How can we help?

QuoteSpanner is a web app for UK tradespeople. It covers a job from quote to payment:

• Quote: build a professional quote in a minute and send it as a PDF, a text or a link.
• Chase: see who to follow up today, with the message already written.
• Accept: your customer accepts online and you keep a record of what was agreed.
• Invoice: turn the accepted quote into a numbered invoice and track when it is paid.

It runs in your web browser on a phone, tablet or computer. There is nothing to install.

1. Click Start free trial on the home page.
2. Enter your business name, your email address and a password of at least 10 characters.
3. Tick the box to agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
4. Click Create account. You are signed in straight away and taken through a few setup screens.

You get a 14-day free trial with every feature. No card is needed to start.

Five minutes in Business details makes every quote and invoice look right:

1. Add your phone, email and address. Your address is required before you can issue an invoice.
2. Add your legal name: your own name if you are a sole trader, or your full company name if you are a limited company.
3. Tick VAT registered and enter your VAT number, if you are.
4. Upload your logo.
5. Add How to pay details (for example your bank details) so they print on invoices.
6. If you work for homeowners, tick the 14-day right-to-cancel notice.

Tip: Then add the items and rates you use most to your Price list so detailed quotes take seconds.

Straight after you create your account you are taken through six short screens, one question at a time:

• About you: your name, business name and whether you are a limited company.
• Contact and address: phone, email and your business address, with a postcode finder.
• VAT and your customers: whether you are VAT registered, and whether you work for homeowners.
• Your logo (optional).
• Getting paid (optional): the payment details printed on invoices.
• Add to your phone: put the app on your home screen.

Each screen saves as you go. Tap Skip for now to miss one out, the back arrow to go back, or Finish later to leave. Everything can be changed afterwards in Business details.

Tip: If you leave early, the Today page shows a small Finish setting up reminder listing what is left. Tap it to open the list, or hide it for good.

Start typing your postcode in the setup screens or in Business details and pick it from the list. The postcode is checked and tidied for you; then type the first line of your address and your town.

If nothing appears, just type the address in by hand. The finder is only a shortcut.

1. Click New quote at the top of any page.
2. Type the customer's name (and phone or email if you have them) and what the quote is for.
3. Enter the price: use Quick quote for simple totals, or Detailed quote for an itemised breakdown.
4. Click Save quote.
5. On the quote page, send it: Open PDF quote, Copy quote text, or copy the customer's private link.

The quote now appears on your Today page when it is time to follow up.

Yes. Open the site in your phone's browser and add it to your home screen:

• iPhone (Safari): tap the Share button, then Add to Home Screen.
• Android (Chrome): tap the three-dot menu, then Add to Home screen.

On a phone the main sections sit in a bar along the bottom: Today, Quotes, Invoices, Customers and More.

• Quick quote: three boxes for labour, materials and other. Best for small jobs or when the customer only needs the totals.
• Detailed quote: one row per item, with quantity, unit, cost, markup and VAT. Best for larger jobs, or when you want to track your margin.

You can switch a quick quote to detailed while editing it. The figures you typed are carried over as rows.

1. In the quote form, choose Detailed quote.
2. Add rows with + Labour, + Materials or + Other, or pick a saved item from + From price list.
3. For each row enter a description, quantity, unit (for example hours or m) and Cost each.
4. Add a Markup % if you want to charge more than the item costs you.
5. Check the running totals under the rows, then save.

Tip: For labour, enter your hourly or day rate as the cost and leave markup at 0.

No. Cost prices, markup and the "materials cost / you keep" figure are only ever shown to you.

The PDF, the text quote, the customer's online page and the invoice show only the final price the customer pays.

• If you are VAT registered, tick the box in Business details. You can then choose 20%, 5% or 0% on each quote or each row.
• VAT is shown separately on the quote, with a clear total to pay.
• If you are not VAT registered, leave the box unticked. VAT never appears on your quotes or invoices and cannot be charged.

On a quick quote, enter prices before VAT. The VAT is added for you.

Yes. On a detailed quote, untick Show the customer a price for every item.

