Frequently asked questions

EstiMate is quoting, contracts, project management, invoicing and accounting software for UK builders and tradespeople. You price the job, send a quote the client accepts online, turn it into a contract and programme, run the job with site records and variations, invoice and get paid, and see your P&L, VAT and CIS in the Accounts tab. It runs on the web and as an iPhone app.

Sole traders and small to mid-sized firms: builders, electricians, plumbers and heating engineers, roofers, joiners, plasterers, landscapers, kitchen and bathroom fitters, decorators, and main contractors doing commercial fit-out. EstiMate Corp adds team seats for larger contractors.

EstiMate is built by Dave Groom, a tradesman turned contracts manager and founder of Tatton Projects, a design-and-build firm in Cheshire. It started as the spreadsheet his own company quoted from.

Yes. VAT (including reverse charge and 5%/0% rates), CIS deductions, JCT/NEC-style valuations, UK building terminology, £ pricing and UK trade day rates are built in. A US mode switches to sales tax and US terminology.

Describe the job in plain English (or upload drawings, a walk-round voice note and photos). The AI drafts the scope, material categories with quantities and prices, labour packages and a programme, using your own day rates and your quote history. You review and edit everything before it goes near a client.

Yes. Quote memory records every material price, labour package and margin from every quote you write — on the web, the phone or imported from old documents, whether it won or not — and feeds it to the AI so drafts match how your business prices. The material autocomplete suggests your last price for any item.

Yes. Upload PDFs, photos of a paper quote book, Excel breakdowns or Word documents and EstiMate rebuilds each as a live job with the same items, prices and total, keeping the originals attached.

Yes. The quote link opens on any phone with no login. Clients can accept, decline or request changes, pick optional extras, pay a deposit by card and later sign the contract. You see every response on the job.

Mark them 'Didn't win' (or the client declines on the link) and they move to their own tab with everything kept — pricing, documents and client — for reference, for quote memory and for the day the client comes back. They're reported separately on the Business, Reports and Accounts tabs and excluded from revenue.

Yes. A build contract is generated from the accepted quote with your payment terms, delays, responsibilities, insurance, guarantee and dispute wording; the client signs online and both sides get a copy. Variations become signed addenda.

Price the additional works from site, send the client a one-tap approval link, and the contract total, invoices and reports update automatically with an audit trail. Clients can also pick optional extras on the original quote.

Site diary with weather and workforce, RFIs, non-conformance reports, quality inspections, snagging with numbered pins on drawings and photos, site photos, drawings with mark-up, 360° tours, progress reports and worker time logs.

Yes. Share a job with a worker by QR code or link — their portal lets them log time, expenses, photos and site diary entries for that job without a full account. Team seats with roles are on EstiMate Corp.

Yes. Raise client invoices on each job, email them with a branded PDF and a pay-online link, and track invoiced, paid and owed across the business. Overdue invoices are chased automatically if you turn that on.

Yes — deposits and invoices can be paid online through Stripe on the EstiMate plan and above. Money goes to your connected Stripe account.

The Accounts tab gives you a Profit & Loss for any period, a VAT return helper, the CIS register, aged debtors with one-tap chasing and bank statement reconciliation — all built from the jobs, invoices, receipts and wages already in the app. Year-end exports go to your accountant.

Set your company VAT rate and override per job (20%, 5%, 0% or reverse charge). Quotes, invoices and the VAT helper use the right treatment, and reverse-charge invoices carry the required wording.

Free for up to 3 jobs a month. EstiMate is £15.99 a month for unlimited jobs, branded PDFs, contracts and payments. EstiMate Pro is £39.99 a month and adds the AI suite and Construction Copilot. Commercial (from £99) and Corp (from £249) serve tendering contractors and teams. No contracts; cancel any time.

The Free plan has no time limit — use it on real jobs. Pro has a free trial when you upgrade.

Your data is yours. It's stored on Supabase (PostgreSQL) in the EU with row-level security so only your company can read it, and files sit in private buckets. You can export your jobs and accounts at any time.

The iPhone app and web app both work on mobile data; photos and voice notes upload when you have signal. A connection is needed to sync.

In-app help assistant, email support at support@esti-mate.app, and priority support on Pro and above.