Plumbers, electricians and tradespeople

Customers accept your quote online and pay by card when the job is done. Your receipts and hours stay with each job.

A tradesperson working alone needs no team. A business with vans and crews works in one Magpie team.

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A quote from Keelson Plumbing and Heating for Ruth Ansah’s boiler, with the cover, the list of contents, the recommended repair chosen and the total in a bar at the foot of the screen.

This combination of six Magpie areas fits a tradesperson.

Forms
Forms takes job requests with the address, the problem and a photo.
Appointments
Appointments lets customers book a service visit at your free times.
Proposals
Proposals sends a quote the customer accepts and signs online.
Expenses
Expenses keeps each receipt, photographed on site, with its job.
Invoicing
Invoicing bills the job, and the customer pays by card from a link.
Contacts
Contacts keeps each customer's address, jobs and invoices on one page.

Job requests arrive with the address, the fault and a photo of it.

Forms gives you a job request Form with your own questions. A customer can attach a photo of the leak or the fuse box. A question can appear only after an earlier answer.

Magpie will email you each job request. You can mark each one reviewed, and download them all as a CSV file.

Building forms in Forms

Keelson Plumbing and Heating’s job request Form in the editor: the customer’s name, phone number and address, then what the problem is.

Customers book a service visit at a time you are free.

Appointments gives you a booking page. Set up for home services, it starts with a one-hour service visit. It keeps 30 minutes free after it for travel to the next job.

Customers choose a visit and a free time, and Magpie emails them a confirmation. In a team, each tradesperson has their own hours, and customers can choose anyone available.

Booking page in Appointments

Customers choose between a repair and a replacement, then accept your quote online.

Proposals has a short Quote starter for trades. It lists the labour, the materials and the call-out, then your terms. You can offer two options, such as repairing the boiler or fitting a new one.

The customer chooses, then accepts with a drawn or typed signature. You can see when they open it. A bigger job, such as a bathroom refit, can take a deposit at acceptance.

Sending and signing in Proposals

You photograph each receipt on site, and link it to the job and the customer.

Expenses keeps each receipt, photographed on your phone. A receipt can wait in the Receipt Inbox until you add its details.

Each expense can belong to a job and a customer. Parts and fittings you pick up for a customer can go on their invoice as lines.

Expenses and receipts in Expenses

Keelson Plumbing and Heating’s expenses: parts from the merchant, each linked to its job, fuel, and a receipt still to add.

You bill the job when it is done, and the customer pays by card.

Invoicing bills each job with lines for the labour and the parts, and your tax rates. Sending it emails the PDF with a Pay online button.

The invoice's payment link can be sent another way, such as a text. Card payments go to your own Stripe account, with no Magpie fee. Cash or a cheque is recorded by hand.

Payments in Invoicing

An invoice to Ruth Ansah being written at Keelson Plumbing and Heating: labour, the diverter valve and the call-out, each with HST.

Each customer's page holds their address, your quotes and every invoice.

Contacts gives each customer a page, with their addresses and phone numbers. Its activity lists the quotes you sent, when each was opened, and every invoice.

A pinned note keeps what you need next time, such as where the stopcock is. A follow-up reminds you to call, such as before the boiler's annual service.

History and follow-ups in Contacts

Seven more areas cover your hours, vans, tools, parts, crew, website and books.

Time Tracking
Time Tracking records your hours on each job, at its labour rate. Add unbilled time puts them on the invoice.
Asset Tracker
Asset Tracker keeps your vans and tools, who has each and when it is due back.
Inventory
Inventory counts your van stock and the parts you keep, and orders more.
Walkie Talkie
Walkie Talkie lets the crew talk by voice, held to talk like a radio.
Websites
Websites puts your services and the area you cover on a site you change yourself.
Hiring
Hiring gives an apprentice job its own page and keeps every applicant in one list.
Accounting
Accounting adds each invoice, payment and expense to the books.

A boiler job goes from a photo of the fault to a paid invoice.

The customer's contact page lists each step.

  1. The request

    The customer answers your job request Form, with a photo of the boiler.

  2. The visit

    They book a service visit on your booking page, and become a contact.

  3. The quote

    You send a quote with two options. They choose the repair and accept it.

  4. The parts

    You photograph the receipt for the diverter valve at the merchant, with the job.