The customer then sees what is included, with one total each for labour, materials and other.

Tip: A VAT invoice always shows the price and VAT rate of every item, because the rules for VAT invoices require it.

On a detailed quote, each row has a Customer choice setting:

• Always included: part of the job whatever the customer chooses.
• Optional extra: an add-on the customer can tick, for example a system flush.
• Option 1, 2 or 3: alternatives. The customer picks exactly one. Use at least two options.

The customer makes their choice on their online quote page, and the total updates as they choose. Until then, your total shows Option 1 with no extras.

Tip: If the customer tells you their choice by phone, record it under Customer's choices on the quote page.

Enter a percentage in the Deposit (%) box on the quote. The amount in pounds is worked out and shown on the quote.

To fill it in automatically on every new quote, set Usual deposit in Business details.

Important: The deposit is shown on the quote only. Invoices are for the full amount; there is no separate deposit invoice.

Each quote has a Valid until date, 30 days after it is created unless you change it.

Change the default in Business details under Quotes are valid for (days). After the date passes, the customer can no longer accept online until you move the date forward.

• Notes for the customer are printed on the quote. Use them for what is included and excluded.
• Private notes are only ever visible to you.

Open the quote and click Edit quote at the bottom of the page. You can edit a quote while it is pending or rejected.

If you do not see the button, the quote has been accepted or invoiced. See Why can't I edit a quote?

A quote is locked once it is accepted or invoiced. This protects the record of what you and your customer agreed.

• Accepted: click Back to pending under Change status, edit the quote, then have it accepted again. The change is recorded in the quote's history.
• Invoiced: first cancel the invoice with a credit note. See How do I correct an invoice?

Tip: If the customer simply wants something added or changed part-way through the job, you do not need to unlock the quote. Add a variation: see My customer wants extra work.

Open the quote and click Duplicate. You get a new quote with a new number, today's date and the same prices, opened ready to edit.

Change the customer or prices as needed and save.

1. Open a quote you price often and click Save as template.
2. Next time, click New quote and pick the template at the top of the form.
3. Adjust anything that differs and save.

Rename by saving a new one; delete old ones under More, then Quote templates.

Open the quote, click Edit quote, then Delete quote at the bottom.

Important: A quote that has been invoiced cannot be deleted. Invoices and the quotes behind them are business records that must be kept.

On the quote page, under Send the quote:

• Open PDF quote: a professional PDF with your logo and details, to save, print or attach.
• Email PDF to customer: sends the PDF straight from the app. Replies come to your own email address.
• Copy quote text: the quote as a friendly message, with buttons to open it in WhatsApp, text or email.
• Copy link: the customer's private link to view and accept the quote online.

Tip: The WhatsApp and Text buttons appear when the customer has a phone number. The email options appear when they have an email address.

1. Send the customer their private link (it is included in the text quote and the email).
2. They open it on any device. No account or password is needed.
3. They choose an option and tick any extras, if the quote has them.
4. They type their full name and tap Accept quote.

The quote is marked accepted, you see it under Accepted online this week on your Today page, and you are emailed if your business email is set.

• The name they typed, and the date and time.
• The internet (IP) address they accepted from.
• A copy of the quote exactly as it stood when accepted, which you can open from the quote page.
• Whether they asked for work to start within the 14-day cancellation period, if you use that notice.

The quote is then locked so the agreed price cannot be changed by accident.

Each quote has its own long, random link that cannot be guessed. Only someone who has the link can see that quote, and it shows only that one quote.

Important: Anyone holding the link can view and accept the quote, so send it only to your customer.

The Accept button only appears while a quote is open. Check the quote page; it tells you the reason:

• Marked accepted or rejected: click Back to pending to reopen it.
• Expired: click Edit quote and move Valid until to a later date.

Open the quote and click Accepted under Got an answer?. If the quote had options or extras, record their choice first under Customer's choices.

Your logo, business name, address, phone and email; the quote number, date and valid-until date; the customer's details; the prices and VAT; any deposit; your notes and terms.

