How to use BenchWork.

BenchWork helps you price a job, send a quote and send an invoice.

The green button at the bottom of a job always shows your next step: Issue Quote, Send, Mark as Accepted, Create Invoice, Send, Mark as Paid…, then Paid.

The pictures on this page are from an iPhone. The iPad works the same way.

1. Set up your business details

1. Tap Settings, then Business Details.

2. Add your business name, address, phone and email. Add a logo if you have one.

3. Add your bank details, so customers know how to pay.

4. Not registered for VAT or GST? Go back to Settings and turn off VAT Registered (or GST Registered).

These details show on your quotes and invoices.

2. Make a new job

1. On the Summary tab, tap +.

2. Type a job name.

3. Tap Select Customer. Pick a customer, or tap New Customer to add one.

4. If you like, name the first item, for example "Left Wardrobe".

5. Tap Add.

The job number is filled in for you.

3. Add items and costs

An Item is one thing you are making or fitting, like a wardrobe. Each Item has its own list of costs.

1. Under an Item, tap Add Cost.

2. Type what it is, the cost, and how many. It can be anything the job costs you: materials, a skip, a subcontractor.

3. Tap the tick.

For your time, tap Add Labour. Type the task. At the top, choose Hours or Days, then set how many: hours go up in quarters, days in halves. Each has its own rate, so a day rate is never worked out from hours. Set your usual hourly rate and day rate in Settings. BenchWork remembers whether you last used hours or days.

For another Item, tap + at the top.

Tap a cost to change it. Swipe it to delete it.

4. Save costs in Materials

Save the things you buy often, so you don't type the cost each time.

1. Tap the Materials tab, then +, then New Material.

2. Type a name.

3. Choose how it is charged: Per Sheet, By Volume, Per Metre or Each.

4. Type the cost and tap Add.

To use it in a job, tap Add Cost, then Choose from Materials.

If you change a cost in Materials, your draft jobs change too. Quotes you have already sent stay the same. Change the cost on a job line that came from Materials, and it becomes a one-off cost for that job.

5. Check the totals

1. Open a job. The job total is at the bottom.

2. Tap the total to open Totals.

3. Tap Edit Pricing to set your markup or margin, contingency, discount, VAT or GST, and deposit.

Your customer never sees your markup or margin. The quote shows one price for each Item and each line of labour.

6. Issue and send a quote

1. Tap Issue Quote, then tap Issue Quote again to confirm.

2. Check the quote on screen. BenchWork adds up the figures you enter, so always check the prices, tax and totals before you send it.

3. Tap Send Quote. Choose Email, Message or Other… (WhatsApp, AirDrop and more).

Printed it or handed it over? Tap Mark as Sent.

Closed the quote before sending it? The green button on the job now says Send. Tap it to open the quote again.

An issued quote is saved and never changes. To change a price, edit the job and issue a new quote. If the green button says Mark as Accepted, tap ••• then Issue Revised Quote.

7. Mark as Accepted

1. When the customer says yes, open the job.

2. Tap Mark as Accepted, then confirm.

If the customer says no, tap •••, then Status, then Declined.

8. Create and send an invoice

1. Tap Create Invoice.

2. Check the invoice. You can change the number, the date and the due date.

3. If the customer has already paid a deposit, type it in Deposit Received.

4. Tap Send Invoice. Choose Email, Message or Other…

Printed it or handed it over? Tap Mark as Sent.

Each job has one invoice. Its number starts as the job number.

Your sent invoices are in the Customers tab, under Invoices. They are grouped by tax year. Tap Export This Year… to make a file for your accountant.

9. Mark as Paid

1. When the money comes in, open the job and tap Mark as Paid…

2. Choose the day you were paid, then tap the tick.

The button now says Paid. Made a mistake? Open the invoice and tap Mark as Unpaid.