  5. The invoice

    You bill the call-out, the labour and the part. The customer pays by card from the email.

  6. The books

    The payment and the expense will be added to the books.

Setting up takes four steps.

  1. Add your business details

    You add your name, address, tax number and logo for invoices. Help: Send and configure invoices.

  2. Connect Stripe

    You connect your Stripe account, so customers can pay by card. Help: Connect Stripe to receive money.

  3. Set your prices

    You put your labour and call-out rates in the Quote starter. Then you save it as your own. Help: Proposal starters, saved sections and the price list.

  4. Publish the job request Form

    You choose the questions, add a photo question and share the Form's address. Help: Build, publish, and share a form.

Plans

A tradesperson working alone fits Pro, and needs no team. It has no limit on quotes, invoices or contacts. A business with vans and crews fits the Team plan, one price for up to 25 members.

On the free plan, you can send 5 quotes and create 5 invoices a month, with 100 contacts. Magpie adds no fee to invoice payments.

Prices are on the Pricing page

Other trades and home services have pages of their own.

Cleaning companies

A cleaning company plans each cleaner's shifts at client sites and bills them every month.

Builders and renovators

A builder quotes a renovation in stages, takes a deposit and shares progress with the client.

Questions tradespeople ask

Can I reuse my call-out charge and labour rates on every quote?

Yes. Your price list keeps the lines you quote again, such as your call-out charge. Saved sections keep your terms. A new quote can start from your own starter, with its lines already in place.

Can I give the customer a repair or a replacement to choose from?

Yes. A quote can offer 2 to 4 packages, such as a repair or a replacement. You can mark one Recommended. Extras the customer can add are optional lines. The total changes with each choice.

Can the customer accept the quote online?

Yes. They choose an option, then sign with a drawn or typed signature. Magpie will email them and you the signed PDF and a signing certificate. You can see each time they open the quote.

Can I take a deposit for materials?

Yes. A quote's payment schedule can start with a deposit, as a percentage or an amount. Its invoice will be issued when the customer accepts. They can pay it by card straight away.

Can customers pay me on the spot?

Yes. Each invoice has a payment link. The invoice's page shows it, so you can send it another way. The customer pays by card on their own phone. The payment is recorded on the invoice.

What does Magpie take from a card payment?

Magpie adds no fee. Stripe's processing fee is taken from each payment. The rest goes to your own Stripe account, and Stripe pays it out to your bank.

Can I record cash or a cheque?

Yes. You record the payment on the invoice, with its date and method. Reminders stop once the invoice is paid in full.

Can I add HST or VAT to my invoices?

Yes. Each line uses one of your named tax rates, such as VAT or HST. Combined rates such as GST and PST are shown as separate lines. Magpie works out the tax you set up; registering and filing stay with you.

Can customers send me a photo of the leak or the fault?

Yes. Your job request Form can take a photo or a PDF of up to 10 MB. Only the people who can see the Form's responses can open it.

Can I keep my receipts from the merchant without paper?

Yes. You photograph each receipt on your phone, up to 10 MB each. An expense can belong to a job and a customer. Totals export as CSV, with the receipts as a ZIP file.

Can I charge the customer for parts I picked up for their job?

Yes. You mark the expense as reimbursable and choose the customer. Add unbilled expenses then puts it on their next invoice as a line. It is marked billed when the invoice is issued.

Can I see who has which tools and van?

Yes. Asset Tracker keeps each van and tool with its tag, serial number and condition. You check one out to a person with a date it is due back. Overdue lists anything not returned.

Can I keep track of my van stock?

Yes. In Inventory, a van can be its own stock, beside the stores. You move parts between them, and count each one. A part below its minimum is listed to reorder.

Can I track my hours on a job?

Yes. A timer runs on the job's project, at its rate. It keeps going if you close the browser. You can also add time afterwards, such as 2h 30m. Add unbilled time puts the hours on the customer's invoice.

Can my crew talk to each other between jobs?

Yes. Walkie Talkie sends voice messages, held to talk, to one person, a group or a channel. A recording carries on if the signal drops, and sends when it returns.

Can I see a customer's past jobs before I go?

Yes. Their contact page lists your quotes, with when each was opened, and every invoice. Pinned notes stay at the top, such as where the stopcock is.

Send your next quote.

Create a Magpie account and add your business details.

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