Anything you have not filled in is simply left off. Set your details once in Business details.

• New quote: the big button at the top, for the thing you do most.
• Four totals: how many quotes to chase today, the value of your pending and accepted quotes, and what is unpaid. Tap one to see the list behind it.
• Follow-ups due: pending quotes whose reminder date is today or earlier, oldest first.
• Accepted online this week: quotes your customers accepted through their link.
• Changes awaiting an answer: variations you have sent that the customer has not agreed yet.
• Coming up: booked jobs, expiring quotes and invoices falling due in the next two weeks.
• Shortcuts to the main sections, and your win rate at the bottom.

Every new quote gets a follow-up date three days after it is sent. You can change it on the quote.

1. When the date arrives, the quote appears under Follow-ups due on your Today page.
2. Open it. A follow-up message is already written; edit it if you like.
3. Send it with Copy message, WhatsApp, text or email.
4. Tap 3 days, 7 days or 14 days to set the next reminder.

Tip: The wording changes each time you chase: a friendly check-in first, then a nudge, then a polite final message.

No. Nothing is sent to a customer unless you send it. The app tells you who to chase and writes the message; you choose when and how to send it.

• Pending: sent and waiting for an answer. Reminders are active.
• Accepted: the customer said yes. Reminders stop, the quote is locked, and you can invoice it.
• Rejected: the customer said no. Reminders stop.

Change the status on the quote page under Got an answer? or Change status.

It is the share of your decided quotes that were accepted: accepted divided by accepted plus rejected. Pending quotes are not counted.

A log of everything that happened to the quote: when it was created, edited, sent by email, accepted and by whom, and each status change.

It is kept automatically and cannot be edited, so you can rely on it if there is ever a disagreement.

The Calendar puts everything with a date in one month view. Each kind has its own colour:

• Jobs (green): accepted work you have booked in.
• Follow-ups (amber): the day a pending quote is due a chase.
• Quotes expiring (red): the last day a pending quote is valid.
• Invoices due (blue): unpaid invoices on their due date.

Under the grid is a day-by-day list for the month. Tap any item to open the quote or invoice. Use the arrows to change month, and Today to come back.

Tip: On a phone the grid shows a coloured dot for each item; tap a day's number to jump to it in the list.

Tap the coloured buttons above the grid (Jobs, Follow-ups, Quotes expiring, Invoices due) to hide or show each kind. A hidden kind is crossed out.

Your choice is remembered on that phone or computer.

1. Open the accepted quote.
2. Under Job dates, choose the start date. For work that takes more than a day, also choose the last day.
3. Click Save dates.

The job now appears on the calendar on every day from start to finish, and under Coming up on your Today page. Change the dates the same way, or click Clear to take it off the calendar.

Accepted quotes with no dates yet are listed under the calendar as Accepted, not booked in yet, so nothing agreed is forgotten.

Important: Only accepted quotes can be booked in. If a quote is set back to pending or rejected, its job dates are cleared.

No. They appear automatically from the dates already on your quotes and invoices. Only job dates are something you set yourself.

Add a variation. It is a short add-on to a quote the customer has already accepted: it lists what is being added (or taken off) and what that does to the price.

• The original quote stays exactly as it was agreed.
• Each variation gets its own number, for example Q-0007-V1, then V2 and so on.
• The customer agrees to it online, just as they did the quote, so you have it in writing.
• Once accepted, it is added to the job total and included on the invoice.

Important: Get the customer's agreement before you do the extra work. A nod on site is hard to prove later; an accepted variation is your record.

1. Open the accepted quote and find Changes and extras.
2. Click + Add a variation.
3. Say what is changing, for example "Extra double socket in the kitchen".
4. Add a row for each item: description, quantity, cost and markup, the same as a detailed quote. You can pick from your price list.
5. Check Change to price and New job total, then click Save variation.
6. Send it: copy the customer's link, send the ready-written message, email the PDF or open the PDF.

Tip: You can add as many variations as the job needs. Each one is agreed separately.

Add a variation and enter the item's cost as a minus figure, for example -150. The price change and the new job total go down by that amount.

