The free library

Everything free, in the order a job happens.

Twenty-nine guides, twenty-one template packs, twenty-one tools, eight printables, and the glossary, filed under the six stages a job moves through instead of by page type. Jump to whichever stage is hurting this week, or read it top to bottom.

First contact

A job starts with a message: a form fill, a text from a neighbor, a call while you’re up a ladder on someone else’s job. Whoever answers first with something useful, rather than a guessed price, usually gets to quote it.

If you skip this A slow or generic first reply loses the job to a competitor before either of you has sent a quote.

Start here Responding to a new inquiry

Everything else in this stage assumes you’ve already got this reply right.

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Responding to a new inquiry — the reply that keeps you in the running

The job is often decided before a quote exists — in how fast you reply, and whether that reply asks the right questions instead of guessing a number.

Charging for the visit — the quote, the call-out, and out of hours

A measure-up for a quote, a paid diagnosis, and the fix that follows can look like the same visit. They are not, and only one of them is normally free. Say the call-out fee and the out-of-hours premium before you go, then hold both when a client pushes back.

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New-inquiry scripts, for the first reply and the questions that follow

Six messages for the stretch before a job exists — a same-hour reply that keeps you in the running, the questions that decide if it’s quotable, an honest answer to “what’s this roughly cost,” and a polite way to say no — fill in your details once at the top of this page and every script below rewrites itself.

Visit and call-out scripts, for the first visit before a job exists

Six messages for the first visit — a free quote alongside a charged diagnostic look, the call-out fee said on the phone, an out-of-hours premium for an urgent caller, the answer to "everyone else quotes for free," waiving the fee on purpose, and turning down an out-of-hours job — fill in your details once at the top of this page and every script below rewrites itself.

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Minimum job price & travel-time calculator

Count the drive, the setup, and the paperwork, and see what a small job actually has to bill to hit your rate — plus whether the price you were about to quote is above or below that.

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New inquiry sheet — the printable intake for when the phone rings

One page for the moment a job starts: who called, the five questions that decide whether it’s even quotable, and a date to follow it up by.

Quoting

Once an inquiry turns into real work, the job needs an actual number: something built from your costs and your own labor, priced deliberately rather than guessed. The quote that follows is what turns a maybe into a booked job.

If you skip this A price guessed rather than built either loses the job to a lower bid or quietly costs you money for the entire length of the work.

Start here How to price a job so the number holds up

The quote only works if the number underneath it does. Start with the price, then write it up.

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How to write a quote that wins the work (and becomes the invoice)

Line items, deposits, and terms up front — so the quote a client signs turns straight into the invoice you send, with nothing retyped.

How to price a job so the number holds up

A pricing method that survives contact with the actual job — covering your real costs, your time, and enough margin that a slow week doesn’t sink the good ones.

How to raise your prices without losing clients

Undercharging quietly costs you more than a lost client ever will — here’s how to move your prices up, tell the people who matter, and keep the work.

Holding your price — what to do when a client says it’s too much

A client who says your price is too much might have a real budget limit, or might just be seeing whether you’ll move. Ask which one it is before you touch the number, then pick from four honest responses — one of them isn’t a same-scope discount.

Who buys the materials — and what changes when they do

You can supply the materials, the client can, or you can work from an allowance in the quote. Each choice moves the guarantee, the waiting, and your own cash in a different direction — decide which one before the job starts, not once a delivery goes wrong.

Chasing a quote you sent — how long to wait, and when to let it go

A quote sent is not a job — it is a decision sitting in someone else’s inbox, and it has a shelf life. Put an expiry date on it, chase on a schedule instead of a feeling, then close it out when the date passes so your pipeline stays honest.

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Quote follow-up scripts, from “just sent it” to a decision

Six messages for the space between sending a quote and hearing back — a delivery check, a week-later nudge, and scripts for the outcomes nobody enjoys writing, like losing the job or turning one down.

Price increase scripts, worded so clients stay

Five messages for raising your rate — an annual update for a good client, a recurring-contract version, a new-quote framing, a reply to pushback, and a script for letting a client go instead.

Price-pushback scripts, for when a client says it’s too much

Seven messages for the moment a quote gets pushed back on — holding the price and explaining it, offering a smaller job at their number, asking what they actually had in mind, and answering the cash-discount ask — fill in your details once at the top of this page and every script below rewrites itself.

