How to quote, what field service software is, how to price a job, and how to start electrical, plumbing, landscaping or HVAC work — without salary tables or invented rates.
Bathroom exhaust fan and four downlights
Valid 30 days. Excludes chasing existing wiring and after-hours.
Exhaust fan and four downlights. The quote is the offer. The estimate is what you send when the ceiling is still closed. The invoice is what you send when the money is due. Start with those documents, then the category, then the first week of a trade.
Quote, estimate, work order, invoice. Four different jobs. Name the paper before you send it.
A quote is an offer. An invoice is a bill. Sending the wrong one is how jobs sit unpaid, or get argued after the work is done.
Read the guideAn estimate is a range with assumptions. A quote is a price for a defined scope. Clients hear whichever word is printed at the top.
Read the guideA quote that gets accepted already looks like the job on paper: scope, exclusions, line items, a validity date, and a way to say yes.
Read the guideA work order is what the crew opens after the quote is accepted: scope, site, materials, and when to stop and vary — not a second copy of the price.
Read the guideAn invoice is the quote lines plus approved variations, a due date, and a way to pay. Write it from the job, not from memory on Sunday.
Read the guideWhat the software is for, how job costing works, and how to price a job without guessing the hours.
The system that keeps a quote, work order, schedule, time and invoice on one job — not a stack of apps that never talk.
Read the guideLabour, materials and other costs against the price, so you see the job's margin before the invoice goes out.
Read the guideHours, materials, markup. A worked example — then check the margin before you send the quote.
Read the guideMarkup is what you add on cost to get a price. Margin is what is left after cost as a share of the price. Mixing them is how a quote looks healthy and the job does not.
Read the guideLicence and insurance as a process, then quoting, scheduling and invoicing on one job — electrical, plumbing, landscaping, HVAC, cleaning, painting and roofing.
The licence your state requires, insurance, then quotes and invoices that follow the work order.
Read the guideCall-outs, quotes, a diary that holds, and invoices that close when the work order closes.
Read the guideRecurring runs, quotes for extras, crew dispatch, and invoices that match the work on the ground.
Read the guideService calls, quotes, recurring maintenance, and invoices on the same job — not a separate spreadsheet.
Read the guideRecurring runs, bond cleans quoted by room, and invoices that match the visits — not a whiteboard of regulars.
Read the guideQuotes by room or day, crew hours on the site, deposits and progress invoices on one job.
Read the guideWeather that blows the week, quotes you can stand behind, progress claims, and invoices on the same job.
Read the guideA clean quote still loses money if the labour hours are a guess. Run the numbers first.