You can mix additions and removals in one variation, for example swapping one fitting for another.

• Online: they open their private link, see the change and the new total for the job, type their name and tap Accept change. Their name, the date and time and their internet address are recorded, and a copy of the variation as accepted is stored.
• By phone or in person: open the variation and click Accepted under Got an answer?.

Variations waiting for an answer are listed on your Today page under Changes awaiting an answer.

• Quote not accepted yet: just edit the quote. Nothing has been agreed, so there is nothing to vary.
• Quote already accepted: add a variation. This keeps a clear record of what was agreed first and what changed later.

You can still re-open an accepted quote with Back to pending if the whole thing needs redoing, but only while it has no accepted variations.

When you create the invoice, it covers the whole job: the original quote plus every accepted variation. Variation items are labelled V1, V2 and so on, so the customer can see where each came from.

Important: Variations still awaiting an answer are left off the invoice, and cannot be accepted once the invoice is issued. Get an answer before you invoice.

A variation cannot be added once the job is invoiced, because the invoice is a fixed record. You have two choices:

• New quote for the extra work. Open the original quote and click Duplicate for a quick start, then change the items. It will have its own invoice.
• Cancel the invoice with a credit note, add the variation, and issue a new invoice for the full job. See How do I correct or cancel an invoice?

• Awaiting an answer or rejected: open it and click Edit variation. Delete it from the bottom of the edit page.
• Accepted: it is locked. Click Back to pending first, then edit it and have it accepted again. This is recorded in its history.
• Job invoiced: its variations can no longer be changed.

1. Open an accepted quote and click Create invoice.
2. Fix anything the checklist flags (for example a missing address).
3. Enter the date the work was done and the payment due date.
4. Click Issue invoice.

The invoice gets the next number in your sequence (INV-0001, INV-0002 and so on) and is ready to send.

It covers the whole job: the quote plus any variations the customer has accepted.

UK invoices must show certain details, so the app checks them first:

• Your business address is always required. Add it in Business details.
• The customer's address is required on a VAT invoice over £250. Add it to the customer.
• The date the work was done cannot be in the future. Invoice once the work is done.

A missing legal name is flagged as a warning: add your own name (sole trader) or full company name.

On the invoice page: Open PDF invoice to save or attach it, Email PDF to customer to send it from the app, or Copy message for a ready-written message with the amount, due date and how to pay.

Open the invoice and click Mark as paid today. If you clicked it by mistake, click Mark as unpaid.

Unpaid and overdue invoices are listed on the Invoices page, and the unpaid total shows on your Today page.

An issued invoice is a business record. UK rules expect invoice numbers to run in an unbroken sequence and records to be kept unaltered for at least six years.

So once issued, an invoice is frozen and a copy of the PDF is stored. Later changes to your business details, the customer or the quote do not change it.

If an invoice is wrong, cancel it with a credit note. See the next question.

1. Open the invoice and click Invoice wrong? Cancel with a credit note.
2. Enter a short reason. It is printed on the credit note.
3. Click Issue credit note. The invoice stays on record, marked as cancelled, and a numbered credit note (CN-0001 and so on) is created.
4. Send the credit note PDF to your customer.
5. To re-invoice: on the quote click Back to pending, correct it, mark it accepted, and create a new invoice.

Important: A credit note cancels the whole invoice. If the customer had already paid, remember to refund them.

The day after its payment due date, if it has not been marked paid. It is then shown in red with an Overdue label.

Set how long customers get to pay under Invoices are due after (days) in Business details.

On the Invoices page, click Download all as a spreadsheet (CSV). It lists every invoice and credit note with dates, net, VAT and totals, and opens in Excel or any accounting package.

• Separate deposit invoices or part payments.
• Credit notes for part of an invoice.
• The Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) and the VAT domestic reverse charge.
• Late-payment interest.
• Sending figures to HMRC (Making Tax Digital). Use the spreadsheet export with your accounting software.

If any of these apply to you, speak to your accountant.