Materials and parts scripts, for who buys what and when

Seven messages for the materials side of a job — confirming who supplies what at quote stage, asking for the money up front, flagging a supplier price change before you order, setting the lead time, and telling a client their own delivery arrived wrong — fill in your details once at the top of this page and every script below rewrites itself.

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Free Quote & Estimate Generator

Fill in your business and client details, add line items — mark anything optional — set a deposit, and watch a clean quote build itself. Turn it into an invoice with one click.

Quote & invoice terms builder

Tick the clauses that fit the job, fill in your numbers once, and get a plain-English terms block you can copy, print, or send straight into the quote generator.

What should you charge?

Turn the pay you want, your overheads, and your billable hours into an hourly rate and day rate you can stand behind.

Markup & margin calculator

Turn a job’s cost into a selling price by margin % or markup % — and see both numbers at once, so you know exactly which one you’re quoting.

Discount check

Type in your quote price, your costs, and the discount being asked for, and see the share of your profit it actually takes — plus the extra work needed to earn it back, and the cost you’d have to cut instead to hold your margin.

Quote pipeline check

Type in your quote validity window, your chase cadence, and up to six open quotes with their amount and date sent — see each one’s age, whether it’s due a chase, a chase order oldest first, your win rate, and pipeline times win rate, the number to plan against.

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Quote & estimate pad — the printable form for pricing a job on paper

Line items, a deposit box, and an accepted-by signature — the same structure a good quote needs, blank and ready to write on before you’re back at a screen.

Quote log — the printable queue for every quote you’re still waiting on

One row per quote sent and not yet decided — client, amount, the date it goes stale, and a chase column for each stage — so a quote gone quiet shows up on a list, not just in memory.

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Quote vs. Estimate

A quote is a fixed price you commit to; an estimate is your best guess and can move once you see the job up close. Treat a quote as a promise and an estimate as a heads-up, and say out loud which one you’re sending.

Scope of Work

The scope of work is the written list of exactly what you will and won’t do on a job — the tasks, the materials, and the boundaries. It’s what you point to when a client asks to add one more small thing and you need to say whether that’s included.

Change Order (Variation)

A change order is a written record that the job grew past the original quote, and what the new price is. Get it agreed to — a signed form, or just a text — before you do the extra work, not on the final invoice.

Markup vs. Margin

Markup is the percentage you add on top of your cost to get your selling price. Margin is the percentage of the final selling price that’s actually profit. They use the same two numbers but never land on the same percentage — mixing them up quietly underprices a job.

Overhead

Overhead is everything it costs you to be in business at all, whether or not you work today — insurance, your vehicle, tools, software, a phone line. Spread it across your jobs and build it into your price, or every job that looks profitable on paper quietly isn’t.

Call-Out Fee

A call-out fee is a flat charge for showing up — covering your travel time and the trip itself — separate from whatever the job turns out to need once you’re there. It protects you from a small or no-work visit eating a slot in your day for free.

Fixed Price vs. Time and Materials

A fixed price is one total for the whole job, agreed before work starts. Time and materials bills the actual hours and materials used, with no set ceiling. Picking the wrong one for a job either eats your margin or leaves a client an open-ended bill.

Quote Validity

Quote validity is the date after which a quoted price no longer applies. Stating one in writing protects you from honoring an old number once materials or your own rates have moved on.

Client-Supplied Materials

Client-supplied materials are parts or products the client buys themselves, instead of through your quote. You’re still responsible for fitting them properly — not for their price, their delivery, or whether they’re the right one.

Lead Time

Lead time is how long a material takes to arrive once you order it. A long one belongs in the quote’s start date, not something you discover once the job’s already booked.

Provisional Sum

A provisional sum is a placeholder figure for materials you can’t price exactly yet, written into the quote and settled up once the real cost is known — up or down.

Free Estimate

A free estimate is a quote visit you don’t charge for, because winning the job pays you back for the time. It stops being free once the visit stops being a sales call — a long drive, a paid diagnosis, or a caller who never plans to hire anyone.

