The van is loaded, the crew is on the third floor, and the customer is standing in an empty hallway asking whether the wardrobe went on this load or the next one. Nobody wrote it down. Somebody will find out at the other end, in four hours, when it is either there or it is not. Removals is a trade where a single missing item costs you the whole job's profit and the review that would have brought the next three.
ProTakip is job management software for removals firms, man-and-van operators and small logistics businesses. It runs on Android and iOS, works offline, and the first three months are free.
A move is a job with stages, not a date in a diary
Every move in ProTakip is a job with a customer, a collection address, a delivery address, a date and an agreed price, and it moves through four stages: booked, in progress, ready and delivered. Whoever is in the office sees where each crew is without ringing them.
Crews work from their own list. They open the job on arrival, close it on completion, and the times are recorded from the phone rather than from the schedule. After a month of that you know what a two-bed flat with no lift actually takes on your crews — which is the number your pricing should have been built on in the first place.
Storage and part-loads fit the same model. A consignment sitting in your unit is simply a job that has not reached its delivery stage, and it stays visible instead of being remembered.
Surveys, estimates and the price that does not move
Every argument in removals starts with an estimate given too quickly. ProTakip lets you build the quote from your own list — hourly crew rates, per-vehicle or per-load prices, fixed packages for standard moves — plus the extras that actually decide the day: packing materials, dismantling, piano or safe handling, long carry, no lift above the second floor, waiting time, congestion or parking charges.
Doing the survey on your phone means the extras get priced while you are standing in the property looking at the stairs, not afterwards from memory. Notes and the job description carry the detail the crew needs on the day — no parking bay booked, narrow lane, glass table top, keys collected from the agent at nine.
The discipline of a fixed, shared list is what allows anyone other than the owner to quote. The method is set out in our price list guide; the trade differs, the arithmetic does not.
Inventory, labels and knowing what went where
Print barcoded labels and job receipts to a Bluetooth thermal printer from the van. Labelling boxes and items against a job at the point of loading turns the inventory from a promise into a record: scan it at the other end and you know which job it belongs to.
For storage work this is not optional. A unit full of unlabelled consignments is a business that cannot answer a phone call. For house moves, it is what turns a stressful unload into a controlled one and stops the wardrobe conversation happening at all.
Crews, vans and the working day
Jobs are assigned to a crew member and a vehicle, so the day is planned as vehicles and people rather than as appointments. Staff join with an invitation code and get only the permissions you allow — a driver sees his own jobs and addresses, not your margins.
Push-to-talk and in-app messaging keep the office and the crews in contact without a phone call every twenty minutes, which is genuinely useful when a lorry is stuck in traffic and the receiving property has a two-hour access window. Vehicle tracking and area grouping show you which van is where when a same-day request comes in.
Multi-drop and part-load work lives or dies on route order. Our scheduling and route planning guide covers how to sequence a day, how much slack to build in, and when one more drop costs more than it earns.
Keeping the customer informed on the day
Moving day is the most stressful day most people have in a decade, and the anxiety is almost entirely about not knowing where their things are. Automatic WhatsApp messages on stage changes, using templates you write yourself, deal with most of it: crew on the way, loading complete, delivery under way.
It also protects you. A timestamped message saying the load left at eleven is a record, and records are what you want when a customer's memory of the day differs from yours. Our guide to customer notifications covers what to send and when.
On Android, ProTakip shows who is calling before you answer, with the job history attached, and it works with no internet — see the caller ID guide. Fielding a call from a customer whose move is tomorrow while you already have their details on screen makes a small firm sound like a large one.
Deposits, balances and getting paid
Removals runs on deposits and final balances, and both get lost easily. ProTakip records what was agreed, what has been paid and what remains on each job, with the balance on the customer card. The till record tracks income and expenses by period and by staff member, which is how you find out whether the fuel and parking on long jobs are being priced properly.
Commercial and agent work is where the balances accumulate. The list of who owes what, oldest first, is the tool; our collections guide covers chasing trade accounts without losing them. ProTakip is not accounting software and does not file anything for you — it keeps the trading record.
Getting set up
Existing customers and job history can be imported from Excel or another program; the data migration guide explains what carries across. If you are still comparing options, the nine criteria apply to any job management app. Firms that also offer end-of-tenancy work run home and office cleaning from the same account, and those handling clearance and refit jobs alongside moves add renovation and repair software.
Frequently asked questions
Can I record an inventory for each move?
Yes. Items and boxes can be recorded against the job and labelled with barcoded tags printed from a Bluetooth thermal printer in the van. Scanning a label at the destination confirms which job it belongs to, which matters most for storage and part-load work.
Can I do the survey and quote on site?
Yes. You build the estimate on your phone from your own price list — hourly crew rates, per vehicle, per load or fixed package — and add extras such as packing, dismantling, long carry or waiting time while you are standing in the property.
Can I see which van is on which job?
Yes. Jobs are assigned to a crew member and a vehicle, and jobs can be grouped by area with map locations, so the office can see where each van is working when a same-day request comes in.
How do customers get updates on moving day?
Through automatic WhatsApp messages triggered by stage changes, using templates you write in your own words — on the way, loading complete, delivery under way. You can also message a customer directly from their card.
Does it handle deposits and outstanding balances?
Yes. Deposits, part payments and the final settlement are all recorded against the job, and each customer card shows the running balance. You can pull a list of everyone who still owes money, oldest first.