Field notes.
Practical guides on the problems our tools were built for — jobsite inventory, recurring payments, RO Writer workflows, and getting more out of Clover. Written for the people actually running the shop.
Articles
What to do when a customer asks for material receipts
A receipt is a purchase record; they’re asking a job question. The four reasons one can’t answer the other, what to send instead, and how to rebuild a breakdown when the paperwork is gone.
Read the guideHow to keep a card on file without the legal gray area
Storing the card isn’t the risk. Having no record they agreed is. The five things your authorization needs, and how to re-paper the customers whose cards you already have.
Read the guidePayment reminders that leave good clients alone
One global on/off switch is why most owners turn reminders off. What polite persistence looks like — escalate the chronic late payers, skip the reliable ones, stop the day it’s paid.
Read the guideInvoicing software fees explained: the three you pay
The subscription, the meter, and the processing cut. What each costs at 100 invoices a month — and why the meter is the one that grows with you.
Read the guideJob costing in a spreadsheet: when Excel stops working
It survives about two weeks. The five places a tracking sheet breaks — one editor, no capture at the truck, no audit trail — and the test for whether you've outgrown it.
Read the guideHow to stop materials from walking off your jobsites
Cameras record theft; accountability prevents it. The three leaks behind jobsite shrinkage — outside, inside, and the quiet one — and the checkout habit that closes all three.
Read the guideHow to track material costs per job (without chasing receipts)
Two leaks lose the money: stock nobody logs and store runs nobody attributes. A PO number and a checkout event close both — the whole system, and what it unlocks.
Read the guideHow to know if your estimates are accurate
You can — after 20 or 30 jobs the under-bid pattern is unmistakable, if you captured actuals while the job ran. The one-page recap habit that turns bidding into data.
Read the guideQuickBooks Autopay: every limit that blocks you
Recurring invoices only. A $5,000 cap. Enrollment that cancels when you edit the template. The documented limits behind every “why can’t I…” thread — and the pairing pattern that fixes them without leaving QuickBooks.
Read the guideBest inventory app for electricians, plumbers & painting contractors
“Inventory app” means three different products depending on who’s selling. An honest map of Sortly, the tool trackers, and the big suites — and the fourth category most shops actually need.
Read the guideQuickBooks job costing for materials: what it can’t do
QuickBooks only knows what someone typed in, after the fact, at a desk. Why job-cost reports flatter your jobs — and the pairing pattern that fixes it without replacing your accounting.
Read the guideHow to track materials from your warehouse to the jobsite
The checkout event is the whole system: who took it, which job, how many — in seconds, at the moment it moves. Setting it up in a weekend, and why the clipboard version always dies.
Read the guideWhat chasing late invoices actually costs you
The work is done and the money still isn’t in. What the chase really costs you — in cash, in hours, and in the client relationships you can’t afford to burn.
Read part 1What you actually pay to accept a card
The rate you were quoted isn’t the rate you’re paying. Where the gap goes, what dual pricing really is, and how to roll it out without blindsiding anyone.
Read part 2The hidden cost of untracked consumables
The blades, screws, and caulk nobody counts are quietly eating your margin. An honest look at why consumables disappear — and what it really costs.
Read part 1What consumables are actually worth tracking
Trying to track every screw is how tracking dies in week two. The simple filter for what earns a number and what to just charge to the job and forget.
Read part 2How to track consumables without slowing your crew down
A system your crew hates is already dead. How to capture consumables in the field — fast, on a phone, tied to the job — without making anyone a clerk.
Read part 3Jobsite inventory management for contractors
How to stop losing materials — and margin — between the warehouse and the job: what to track, how to set it up, and where spreadsheets fall apart.
Read the guideMore on the way.
Guides on RO Writer payment tracking and getting more out of Clover are in the works. Have a topic you want covered? Tell us.
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