Diagnostic Visit

A diagnostic visit is a paid visit whose job is finding out what is wrong, not pricing the fix. It earns a fee on its own, whether or not any repair work follows it.

Out-of-Hours Rate

An out-of-hours rate is a stated premium added to a job priced outside your normal working hours — an evening, a weekend, or a genuine emergency. It pays for the slot you gave up, not the caller’s bad timing.

Pipeline

Your pipeline is the total value of every quote you have sent and not yet had a decision on. It is a forecast, not money — a quote only becomes real income once a client accepts it.

Win Rate

Win rate is the share of quotes that turn into jobs, out of every quote you send. A very high win rate is usually a pricing signal, not proof that you are good at selling.

Stale Quote

A stale quote is one that has passed its validity date and has not been marked won, lost, or re-quoted. Left open, it inflates your pipeline and makes your workload look bigger than it is.

Scope Creep

Scope creep is a job growing past what you quoted, one small request at a time, with no extra charge agreed. Each request looks minor on its own — the total across a whole job often is not.

Invoicing

A signed quote becomes an invoice, the document that actually asks to be paid. Its wording, how it’s split across a bigger job, and whether it repeats on its own each shape how smoothly the money moves.

If you skip this A vague invoice or a missing deposit is one of the most common reasons a payment runs late in the first place.

Start here What to put on an invoice so you actually get paid

Seven fields cover most late-payment causes before a single reminder is needed.

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What to put on an invoice so you actually get paid

The fields that matter, the ones people forget, and the payment-terms wording that heads off a late payment before it starts.

Deposits and progress invoices for bigger jobs

How to split a bigger job into a deposit and progress invoices, so you’re never fronting weeks of unpaid work.

How to set up recurring invoices (and stop chasing)

For clients you bill the same way every month or every job — set the template up once, and let it repeat itself instead of rebuilding an invoice from scratch.

Who is actually paying — when the client and the payer are not the same

A business sends you to the job but its accounts department pays. A landlord pays for work a tenant only agreed to. A main contractor books you as one trade of several, and their payment terms rule the job. Confirm the payer before you start, and the invoice practically writes itself once the work is done.

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Extra work and scope-change scripts, before it becomes a dispute

Five messages for the moment a job grows past the original quote — flagging extra work on site, a small casual add-on, getting a cost approved before you start it, a client-caused delay, and a re-quote after the spec changes.

Agreeing who pays, before the invoice finds out the hard way

Seven messages for confirming the payer before you start — a business’s accounts contact, a letting agent’s property reference, a main contractor’s terms, and the same question run the other way if you’re hiring another trade — fill in your details once at the top of this page and every script below rewrites itself.

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Free Invoice Generator

Fill in your business and client details, add line items, and watch a clean invoice build itself — then download it as a PDF.

Materials up-front check

Type in your quote price, your materials and parts cost, the deposit you plan to take, and the days between paying your supplier and getting paid — see your own cash in the job, and whether the deposit covers it.

Print

Job sheet — the printable work order for on-site jobs

One page, blank, ready to print: client and job details up top, a table for what you did and how long it took, and a signature line before you leave site.

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Pro Forma Invoice

A pro forma invoice is a preview of an invoice sent before the work is done or the real invoice is issued — it shows what a client will owe, but it isn’t a bill yet. Use it to confirm a price before you start, not to record money as owed.

Invoice vs. Receipt

An invoice is a request for payment, sent before or when the money is owed. A receipt is proof that payment already happened. If a client asks for a receipt before they’ve paid, what they actually need is an invoice.

Credit Note

A credit note is a document that reduces or cancels what a client owes on a specific invoice — for an overcharge, a returned item, or work that didn’t happen. It’s the paper trail for money owed back, without editing the original invoice.

Deposit vs. Retainer

A deposit is an upfront part-payment for one specific job, applied to that job’s final invoice. A retainer is money paid in advance to hold your availability over time, for work that hasn’t been scoped yet. Mixing them up confuses ongoing clients about what they’ve already paid for.

Progress Invoice

A progress invoice bills for a portion of a bigger job at a defined milestone — materials delivered, a phase completed — rather than waiting for one invoice at the end. It keeps cash moving in step with the work instead of you financing weeks of it yourself.

