Questions and answers

An app for UK builders and tradespeople. You price a job from photos and your own description, send the quote to the client, get extra work approved on the client’s phone, keep a dated record of the job and send invoices. It works on any phone.

Yes, you can start free with no card: up to 2 jobs, 3 invoices for any client (no job needed) and 20 JobGuard suggestions a month. Invoices gives unlimited invoices only; Pro gives unlimited jobs and invoices, more suggestions and receipt reading; Team adds workers who report from site. The prices are on the home page and on Upgrade.

Yes. While places last, the first 100 new accounts get 3 months of Pro free - switched on when you sign up, nothing to write and no card needed. After that you stay on Free unless you pick a plan.

No. JobGuard works in your phone’s browser. On Android you can also download the app from the home page. On iPhone open www.jobguard.uk in Safari, tap Share and "Add to Home Screen" - it then opens like an app.

Your Profile: business name, address, phone, hourly rate, your logo, your VAT number (only if you are VAT registered) and your payment details (bank account, PayPal or cash). They go on every quote and invoice - without them your documents look unfinished to the client.

The app is in English, Polish and Romanian (☰ menu → language). What goes to the client is in English unless you pick the client’s language on the quote - 16 languages. Amounts are never translated.

Describe the job in your own words (type or speak), add a few photos and say whether it is labour only or labour + materials. JobGuard asks a few questions if something is unclear, then prices every line from current UK rates, merchant prices and your own past jobs and receipts. You get a range for each line with a suggested figure already filled in, and you can change anything.

Treat them as a starting point, not a promise. Every line shows where the rate came from, so you can check it against what you know. You decide the final price before the client sees anything.

Things the job probably needs that you did not mention - making good, waste removal, fixings, certificates. Add them to the quote or leave them out; left-out items go on the quote as "Not included", which protects you if the client expects them later.

Tap "Send quote to client" and send it by WhatsApp, SMS or email - the message carries a link and a 6-digit PIN. The client reads the quote with your logo and terms, signs with a finger and taps Accept. The job starts by itself and you get a notification. If they say yes in person, use "Client said yes another way".

Yes. Pick a deposit % on the send card before you send the quote. Once the client accepts, make the deposit invoice with one tap; the deposit then comes off the final invoice automatically.

Yes. In Invoices type the client’s name, add what it’s for and the lines, then send it. A new client is added to your client list. The Free plan includes 3 invoices like this; the Invoices plan and Pro have no limit.

Add your VAT number in Profile. JobGuard then prices materials without VAT, and the client sees the price before VAT, VAT 20% and the total. The invoice matches the quote.

Simple arithmetic: the price minus materials and fuel, divided by the hours of work and travel, compared with your hourly rate. It tells you if the job pays before you send the quote.

Anything outside the agreed quote - a rotten joist, a moved socket, a change the client asked for. Price it, add photos and send it. The client approves it on their phone with the PIN and a signature, and the decision is stored with the time and device.

So a forwarded link shows nothing. Without the PIN the page shows only your name. After 5 wrong tries it locks for 15 minutes.

No. They open the link in their phone’s browser and type the PIN from your message.

One tick means sent, two ticks mean the client has opened it. You also get a notification the first time they open a quote or extra work.

Progress, photos (never the issue photos), the weather on site, extra work and its status, receipts you share, time worked on hourly jobs and your invoices. There is no chat - just the facts. The weekly updates you send are there too.

Every photo and note is saved with the date, time and weather. If there is ever a disagreement about what was agreed or when something happened, you have a record made at the time.

One .zip file for a dispute: a report of the whole job, every photo with its time, the client’s signatures and decisions, the diary, invoices and the audit log, with a fingerprint for each file so anyone can check nothing was changed. Download it from the bottom of the project page.

It is a record made at the time things happened, which can support a conversation or a claim. It is not legal advice - for a serious dispute talk to a solicitor.

On the project page tap "Make an invoice" (or ☰ → Invoices). It fills in by itself: the agreed price, approved extra work, deposits already billed and your next invoice number. Change anything, then email it - the client gets a PDF and a link.

Add them once in Profile → Payment details (bank account, PayPal or cash). They then go on every invoice, the PDF and the email. JobGuard warns you before sending an invoice without them.

Profile → "On your quotes and invoices" → add your logo. It is shown on the quote, the invoice PDF and the invoice email.

Yes. In the invoice, pick CIS 20% or 30% in the CIS section - it comes off the labour only and the invoice shows what the contractor pays you. Reverse charge is in the VAT section (only if you are VAT registered): no VAT added, the HMRC wording is printed.

A sent invoice past its due date turns red. Tap "Send the client a payment reminder" to send a polite reminder by email, WhatsApp or SMS. When the money arrives, tick the invoice as paid.

Yes. Choose "How is this job paid?" on the job: fixed price, hourly or day rate. Fill in the week’s timesheet and invoice week by week - every day worked is its own line on the invoice (date, hours or days × rate).

One week of a job added up for the client: hours day by day, the photos and receipts of that week and, on hourly or day-rate jobs, work + materials = to pay for the week. It is not an invoice, so it suits clients who pay weekly or in cash. Send it by email, WhatsApp or SMS from the project page, or turn on "Send by email every week" and JobGuard sends it on the day you pick. The client opens it with the same PIN as the job page.

In the timesheet type the hours (or days) for one person and set "× people". The day then counts for all of you, on the invoice and on the weekly update, and the client sees it as "2 × 8 h = 16 h".

No. It makes and tracks your invoices, but keep using your accountant or accounting software for your tax returns.

Keep working. Photos, notes, voice clips and even new jobs are saved on the phone and sent by themselves when the signal is back, with the time they were taken. Keep JobGuard open for a moment once you have signal again.

Yes, on the Team plan. Invite them with a link and pick their jobs. They send photos, notes, hours and receipts from site; you check every report before it goes into the job.

It waits for you. Until you tap "Approve" on the job’s receipts page the client doesn’t see it, it isn’t suggested on invoices and it isn’t counted in totals or the weekly update. Once approved it counts in the week it was approved.

On Pro, take a photo of a merchant receipt. JobGuard reads the shop, date, items and totals, adds them up per job and remembers your prices for the next quote.

You choose per job on its Receipts page. If the client pays materials back, those receipts are not a cost: they show under "Receipts to get back", you tick "Paid back" when the money arrives, and they go on the next invoice by themselves. If materials are in your price, they are subtracted from what you earn. You can also flag a single receipt as "Client pays this".

On Team, add each person under Team with their rate (per hour or per day). Hours from site reports, or hours you add yourself, are added up per person for the week or month, with what is left to pay. Tap "Mark paid" when you have paid them. It is a working sheet, not payroll, and rates are never shown to clients.

If you signed up with Google, use "Continue with Google" - that account has no password. If you signed up with email, check the address and use "Forgot password?" on the login page to set a new one. If you just signed up, confirm your email first (check spam). Still stuck? Write to support@jobguard.uk.

Only you, and the workers you add to a job. Clients see only what you send them and never your hourly rate. Your data is stored in the EU.

Yes, in Profile → "Your data and account". An export of everything is ready within 48 hours. Deleting your account removes your jobs, invoices, clients and files and cancels any subscription.

The monthly plan can be cancelled any time in Profile → Payments. The yearly plan is one payment for 12 months and does not renew by itself.