Quote to invoice, for groundworkers
FROM DIG TO PAID, BUILT FOR GROUNDWORKERS
Describe the dig in plain English, like 180 metres of 160mm drainage at 3.5 metres, a raft foundation or a new access road, and an itemised quote writes itself. Muckaway, stone, pipe, bedding, plant and labour, all costed. Win it and the stages, the shopping list and the invoice all come off that same quote.
It knows what a dig actually costs
Groundworks is the trade where guessing hurts most: a metre of extra depth changes the muckaway, the shoring and the plant hire all at once. Describe the job the way you'd say it to the machine driver, and it gets itemised.
Drainage runs & connections
Foul and surface water, by the metre and by depth. Pipe, bedding, chambers, connections and testing, all priced separately.
Foundations & oversite
Strip, trench fill or raft. Dig, muckaway, concrete, reinforcement and the blinding, itemised rather than lumped into one number.
Muckaway & hardcore
Spoil off site and stone back in, by the load. The two lines that quietly swallow the margin on every dig.
Driveways, slabs & access roads
Excavation, sub-base, edgings and finish, with the plant hire and the labour days shown against each stage.
Groundworkers: frequently asked questions
Can it price a job by the metre and by depth?
Yes. Give it the length, the diameter and the depth the way you'd say it out loud, for example "dig and replace 180 linear metres of 160mm foul drainage at 3.5 metres". It works out the dig, the muckaway, the bedding, the pipe and the labour as separate lines. Every one is editable before it goes out, so you can adjust the rates to how you actually buy and hire.
Does it allow for muckaway and stone?
Yes, and they come out as their own lines rather than being buried in the dig. Those two are usually the difference between a profitable job and a painful one, so they need to be visible to you and to whoever is paying. Volumes are a starting point from what you described. Check them against your own take-off before sending.
What about the extras when the ground isn't what you expected?
That is what extra work is for. You say what changed in a sentence, like rock, a service nobody marked or water in the trench, and it gets priced off the same day rate and the same materials as the original quote. The customer approves it on their phone before you carry on, so it goes on the invoice as an agreed item rather than an argument at the end.
Is it any good for the big commercial jobs, not just domestic?
The engine prices what you describe, so the size is up to you. Quotes past £80,000 have been written in it. For work you send to a main contractor you can email the quote rather than message it, and the payment schedule you set (deposit, stages, on completion) is what the invoices are then raised against, one at a time.