Line Item

A line item is one row on a quote or invoice — a single piece of work or material, with its own quantity, unit price, and total. Line items let a client check the bill against what they remember agreeing to, instead of just trusting one lump number.

Recurring Invoice

A recurring invoice is a template that generates and sends itself on a set schedule — weekly, monthly, whatever the client’s arrangement is — for work you bill the same way every time. Set the template up once and it stops needing to be rebuilt from scratch.

Purchase Order (PO Number)

A purchase order is a business’s own reference number for work it has already approved internally, issued before you invoice. Put it on the invoice exactly as given, or their accounts system may not match your payment.

Getting paid

Most invoices get paid on time. The ones that don’t need a plan more than a mood: a fixed reminder cadence for the ordinary late payer, and a calmer, more deliberate escalation for the client who’s gone quiet.

If you skip this Chasing an overdue invoice only when you happen to notice it, rather than on a set schedule, is what makes the whole thing feel personal and awkward.

Start here How to get paid faster, without the awkward follow-up

The reminder cadence here heads off most of what escalates into a real collections problem.

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How to get paid faster, without the awkward follow-up

Set clear invoice terms, follow a reminder cadence that works, and send five copy-paste templates that get invoices paid.

What to do when a client won’t pay

A calm, escalating plan for a client who’s gone past every reminder — what to say, when to involve a third party, and when to let it go.

Payment methods for clients — the fee, the wait, and the risk

Card, a payment link, bank transfer, cash, or cheque — every method trades a fee against a wait, and a wait against a risk. Pick with your eyes open, and put the method on the invoice so a client can act on it right away.

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Payment reminder scripts, for every stage of a late invoice

Six messages, from a friendly heads-up before an invoice is even due to a firm final notice — fill in your details once at the top of this page and every script below rewrites itself.

Payment details scripts, for how the money arrives

Six messages for how a client actually pays — naming the methods on a new quote, the pay-on-the-day line, asking a transfer client for the invoice number, offering a payment link, and turning down a cheque — fill in your details once at the top of this page and every script below rewrites itself.

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Late payment fee & interest calculator

Enter an overdue balance, a rate, and days late, and get the interest, the total now due, and a copy-paste reminder line.

Payment method check

Type in your invoice amount, your own card fee, your hourly rate, and how long a transfer usually takes, and compare card, bank transfer, and cash for this one invoice — the fee, your own time, and when the money lands.

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Payment log — the printable sheet for who owes you what

One ruled table for every invoice you’ve sent this month — who, how much, when it’s due, and whether it’s paid — so “who still owes me money” stops being a guess.

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Net 30 (Payment Terms)

Net 30 means payment is due 30 days after the invoice date — net simply means the full amount, with no discount attached. Net 14 and Net 7 work the same way with shorter windows. Pick one standard and use it on every invoice.

Due on Receipt

Due on receipt means payment is expected the moment the client gets the invoice — no fixed date, no grace window. It sounds firm but gives a client nothing concrete to be held to, which is why a real date usually gets you paid faster.

Late Payment Fee

A late payment fee is an extra charge, usually a flat amount or a monthly percentage, applied once an invoice passes its due date. State it on the quote and the invoice up front, or it reads as a threat instead of a known term.

Part Payment

A part payment is any amount a client pays toward an invoice that’s less than the full balance. It leaves the invoice open for the remainder — track it against that specific invoice, not as a separate, unlinked transaction.

Remittance Advice

Remittance advice is a short note a client sends saying a payment is on its way, or has been sent, and which invoice it covers. It matters most when several invoices are open at once and a bank transfer alone doesn’t say which one just got paid.

Bad Debt

Bad debt is money you’re owed that you’ve decided you’re realistically never going to collect — a client who’s vanished, gone under, or simply isn’t worth pursuing further. Writing it off clears it from your books; it doesn’t get you the money back.

Retention (Retainage)

Retention is a slice of a job’s price, commonly around five percent, that a client withholds until after completion or a defects period ends — proof the work holds up, not a discount you gave away.

Merchant Fee

A merchant fee is what a card processor charges you for accepting a card payment — usually a cut of the sale plus a small fixed amount. Your own processor sets the real number.

Card Surcharge

A card surcharge is an extra amount added when a client pays by card, meant to cover the merchant fee. Whether you can add one depends on local rules and your card processor’s agreement.

