You are under a sink with a torch in your teeth when the phone goes. It is a number you half recognise, asking about a quote you gave three weeks ago for a consumer unit — or was it a shower pump? You cannot remember, you cannot check, and you are not getting out from under the sink to find the notebook in the van. So you say you will ring back, and by the evening the job has gone to whoever answered properly.
ProTakip is job management software for electricians, plumbers and general trades. It runs on Android and iOS, works offline, and the first three months are free. It is built for people who work with their hands and run the business from a phone in their pocket, which is most of the trade.
Work orders, job sheets and the four stages
Every job in ProTakip has a customer, an address, an appointment, a description and a price, and it moves through four stages: to attend, in progress, ready and completed. For a sole trader that is a to-do list that finally stays in order. For a firm with three vans it is the difference between dispatching and guessing.
The notes on the job are the job sheet. What was found, what was done, what was left for another visit, what parts went in. Written at the property while you can still see the work, it takes a minute. Written from memory on Friday night, it takes ten and is wrong.
Because stage changes are timestamped against a user, you also get an accurate picture of how long call-outs and repeat visits actually take — which is usually the first evidence that your fixed prices need moving.
Estimating and quoting between jobs
Quoting is where trades businesses win or lose, and it almost always happens in a gap: in the van, at a doorstep, in ten minutes between calls. ProTakip lets you build the price from your own list — hourly rates, per-point or per-unit prices, fixed packages for the standard jobs, plus extras such as call-out charges, out-of-hours and materials handling.
Everyone in the business quotes from the same list, which is what makes a second van possible. Until the price list is written down, you personally have to price everything, and the business cannot grow past you. Our guide to building a price list works through minimum charges, travel and the jobs you should decline; the reasoning is identical for trades.
Quotes given by phone and never confirmed in writing are the most expensive habit in this trade. Recording the number against the customer at the moment you say it — and sending them a WhatsApp message with it — takes the argument off the table before it starts.
Knowing the property before you get there
A returning customer is worth three new ones, and the reason is on the customer card: the job history, the address with map location, and the notes. Where the stopcock is. That the fuse board is in the garage. That the tenant is only in after four. That the last visit was a temporary fix and the real job is still outstanding.
Those notes are also a sales list. Every trade has a folder of jobs the customer deferred; the ones written down get followed up, the ones in your head do not.
On Android, ProTakip shows who is calling before you answer, with their history and any outstanding balance, and it works with no internet connection at all — which is the point, because half of this trade happens in basements and lofts. The caller ID guide covers the setup; the mechanism is the same whatever the trade.
Appointments, and turning up when you said you would
The complaint about trades is never really about the work. It is about the morning somebody took off work and nobody came. ProTakip's calendar handles appointments and reminders, and automatic WhatsApp messages using your own templates confirm the slot and let the customer know when you are on the way.
That last message is worth more than it looks. A customer who knows you are twenty minutes away does not ring the office three times, and does not tell their neighbour you were unreliable. Our notifications guide covers what to send and, more usefully, what not to.
Materials, paperwork and what the customer takes away
Parts fitted, materials used and additional work agreed on the day all go on the job as it happens. When you finish, print a job sheet or receipt to a Bluetooth thermal printer and hand it over before you leave. A piece of paper with the work, the parts and the price on it settles almost every dispute that would otherwise arrive as a phone call a fortnight later.
ProTakip records what was charged, what was paid and what is outstanding on each job, with the balance on the customer card and a till record covering income and expenses by period and by staff member. It is not accounting software and does not file anything for you — it is the trading record that tells you where your money actually is.
Chasing the money without chasing customers away
Domestic customers forget; commercial customers pay on their own schedule. Either way the balance list is the tool: everyone who owes you, oldest first, on one screen. Most trades find several thousand sitting in that list that nobody ever asked about.
Our payment collection and balance tracking guide sets out a chase routine that stays polite and still works, including what to do about the customer who is always about to pay.
From sole trader to two vans
The jump from working alone to employing someone is where most trades businesses stall, because everything only exists in the owner's head. ProTakip is where you put it down: staff join with an invitation code and get only the permissions you allow, jobs are assigned to a person or a vehicle, and completed work per person is visible without anyone being micromanaged.
Push-to-talk and in-app messaging replace the constant back-and-forth calls between site and office. Everything works offline and syncs later, which matters when the job is in a plant room with no bars.
Existing customers and history can be brought in from Excel or another program — see the migration guide — and if you are still comparing tools, the nine criteria apply to any field service app. Firms that also handle heating and air conditioning run HVAC service work in the same account, and those doing larger jobs alongside call-outs use renovation and repair software for the project side.
Frequently asked questions
Is this suitable for a one-man band?
Yes, and arguably more so than for a large firm. A sole trader is quoting, working, scheduling and chasing payment with no office support, so a written price list, a customer history and a single list of unpaid balances save real hours every week. The first three months are free.
Can I put together a quote at the customer's door?
Yes. You build the estimate on your phone from your own price list — hourly, per unit, or fixed package — and add extras such as call-out or out-of-hours charges. The agreed figure stays on the job, so the price at the end matches the price at the start.
Can I print a receipt or job sheet on site?
Yes, to a Bluetooth thermal printer, including battery-powered models kept in the van. Handing over a printed record of the work, the parts and the price before you leave removes most later disputes.
Does the app work in basements and lofts with no signal?
Yes. Jobs, notes and payments all work offline and sync when the connection comes back. Caller ID on Android is offline by design, because phones routinely lose data during an incoming call.
Can I stop staff seeing my prices and turnover?
Yes. Team members join by invitation code with permissions you set. An employee can be limited to the jobs assigned to them and the customer details needed to do the work, with no visibility of company figures.