No signup needed
Setting up your demo

Building your workspace...

Looks like you're in United States. See Chippie for United States, with local pricing and tax.

Go to the United States site
  • Home
  • Carpenters and joiners
For carpenters and joiners in the UK

Software for carpenters and joiners

Price the studwork, the ironmongery and your days on site, send the quote before you pack the saw away, and invoice from the job it becomes. Free up to 20 jobs a month.

Start free

No card needed. Professional is £15 a month for two users, Team £25 for four.

A deck and pergola quote in pounds in the Chippie app, with the job's site photos attached

Key takeaways

  1. Timber, sheet materials, ironmongery and labour each on a line, VAT at 20% added in pounds.
  2. The quote goes from site with your photos, and once accepted it becomes the job with your measurements on it.
  3. Each builder you work for is one customer holding every rate, quote and invoice you have sent them.
  4. Photos of the frame before the boards go down stay on the job beside its invoice.

How a carpentry job runs in Chippie#

A deck and pergola for a homeowner in Bristol, from the measure to the invoice paid. Work for builders runs the same way, under each builder's record.

  1. Measure and price

    Timber, sheet materials, ironmongery and labour as their own lines, VAT at 20%.

  2. Send it on site

    James gets it while he is still thinking about the job, and accepts from the email. The quote becomes the job.

  3. Sizes stay with the job

    Measurements, levels and access notes live on the job, with photos of the frame before the boards go down.

  4. Invoice from the job

    Complete it and the invoice is ready, its lines carried from the quote, your sort code and account number on it.

  5. The builder rings again

    Paid, and the customer's record holds every rate and note, so the next quote starts from the last one.

Quote #21Job #17Invoice #17

James Hughes

Gloucester Road, Bristol

Pending quote Accepted Ready In progress Pending Sent Paid

Description

Hardwood deck and pergola, 4.8 by 3.6 metres. Treated softwood subframe on concrete pads, hardwood decking boards with hidden fixings, and a hardwood handrail with stainless wire balustrade. Pergola over the back half, ready for a polycarbonate roof. Old patio slabs lifted and taken away.

Photos

Subframe in New deck laid and oiled

Line items

  • Treated subframe, posts, bearers and joists£1,176.00
  • Hardwood decking boards, 18 square metres£1,944.00
  • Fixings, joist hangers and hidden clips£288.00
  • Labour, 5 days£1,560.00

Total£4,968.00

Synced to Xero

Most of a joiner's year comes from a handful of builders. With their last rates and site notes on the customer, the next quote for one of them is ten minutes' work.

What Chippie does for carpenters and joiners#

  • Every length of timber on the quote. Studwork, joists, sheet materials, ironmongery and your days each get a line. When a customer queries the price, the merchant's figures are there to point at.
  • The builders who keep you busy. Second fix for one builder, a cut roof for another. Each builder is a customer with every quote and invoice you have sent them, so the day rate you agreed last spring is one tap away.
  • Site work and bench work. Days on site for a staircase fit, hours at the bench for the staircase itself. Both go on the same quote as lines of their own, and the accepted quote becomes the job with your measurements on it.

What changes when the paperwork moves to the phone#

What changes, job by job
  The old way With Chippie
Pricing A rough figure after the measure, firmed up later Timber, sheet, ironmongery and days, sent from site
No signal No bars on a new-build plot Jobs and quotes edit offline and upload later
Cutting list Pencilled on an offcut Materials as their own priced lines
Photos Frame shots lost in the camera roll Before and after photos on the job
Builders who come back Last year's rate hunted for in old texts Every past quote and invoice on the builder's record

A deck quote, line by line#

A 4.8 by 3.6 metre hardwood deck for a homeowner, from a carpenter registered for VAT. An illustration rather than a price guide: your merchant and your day rate set the real figures.

Registered for VAT, prices ex VAT
Treated subframe, posts, bearers and joists £980.00
Hardwood decking boards, 18 square metres £1,620.00
Fixings, joist hangers and hidden clips £240.00
Labour, 5 days at £260.00 £1,300.00
Subtotal, ex VAT £4,140.00
VAT at 20% £828.00
Quoted total £4,968.00

The same lines carry from the quote to the job and the invoice, so the customer pays the figure they accepted.

Carpenters and joiners: your questions#

Can I put timber, ironmongery and labour on separate lines?
Yes. Each line has its own quantity and price with VAT added, so the materials and your days are visible apart.
Do the builders I work for keep their history?
Yes. A builder is one customer with every quote, job and invoice you have sent them, so their rates and notes are there when they ring.
Who makes Chippie?
Caleb and Elliott, two of Chippie's founders, are qualified carpenters and run their own business on it in Newcastle, Australia.
Does Chippie handle UK VAT?
Yes. With your country set to the United Kingdom, quotes and invoices are in pounds and carry your VAT number and VAT at 20%. Not registered? Answer No to "Are you registered for VAT?" on the Tax tab in Settings, and your documents show no VAT.
Does Chippie work with Making Tax Digital?
Yes, through Xero. On Professional and Team, Chippie sends your customers, invoices and payments to Xero, and an invoice paid in Xero shows as paid in Chippie. Xero is HMRC-recognised software for your Making Tax Digital VAT returns.
Does Chippie work with no signal?
Yes. Your week's visits and the jobs and quotes you have opened stay on the phone. With no signal you can open them, change prices and lines, add photos, get your customer's signature and send the quote. It all goes through when the phone is back in range.

Try it on a real job. It is free.

One user and 20 jobs a month are free, with no end date.

Try it free
Free up to 20 jobs a monthPrices in pounds, VAT on every documentApps for iPhone and Android

    People also ask on this page