The quickest way is to type their name into a new quote: they are saved automatically.

You can also go to Customers and click + New customer.

Go to Customers, click Edit next to the customer, change the details and save. The address is printed on their quotes and invoices.

Tip: Changing a customer's details never alters invoices you have already issued to them.

Click Edit next to the customer, then Delete customer. Their quotes are deleted with them.

Important: A customer who has been invoiced cannot be deleted, because their invoices must be kept.

A saved list of the items and rates you use most, such as an hourly rate or a common part, with its cost, markup and VAT rate.

1. Go to More, then Price list.
2. Fill in Add an item and click Add to price list.
3. When building a detailed quote, choose the item under + From price list and just enter the quantity.

Changing a price list item only affects future quotes. Quotes you have already made keep their prices.

Go to More, then Business details. Everything except your business name is optional, and anything left blank is left off your documents.

1. Go to Business details and scroll to Logo.
2. Choose a PNG or JPEG image under 500 KB.
3. Click Upload logo.

It appears at the top of your quotes, invoices and the customer's online quote page.

UK invoices must show who is legally behind the business:

• Sole trader: your own name.
• Limited company: the full company name exactly as registered.

If it differs from your business name, documents show it as "Trading name of ...". Leave it blank only if the two are the same.

• Terms printed on every quote: your payment terms, guarantees and so on.
• How to pay: bank details or other payment instructions, printed on invoices.

Both are in Business details.

Tick My business is VAT registered in Business details and enter your VAT number.

New quotes can then include VAT. Existing quotes are not changed: edit a pending quote to add VAT to it.

When a consumer (for example a homeowner) agrees a job at their home or online, UK law generally gives them 14 days to change their mind, and requires the trader to tell them so in writing.

Important: If the notice is not given, the customer's time to cancel can be extended by up to a year. This is general information, not legal advice; check how the rules apply to your work.

Tick Add the 14-day right-to-cancel notice to my quotes in Business details, and make sure your address is filled in.

The notice and a cancellation form are then added to your PDF quotes and to the customer's online quote page.

Tip: Leave it off if you only work for other businesses.

Yes. When the notice is switched on, the quote builder shows a tick box: Include the 14-day right to cancel notice. Untick it and that quote is sent without the notice, the cancellation form or the early-start box. Your other quotes are not affected.

This suits a quote for a business customer, or a job the customer agreed in person at your premises, where the 14-day right doesn't apply.

Important: Once a quote is accepted it is locked, so make the choice before you send it. If you're unsure whether the right applies, leave the notice on.

Only if the customer asks you to. On their online quote page they can tick a box asking for work to start within the 14 days. Their request is recorded with their acceptance and shown on the quote.

If they did not tick it, get their request in writing before you start.

They must tell you clearly, for example by email or using the cancellation form. You must then refund what they paid, less a fair amount for any work they asked you to do before cancelling.

In the app, set the quote back to pending or rejected. If you had invoiced it, cancel the invoice with a credit note.

Every new account gets 14 days with all features. No card is needed and you are not charged.

The days left are shown at the top of each page.

You are taken to the Billing page and asked to subscribe before you can carry on.

Your quotes, customers and invoices are kept safe. Nothing is deleted, and everything is there again as soon as you subscribe.

1. Go to More, then Billing.
2. Click Subscribe.
3. Enter your card details on the secure payment page and confirm.

Payment is taken by Stripe. Your card number is never seen or stored by us. The price is shown before you pay.

Go to Billing and click Manage subscription. On the secure page that opens you can change your card and download receipts for every payment.

The Billing page tells you the last payment failed. The payment is retried automatically over the following days, and you keep access while that happens.

Update your card under Manage subscription to avoid losing access.

1. Go to More, then Billing.
2. Click Manage subscription.
3. Choose to cancel and confirm.

You can cancel at any time. There is no minimum term and no cancellation fee. You keep access until the end of the period you have already paid for, and you are not charged again.

Your account and data are kept, so you can sign in, resubscribe and pick up where you left off.

Before you cancel, download your invoices as a spreadsheet and save the PDFs you need: you are responsible for keeping your own business records for six years.

