Builders’ invoicing has long been the disgruntled self employed builder’s topic of choice down their local. Coming home at the end of the long day to a large stack of invoices that need doing leaves many builders unable and unmotivated to ensure that their invoices contain everything that they need to. Along with this, there is also a distinct lack of builders’ software on the market to help tradesmen deal with their invoicing.
This is where YourTradeBase has come in to help tradesmen manage their builders’ invoices quickly and efficiently by introducing a handy online tool. Running a successful building firm is often more about organisation than skill – good quality workmanship means nothing if invoices and paperwork can’t be chased up. This is why over £2m worth of invoices have already been processed by builders using YourTradeBase.
YourTradeBase was co-founded in 2009 by Dean Taylor; a tradesman who was finding it difficult to deal with paperwork, as an online tool to help tradesmen to manage their builders’ paperwork and jobs.
Dean says, ‘Back in the early days of starting out as a sole trader I found that the paperwork and organisational side of my business got neglected. Part of this was due to the amount of hours I spent on site, not only completing work but also quoting potential work, and partly due to my lack of ability or discipline to keep on top of it. I looked around for a solution that would allow me to automate that part of my business.’
Not only does this tool allow builders to access and manage their paperwork from any computer, tablet or smartphone, it even reminds users to chase up quotes they sent out a week ago, highlight what builders paperwork need their attention, and allows them to safely store all their contacts in one place.
YourTradeBase have used their knowledge and knowhow, to create a series of helpful guides and tips to help builders manage their paperwork easily and efficiently. Their most recent one is giving the top ten tips on how to make builders’ invoicing easy.
These tips are:
- Date for the invoice and unique invoice number— These will help you at the end of the year with your tax return and if you ever need to find a particular invoice. These must follow on from one another (e.g. ABC1, ABC2, ABC3 etc…), and if one is spoilt or cancelled, it has to be kept as a record for HMRC
- Payment terms, for the invoice –For example if your customer pays in one lump sum, or week by week. This again is especially helpful if you have problems getting payments from customers’
- A list of products and services you provided, line by line and the cost of each of these. Not only is this a requirement, but it can help if your customer disputes the price, as they get all the information
- Company email address, everything is online these days, and it looks far more professional to have a dedicated email for your business
- Your payment details, bank details/online payments etc… You might still deal with checks so this may not apply to you, but it can save a lot of doubling up if you provide the information straight away for customers.
- Due date of payment– again this can help with late payments and customers not knowing a payment schedule.
- Logo and presentation. So these aren’t technically things to include. But they are an important part of presentation for you and your business. And they also make it more likely (along with your good work of course) for customers to recommend you – as you look professional all round.
- Your business name and address— this probably seems obvious, but you’d be surprised at how many tradesmen forget this
- The name and address of the person you are invoicing – again very obvious, but worth remembering.
- Total amount of the invoice
You can read this guide in full, or read YourTradeBase’s other guides such as: Write a Winning Quote and Quotes Vs Invoices on their website for free and get tips on how to make paperwork less of a headache! They are creating regular content that’s useful for builders, so keep checking back or sign up to their Twitter feed for regular updates.
If you’d like more details on this press release or would like an interview with Dean Taylor, please email emma@yourtradebase.com or give Emma a call on 01992 538253
About YourTradeBase
YourTradeBase is a professional paperwork and job management tool created by tradesmen for tradesmen. It’s completely online with nothing to download, and users can access their paperwork and job anytime, anywhere from their computers, tablets or smartphones.