Payment Link

A payment link is a web address on an invoice that lets a client pay by card without you there in person. It moves the choice of when to pay onto the client, not what the card costs.

Cleared Funds

Cleared funds are money that has actually settled in your account and can no longer be reversed, not just a balance that shows as paid. A cheque can still bounce after it first appears to land.

Statement of Account

A statement of account is a summary you send a client listing several jobs or invoices at once, with what is paid, what is still owed, and the running total. It covers a client relationship, not one job.

Staying organized

Underneath every job is the admin that holds it together: knowing what stage each one is at, what a cancellation policy actually says, and who you’re waiting on this week. None of it is glamorous, and all of it is what a spreadsheet eventually stops covering.

If you skip this Losing track of one job among several is how a deposit goes uncollected or a client gets forgotten until they call you first.

Start here How to keep track of jobs without a spreadsheet

The six-stage system here is the frame the rest of this stage’s tools and sheets hang off.

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How to keep track of jobs without a spreadsheet

A spreadsheet works right up until you’re juggling six jobs at once. Track the job — not the paperwork — and stop losing track of who you’re waiting on.

Cancellations and no-shows — the policy that keeps the diary honest

A hole in the diary costs more than the job would have paid — it’s the work you turned away to hold that slot. One clear policy, stated before anything goes wrong, is what turns a moved booking into a five-minute fix instead of a fight.

Double-booked — how to fix a diary clash, and stop the next one

Two clients expecting you at once is a commitment problem, not a scheduling one — an unwritten verbal yes, a job that ran long, or a rush job squeezed into a day that was already full. Here is what to do in the next ten minutes, and the one habit that stops it happening again.

Catch up on your invoicing — the weekly sweep that gets you paid

A finished job is not money until you invoice it. The pile of unbilled work is not late paperwork — it is work you have already done for free until an invoice exists, and every day it waits is a day added in front of your own payment terms, not inside them.

Running late and overruns — what to say, and how to stop the repeat

The site covers a client who moves your date. It says nothing about the day you are the one running late, the job that overruns, or the postponement you have to make yourself. Tell the client early, name a new time in the same message, and put one habit in place so it stops repeating.

The quiet season — plan for the year that is not flat

Every money page on this site prices one job, one client, or one invoice. None of them plans a year. Your income has a shape, and the quiet quarter in it is not a surprise — measure the dip, cover it from the busy months, then fill the gap with work you can book in advance.

Taking time off — price it before you book it

You are not paid for 52 weeks a year. A week off is not a loss to make up later — it is a cost your rate has to carry before you book it. Price the weeks off, pick the dates from your diary, tell people once, and decide what happens to an emergency.

Working hours and boundaries — the hours you answer are the promise

A client cannot see your diary. They read your hours from when you actually answer, not from what you post. Set the hours you work and the hours you answer as two different windows, say both in the three places a client looks, price a genuine emergency in advance, and hold the line the first time it is inconvenient.

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Cancellation, reschedule, and no-show scripts, worded so the policy holds

Seven messages for a booked job that moves — a confirmation that states the policy up front, a day-before nudge, saying yes to a reschedule, naming a fee without a lecture, and owning it when you’re the one who has to move it — fill in your details once at the top of this page and every script below rewrites itself.

Invoicing catch-up scripts, for clearing a backlog

Six messages for a job that finished a while ago and was never invoiced — a plain late invoice, a statement covering several jobs at once, confirming extras before you bill them, asking for a missing detail, confirming sign-off, and telling a client the invoice is on its way when you already know it is late — fill in your details once at the top of this page and every script below rewrites itself.

Delay and overrun scripts, for the day the hold-up is yours

Seven messages for the day you are the one running late, over, or blocked — running late today, an overrun into tomorrow, a postponement, weather, a late part, another trade not finished, and the apology after you miss a slot — fill in your details once at the top of this page and every script below rewrites itself.

Quiet season scripts, for booking work before a quiet stretch arrives

Six messages for booking work into a quiet stretch before it arrives — an annual service that is due, a standing maintenance plan, a free slot, a postponed job, confirming your next appointment early, and a spare-capacity note to a fellow tradesperson — fill in your details once at the top of this page and every script below rewrites itself.

