Builders and renovators
A builder quotes, schedules and bills each job.
Small workshops and manufacturers (cabinet makers, fabricators, print shops)
Customers accept your quote and pay the deposit, and each job moves across the workshop's board. Materials are ordered from what is running low.
A workshop works in one Magpie team, with each person in the shop as a member.
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This combination of six Magpie areas fits a small workshop.
- Proposals
- Proposals sends each quote, with options, a deposit and a signature.
- Kanban Boards
- Kanban Boards moves each job through the workshop's stages.
- Inventory
- Inventory counts materials and orders more from each supplier.
- Time Tracking
- Time Tracking records the hours on each job.
- Invoicing
- Invoicing bills the balance, with the hours you tracked.
- Asset Tracker
- Asset Tracker keeps machines and tools, with their maintenance.
Customers accept your quote, choose the extras and pay the deposit.
Proposals builds each quote from sections: the work, the extras, a timeline and terms. A pricing section can offer two packages, and an optional line lets the customer add it.
The customer signs and pays the deposit by card. You see when the quote is opened.
Each job moves across the workshop's board, from drawings to fitted.
Kanban Boards holds the jobs as cards in columns you name, such as Drawings and Fitted. Each card has an assignee, a due date and To-dos.
Photos and comments stay on the card, so the whole shop sees where a job stands.
Materials are counted, and what runs low becomes a supplier order.
Inventory keeps each material in pools, such as the workshop and the yard. A count corrects a pool to what is there.
Draft orders turns low stock into an order for each supplier, in its lengths and prices. A delivery adds stock, and short lines wait under Differences.
The hours on each job are tracked against its budget.
Time Tracking runs a timer for each job, with its rate, rounding and budget of hours. The timer keeps going after the browser closes.
Reports total the hours by job and by person, and export as a CSV file.
The balance is invoiced when the job is fitted.
Each payment in the quote's schedule becomes an invoice. The deposit is invoiced on acceptance, and the balance when you bill it. Add unbilled time puts extra hours onto an invoice.
Customers pay by card from the email, into your own Stripe account, with no Magpie fee.
Machines and tools are on record, with who has them and when they were serviced.
Asset Tracker keeps each machine and tool with its tag, serial number and location. A machine can be marked in maintenance until it is back.
A welding kit can go out to a fitter for an install, with a due date.
Five more areas cover safety checks, the rota, customers, the books and a shop.
- Daily Operations
- Daily Operations runs the workshop's safety checks, such as machine guards and emergency stops.
- Staff Scheduling
- Staff Scheduling plans the week's shifts in the shop and on site.
- Contacts
- Contacts keeps customers and suppliers, with their quotes and invoices.
- Accounting
- Accounting keeps the books, with invoice payments posted automatically.
- Store
- Store sells your own products, such as stools or brackets, online.
A job goes from a quote to fitting.
The quote
The customer chooses the package, signs and pays the deposit.
The drawings
The job's card goes on the board.
The steel
Low materials become an order to the supplier.
The work
Timers record the hours on the job.
The fitting
The card moves to Fitted, and the balance is invoiced.
Setting up takes four steps.
Make a team for the workshop
You invite everyone in the shop. Help: Create and manage a team.
Connect Stripe
You connect your Stripe account for deposits. Help: Connect Stripe to receive money.
Send a quote
You start from a starter or a past quote. Help: Prices, packages and payments in a proposal.
Add your materials
You add each material and supplier. Help: Order from suppliers and receive deliveries.
Plans
A workshop fits the Team plan, with each person in the shop a member. Customers who accept quotes and pay invoices are not added to the team.
Magpie takes no fee on deposits or invoice payments. Stripe's processing fee applies to each card payment. Prices are on the Pricing page.
Other makers and trades have pages of their own.
Potters, woodworkers and jewellers
A potter or maker sells their work online and at markets.
Small food and drink brands
A food producer makes batches and sells to shops.
Makers selling to shops
A wholesale maker sells to shops at trade prices.
Questions workshops ask
Can a customer choose between options on a quote?
Yes. A pricing section can offer packages, and optional lines the customer adds. The total updates as they choose.
Can the customer pay a deposit when they accept?
Yes. The payment schedule splits the total into a deposit, later payments and the balance. The deposit is paid by card as they accept.
Can we see where every job is?
Yes. The jobs board shows each job's card in its stage, with its due date and assignee. Cards move as the work moves.
Can low materials become an order?
Yes. Draft orders turns what is running low into an order for each supplier. You email it, or mark it sent.
Can big orders need approval?
Yes. A team admin can require approval for orders at or above a total you set.
Can we see the hours on each job?
Yes. Each job is a project with a budget of hours, and shows how many are used. Reports total the hours by job and by person.
Can we run safety checks on the machines?
Yes. Daily Operations has a workshop starter with checks such as machine guards and emergency stops. Each check appears when it is due.
Run your workshop from Magpie.
Create a Magpie account and make a team for the workshop.