FAQ

Questions, answered

What grafter.ly does, what it costs, and how it fits with the tools you already use.

What is grafter.ly?

Software that takes a job from the first enquiry through to paid — quoting, scheduling, invoicing, taking payment, and a board that shows where every job is.

Who is it for?

Trades and small service businesses — electricians, plumbers, builders, roofers, caterers, photographers and more. Sole traders and small teams of two to four, built around the working day: out doing the work all day, admin in a tired evening hour.

How much does it cost?

£25 a month, after a 30-day free trial. No card needed to start, no contract.

Is there a free trial?

Yes — your first 30 days are free, with no card needed to start. After that it's £25 a month.

How is it different from Checkatrade or MyBuilder?

Those are where leads come from. grafter.ly is where you run the job once you've won it — quote it, schedule it, invoice it, get paid. It isn't a lead marketplace and it doesn't replace one.

Does it replace my accounting software?

No. grafter.ly gets a job to invoiced and paid; it connects to Xero so the numbers land in your books without re-typing everything.

Can I use it on my phone?

Yes. It's built for a phone in one hand on a job site first, the laptop second.

How do customers pay me?

You send an invoice with a card payment link. The money goes to your own account through Stripe.

Can customers accept quotes online?

Yes. A quote gets a link the customer can open, accept, or decline — no printing or chasing.

How do I get started?

Sign up and you're in — your account and free trial start straight away. Forward your first enquiry email and it lands as a job, ready to quote.

How do I check an enquiry has what I need to quote?

An enquiry is matched to the kind of job it is — a fuse board change, a boiler swap, a wedding — and the job lists what the customer has already told you and what you still need to price it. Tap Ask the customer and the questions go out by email under your business name; they reply straight to you, or answer on a page with photos. If the job usually needs a look first, they can pick a morning or afternoon from your free days and it lands on your schedule.

Can I bring my existing jobs in?

Yes — upload an Excel or CSV and grafter.ly reads it, shows you what it found, and creates the jobs once you confirm. You start with your work already in, not an empty screen.

Where is my data stored?

On servers in the EU, with each business's data kept separate from every other's. The privacy policy has the detail.

Can I put my crew on it?

Yes. Your £25 covers you and two crew. Crew see their jobs, the week and the photos, and never see prices, quotes or invoices. A second person who needs to quote and invoice is an admin at £10 a month, and crew past the first two are £5 each.

Can it handle work that repeats?

Yes. Set the annual check, the quarterly service or the monthly clean once, and a real job is raised when it falls due. It's a job in your pipeline, not a reminder in a list you learn to ignore.

Does it do VAT?

It shows what you've charged and what you've paid out, by quarter, and works out the Flat Rate Scheme if you're on it. It does not file your return — we're not an MTD-recognised tool, so that still goes through whatever you or your accountant use. The figures run on invoices raised rather than payments received, so they won't match a cash-accounting return.

Does it handle CIS?

Yes, as a tax treatment on an invoice: the deduction comes off the labour and never the materials, and the payment link charges what's actually due rather than the full total. The domestic reverse charge is there too. It is not a contractor's CIS system — monthly returns, HMRC verification and subcontractor lists aren't here and aren't planned.

Can I take a deposit?

Yes. Set it on the quote while it's a draft, and when the customer accepts they're taken straight to a deposit invoice they can pay by card. You need Stripe connected for the card button to appear.

Does it work with QuickBooks?

Not yet. Xero works today. QuickBooks is planned, and until it lands you'd be exporting rather than syncing, which is worth knowing before you sign up.

What does it not do?

It doesn't file your VAT return, doesn't do electrical certificates (keep the app you already use), doesn't track time — you type the hours when you invoice — and doesn't give your customers a login. It also can't pull enquiries out of WhatsApp or a phone call yet; those you add yourself.

What's coming next?

One inbox that pulls Checkatrade, MyBuilder and WhatsApp enquiries in alongside email, with one-tap links straight back to the marketplace to accept or reply. QuickBooks alongside Xero. Both on the way, neither live yet. Full two-way sync we are not promising: no marketplace offers it to individual members through a public API, so anyone who tells you otherwise is guessing.