Time off scripts, for telling clients before you go

Six messages for taking time off — early notice to a client with work booked either side, a note to a client mid-job, an away reply to a new enquiry, offering the slot before or after the break, asking another trade to cover, and the note that re-opens your diary — fill in your details once at the top of this page and every script below rewrites itself.

Working hours scripts, for saying when you answer

Six messages for setting the hours you work and the hours you answer as two separate things — the quote or booking-confirmation line, the voicemail message, the next-morning reply to a late message, a note to a client who always calls late, offering or declining a priced emergency route, and resetting the expectation with a client you have been answering at all hours — fill in your details once at the top of this page and every script below rewrites itself.

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Small business admin health check

Ten quick questions across quoting, invoicing, getting paid, staying organized, and follow-up — get a score and a plan for your two weakest stages.

Day plan check

Type in your start time, your target finish, and up to six jobs with their travel and on-site time, and see whether the day actually fits — plus the first job that misses its fixed start time.

Unbilled work check

Type in your usual payment terms and up to six finished jobs with their amount and finish date, and see the total sitting unbilled, the oldest job’s age, and a sweep order — oldest first.

Quiet season check

Type in twelve months of income, your fixed costs, what you must draw each month, and what you already have set aside, and see every month above or below the line, the annual total, the dip you need to cover, and the extra invoiced work each quiet month needs instead.

Time off check

Type in what you must clear in a year, the weeks you want off, the weeks you already do not work, and what you have set aside, and see your billable weeks, the line per billable week, the 52-week gap, what the time off costs, and what to set aside for it.

Working hours check

Type in the hours you intend to work, the hours you actually answer, and the admin hours outside both, and see the gap between the week you meant to run and the week you are actually running — plus what each one pays per hour.

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Client card — the printable record for one client, front to back

Contact details, how they like to be billed, and a running job history on one card — the paper version of a client file, filed however you like.

Week planner — the printable landscape sheet for what’s on this week

Six days across the top, a “waiting on / to chase” column at the end — pin it up, write the week’s jobs in, and see at a glance what’s stuck on someone else.

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Cash Flow

Cash flow is the actual timing of money moving in and out of your business — not how much you’ve earned on paper, but what’s really in the bank on any given day. A profitable month can still have terrible cash flow if the money you earned hasn’t arrived yet.

Accounts Receivable

Accounts receivable is the total of every invoice you’ve sent that hasn’t been paid yet — the money owed to you, across however many clients. Knowing this one number at a glance is the difference between chasing on a schedule and chasing when you happen to remember.

Aged Receivables

Aged receivables sorts everything you’re owed by how overdue it is — current, 1–30 days late, 31–60, 61–90, and beyond. It turns one lump total of money owed into a list of exactly which invoices need a reminder today.

Profit vs. Revenue

Revenue is everything you’ve billed, before anything’s subtracted. Profit is what’s left after materials, overhead, and every other cost are taken out. A busy year with high revenue can still leave you with thin profit if costs crept up alongside it.

Reconciliation

Reconciliation is checking your invoice records against your actual bank statement to confirm every payment you think came in really did, and every payment that landed is accounted for. Do it monthly, not just when a number looks wrong.

Break-Even

Break-even is the point where your revenue exactly covers your costs — no profit, no loss. Knowing your break-even number, in jobs or in dollars, tells you the minimum you need before anything you earn is actually profit.

Work in Progress (WIP)

Work in progress is a job you have finished, or partly finished, that has not been invoiced yet. It is real value you have already created, but it is not money — and it will not become money until an invoice exists for it.

Billing Cycle

A billing cycle is how often you send an invoice — per job, weekly, or monthly. Picking one that matches how the work actually finishes keeps unbilled work from quietly piling up between invoices.

Force Majeure

Force majeure is a delay caused by something outside your control — weather, a late part, or another trade who has not finished. It changes how you explain a delay, not whether you still owe the client a plan.

Goodwill Gesture

A goodwill gesture is something small you offer, unprompted, after your own delay — a discount, a free extra, or priority on the next job. It repairs the relationship, and it is never an admission that you owe it.