To have your account closed and your data deleted, contact us. See How do I close my account?

Payments are for the period ahead and are not refunded for part-used periods. Cancelling stops all future payments.

If you think you were charged in error, contact us within 14 days of the payment and we will put it right.

Yes. Sign in, go to Billing and click Subscribe. Your data is as you left it.

Go to More, then Account. You can change your email address and password there.

Two-step login asks for a 6-digit code from your phone as well as your password, so nobody can get in with your password alone.

1. Install a free authenticator app on your phone, such as Microsoft Authenticator or Google Authenticator.
2. In QuoteSpanner, go to More, then Account, then Two-step login, and click Add authenticator app.
3. In the authenticator app, add an account and scan the QR code on screen.
4. Type the 6-digit code the app shows and click Verify.

Important: You are then shown 10 recovery codes. Write them down or save them somewhere safe: each one lets you log in once if you lose your phone.

1. On the log in page, click Forgot your password?
2. Enter your email address.
3. Open the email we send you and follow the link to choose a new password.

After five wrong passwords in a row, the account is locked for 10 minutes to stop anyone guessing your password. Wait 10 minutes and try again, or reset your password.

Each business has one login at present. Anyone you share it with can see and change everything, so only share it with people you trust.

Cancel your subscription first, then contact us and ask for your account to be closed.

We delete your account and data, except records we are legally required to keep. Download anything you need first.

Only you. Each business's data is kept separate, and one business can never see another's.

A customer with a quote link can see that one quote and nothing else.

• The site is encrypted (https) between your device and the server.
• Passwords are stored scrambled (hashed), so nobody can read them.
• Card payments are handled by Stripe. We never see your card number.
• Accounts lock after repeated wrong passwords.

Invoices, credit notes and the quotes and customers behind them are kept for at least six years, because UK tax rules require businesses to keep them. For that reason they cannot be deleted.

Quotes that were never invoiced, and customers with no invoices, can be deleted at any time.

Download your invoices and credit notes as a spreadsheet from the Invoices page, and open any quote or invoice as a PDF to save it.

For anything else, contact us and we will send you a copy.

You can delete a customer who has never been invoiced from their Edit page.

If they have been invoiced, their invoices must be kept for tax purposes, which is a lawful reason to keep those details. You can still edit the customer to remove details you no longer need, such as a phone number.

The Terms of Service set out the agreement between you and us: the free trial, subscription and cancelling, fair use, and who is responsible for what.

The Privacy Policy covers what is stored, why, who it is shared with, how long it is kept, and your rights.

Both are linked at the bottom of every page, and you agree to them when you create your account.

• Check the email address is the one you signed up with.
• Passwords are case sensitive and at least 10 characters.
• If it says the account is locked, wait 10 minutes.
• Use Forgot your password? to set a new one.

• Edit quote: the quote is accepted or invoiced. See Why can't I edit a quote?
• Create invoice: the quote must be marked accepted first.
• Add a variation: the quote must be accepted and not yet invoiced.
• Email PDF to customer: the customer needs an email address. The quote page tells you if anything else is needed.
• WhatsApp and Text: the customer needs a phone number.
• VAT: tick VAT registered in Business details.

Your free trial has ended or your subscription is no longer active. Subscribe on the Billing page to carry on. Your data is safe.

PDFs open in a new browser tab. If nothing happens, your browser may be blocking pop-ups: allow them for this site, or press and hold the button and choose to open in a new tab.

On a phone, the PDF opens in the browser's viewer. Use the Share button to send or save it.

• If the quote has accepted variations, the figure shown is the job total: the quote plus those changes.
• If the quote has options, the total shows Option 1 until the customer chooses.
• Optional extras are not counted until the customer ticks them.
• Check the VAT rate on each row.
• Prices are rounded to the nearest penny on each row, as they would be on paper.

It copies the text to your device's clipboard and briefly says "Copied!". Then paste it into your messaging app.

If your browser blocks copying, tap inside the message box, select all the text and copy it yourself.