length, counts) and get priced lines: slab and foundation work, driveways, paving, screeds, whatever your jobs are made of. Calculators handle the sums you do on a calculator today.
Options, provisional sums and exclusions
Alternative finishes as options the client can tick, provisional sums where the scope isn’t fixed, and your standard exclusions and conditions attached automatically.
Server-side price check
The system re-prices every quote itself and rejects a total that doesn’t match, so a typo or a stale browser tab can’t send out the wrong figure. This is how the concreting portal works.
Branded PDF, online accept and deposit
The client opens the quote on their phone, accepts it and pays a deposit by card. You see when it was opened and accepted, and the job is created for you. Payments run through Stripe.
Revisions and variations
A changed scope becomes revision 2 with the difference shown, not a new document that confuses everyone. Variations on live jobs are priced the same way.
From quote to progress invoice
An accepted quote becomes a deposit invoice and then stage invoices tied to the job’s progress. Malta VAT is handled, and exports go to your accountant.
Follow-ups on quiet quotes
A reminder to you, and an optional message to the client, when a quote has been open for a set number of days with no reply.
Connects to
- Gmail or Outlook
- Stripe
- Accounting software
- Your website calculator
- Google Drive
A good fit if
- You quote more jobs than you have evenings for, and price from measurements.
- Your prices have rules: rates, quantities, options, waste, margin.
- Cash flow depends on deposits and stage payments going out on time.
- You want accepted quotes to turn into jobs and invoices without retyping.
Not the right call if
- You do small jobs priced on the phone for a fixed figure. A good invoicing app is enough.
- You need a full estimating package linked to CAD drawings and bills of quantities. That is a specialist product; I’d point you to one.
Proof
Built before, running now.
Construction · Live · portal v1Nathan Fenech Concreting
Takeoff, pricing, quotes and progress invoices for a concreting business, with a public quote-accept page and server-side re-pricing.
Read the case study Storage & logistics · Live · in daily useStorexInstant quotes from a 318-item catalogue, branded PDF quotes, a quote pipeline that flags missed steps and abandoned-quote capture.
Read the case studyHow it runs
From first call to daily use.
The same five steps on every project, sized to yours.
- 01A short call or the quote builder
Tell me how the business runs today: the tools, the workarounds, the bit that drives you mad. The quote builder takes about five minutes and gives me a scoped brief.
- 02A fixed quote, in phases
I reply with a fixed price and a phase plan. The must-haves go first, so you are using the system while the rest is still being built.
- 03Previews as it’s built
You see the real system on a private link while it is being built, with your own data in it as early as possible. Changes are cheap at this stage, so this is where we make them.
- 04Your data moved across
Spreadsheets, an old system, email threads: the data comes with you, checked against the source so nothing is lost on the way.
- 05Launch, then care
Your team gets a walkthrough, and I stay on for fixes and new features, either on a monthly support plan or pay as you go.
FAQ
Questions, answered.
Can quotes be priced from measurements?
Yes. Takeoff quantities feed lines priced from your rate card, with waste and margin applied, and the server re-prices the whole quote before it is issued.
Do I have to enter every price myself?
You enter the rate card once; I’d help you set it up from your existing spreadsheet. After that you change a price in one place. A feed from a supplier is possible where the supplier provides one.
Can clients accept and pay a deposit online?
Yes. They open a link, accept and pay by card, and the deposit invoice and the job are created. You can also let them accept without paying, if that suits the job.
How is this different from invoicing software with a quote feature?
Standard invoicing software prices lines you type in. This prices from quantities and your own rules, checks the total, and keeps options, exclusions and revisions together. For simple jobs, the standard software is cheaper and I’ll say so. See custom versus off-the-shelf.
Does it help with Digitalise Your SME quotations?
That is a different question. The scheme asks you to supply quotations for what you are buying, and the rules are set out in the guide to Digitalise Your SME quotations. Custom software is an eligible cost, but check the current call before relying on it.
Go deeper
Read next, then decide.
ServiceQuoting & invoicing
Quotes from your rate card, invoices with VAT, deposits and automatic chasing.
IndustryTrades & constructionEnquiries, priced quotes, schedules, crew app and progress invoices.
SystemConstruction job managementStaged jobs, crew scheduling, GPS clock-in, checklists, site photos, variations and job costing.
SystemCRM for contractorsEnquiries from WhatsApp, calls and your site, referral sources, quote follow-ups and repeat clients.
Case studyNathan Fenech ConcretingFrom a one-page Malta site to a brand, website and quote-to-cash portal for a concreting business now serving Melbourne.
Case studyStorexA storage and logistics company’s whole operation in one custom system: quotes, clients, invoicing, the warehouse and the crew in the field.
IntegrationStripeCheckout, deposits, subscriptions and payment links tied to your invoices and bookings.
GuideMalta VAT invoicesThe details a Malta tax invoice must carry, and what that means for invoicing software.
Often built together
Related systems.
Quoting & invoicing
Quotes from your rate card, invoices with VAT, deposits and automatic chasing.
Trades & constructionEnquiries, priced quotes, schedules, crew app and progress invoices.
Custom CRMEnquiries, clients, pipeline and follow-ups in one place, shaped to how you sell.
Custom ERPQuotes, stock, staff, jobs and invoicing on one shared set of data.
How pricing works · Digitalise Your SME grants · All case studies
Start here
Get a fixed quote.
The quote builder opens with the parts on this page already switched on. Add or remove what you like, and I reply with a fixed quote.