Seasonality

Seasonality is the yearly shape of your demand — the months that run busy and the months that run quiet, on a pattern that repeats most years. A quiet quarter inside a seasonal trade is not bad luck; it is the shape of the year showing up on schedule.

Cash Reserve

A cash reserve is money set aside, ahead of time, to pay your fixed costs through a quiet stretch you already know is coming. It is not the same as cash flow, which is the everyday gap between money earned and money actually banked.

Maintenance Contract

A maintenance contract is a standing agreement to do planned work for a client at a set interval — an annual service, a quarterly round, a monthly check. It is the agreement itself, not a retainer that buys availability and not the recurring invoice that bills it.

Billable Weeks

Billable weeks are the weeks in a year you actually invoice, out of 52 — every week off, bank holiday, and lost week already subtracted. Pricing against 52 weeks instead of your billable weeks hides the cost of the weeks you do not work.

Annual Shutdown

An annual shutdown is a block of weeks you choose to take no bookings in — a holiday, a family break, or simply time off. It is a choice you make, distinct from seasonality, which is a quiet stretch that arrives on its own.

Cover Arrangement

A cover arrangement is another trade agreeing to take an emergency call for you during a break — one of two honest answers to "what happens if something comes up," the other being a plain "not available."

Response Time

Response time is the promise of how fast you reply to a call or a message — a stated window, not a best-effort guess. It is a different promise from the out-of-hours rate, which prices when you show up, and from lead time, which prices when a job can start.

On-Call

On-call means reachable outside your stated working hours, whether or not you meant to be. It is a choice you make on purpose for a priced emergency, not a habit you fall into by answering every message the moment it arrives.

Non-Billable Time

Non-billable time is every hour that goes into the business but never reaches an invoice — quoting, admin, and answering calls or messages outside a job. It shrinks your effective hourly rate even though no client ever sees it on a bill.

After the job

A paid invoice doesn’t end the client relationship. What happens next, whether that’s a repeat job or a referral, usually comes down to whether you actually follow up.

If you skip this Skipping the follow-up is the easiest way to let a good client quietly drift to whoever remembers to ask for the next job.

Start here What to do after the job — the follow-up that wins the next one

One fixed routine covers the thank-you, the review ask, and the referral ask below.

Read

What to do after the job — the follow-up that wins the next one

The invoice being paid isn’t the end of the relationship — it’s the moment the next job, or the referral that brings one, actually gets decided.

What to do when a client complains

A complaint is one of the most stressful hours in a solo operator’s week — the client isn’t happy, the money is still on the table, and there’s no manager to hand it to. How you spend the first hour usually decides whether it costs you a client, or just an afternoon.

Did this job actually make money?

Every price on this site gets built before the work starts. This is the one page that looks the other way — at a job you already finished — and works out what it actually paid you.

Going back to fix it — when a callback is free, and when it’s chargeable

A client calls about a job you already finished. Before you agree to anything, work out whose fault it is, whether it’s still inside your guarantee, and what the visit actually costs you — then pick from four honest outcomes, not just “yes, free.”

Handling a bad review — how to reply, and what to fix in private

A good complaint process and an honest guarantee still leave one thing unanswered: what do you actually say once a bad review is already live? Sort it into one of four kinds first, then reply where the review is, and fix the real problem somewhere else.

Is this client worth keeping? — measure before you decide

A price on an invoice is not what a client actually costs you. Count the hours you never bill, the extras you give away, and the wait for payment, and the real rate can look nothing like the number on the job. Measure it, then reprice, restrict, re-scope, or release.

Say

After-the-job scripts, for the work that follows

Six messages for after the invoice is paid — a same-day thank-you, a review ask (with one nudge, then a stop), a referral ask, a seasonal check-in, and a low-key win-back — fill in your details once at the top of this page and every script below rewrites itself.

Complaint and refund scripts, for the job that didn’t go right

Seven messages for the most stressful hour in a solo operator’s week — a same-day first reply, the questions that get you the facts, a return visit or a part credit offered plainly, declining a refund without a lecture, and closing the loop once it’s fixed — fill in your details once at the top of this page and every script below rewrites itself.

Callback and guarantee scripts, for the visit after the job is finished

Seven messages for the return visit — booking the look, confirming a free fix inside your guarantee, pricing one that isn’t covered, claiming a failed part against its supplier, and naming damage that wasn’t from your work — fill in your details once at the top of this page and every script below rewrites itself.

Review reply scripts, for a review that is already live

Six replies for a review that’s already posted — a fair criticism, one with the facts wrong, a one-star with no text, a private follow-up, a review from someone you never worked for, and a good review — fill in your details once at the top of this page and every script below rewrites itself.

Turning work down — scripts for the job you should not take

Six messages for turning down work: a new job with no reason given, a job outside your trade, an out-of-hours call-out, more work from a client who already has all of your time, and closing an arrangement down — with notice, and without an unpaid invoice left behind.

Do

Client follow-up planner

Put in the date a job finished and get the six follow-ups that win the next one — thank-you, review ask, one nudge, referral, check-in, win-back — as real dates you can copy or drop straight into your calendar.

Job profit check

Type in the price you charged, your direct costs, and the hours the job actually took — on site, travel, quoting and admin — and see the real hourly rate it paid against your own target.

Callback profit check

Type in what the original job charged and cost, then what the return visit takes — travel, time on site, and any parts — and see the callback as a share of that job’s profit, next to its much smaller share of the price.

Client value check

Type in what a client paid you over a period, the hours you never billed, the costs you absorbed, and how late they pay, and see the real hourly rate that client pays against your own target.

Print

Follow-up log — the printable queue for every job you’ve finished

One page for every finished job, sorted by when the next contact falls due — a running queue for the thank-you, review ask, and referral ask, instead of a date you’re trusting memory to catch.

Words

Repeat Rate

Repeat rate is the share of your clients who hire you again, out of everyone you’ve done a job for. A high repeat rate means you’re spending less on winning brand-new clients, because the work you already did is bringing itself back.

Client Lifetime Value

Client lifetime value is the total amount a client is likely to spend with you across every job over the whole relationship, not just the one in front of you. It’s why a smaller first job from a good client is often worth more than it looks.

Referral

A referral is a new client who comes to you because an existing client actively recommended you, not just because they happened to mention your name. It’s the cheapest new client you’ll ever get — and it almost never happens without someone actually asking.

Workmanship Guarantee

A workmanship guarantee is a promise that your own labor will hold up for a set period after the job. It covers what you did, not the materials, and not damage from someone else.

Callback (Return Visit)

A callback is a second visit to a finished job, usually because something the client reported doesn’t seem right. Whether it’s free or chargeable depends on whose fault it turns out to be.

Snag List

A snag list is a written list of small defects found at the end of a job, agreed with the client before you leave. Working through it closes the job — it isn’t the start of a dispute.

Public Reply

A public reply is the reply posted directly under a review, for anyone who reads it afterward. It answers the review, but it’s really written for the next visitor deciding whether to call.

Review Gating

Review gating is contacting only the clients you expect to say something good, and quietly skipping the rest. It turns an honest set of reviews into a curated one, which the major platforms’ own rules ban.

Fake Review

A fake review comes from someone who was never actually your client — a competitor, a mistaken identity, or someone with no real job behind the claim. It’s one of the few kinds of bad review a platform will actually remove.

What It Takes to Serve a Client

Cost to serve is everything a client actually costs you beyond the job price — the unbilled hours, the extras given away, and the costs you absorbed. A client can look profitable on the invoice and still cost more than they pay.

Effective Hourly Rate

Effective hourly rate is what you actually earned per hour once every hour is counted, not just the billed ones. It is usually lower than your quoted rate, because unbilled time never appears in that number.

Looking for one specific thing rather than a stage? The binder index lists all of this alphabetically. Not sure which stage is actually costing you the most? The admin health check is a ten-question shortcut to your two weakest ones.

Like having it all written down. Now imagine it running.

Every guide, script, and tool above is free and stays free, no signup, nothing saved on our end. BizBinder is the app for the business underneath all of it: quotes, jobs, invoices, and client history in one place, so you’re not rebuilding the same paperwork by hand every time.

Filed

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A person reads every request. You will hear from us within one business day.

01 A person reads your note — not a queue.
02 You get an invite as spots open.
03 Your admin starts filing itself.

The free library is open while you wait. Nothing in it needs an account.

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