Field notes
The rules you have to work to
Plain explanations of the UK regulations, deadlines and pricing decisions that decide whether a construction business makes money. Written for contractors, with the statute cited, and useful whether or not you ever buy anything from us.
15 articles
Showing 6 of 15 — Getting paid
How to price a job properly: labour, materials, plant and overhead
Most underpriced jobs are not underpriced on the trade rate. They are underpriced because the overhead was never in the number at all.
21 July 20268 min Getting paidGetting paid faster: quoting, invoicing and chasing
Most late payment is caused before the invoice is sent. Fix the quote and the terms, then chase on a schedule rather than a feeling.
2 June 20268 min PaymentWhat is retention, and how do you actually get it released?
Three per cent of a year’s turnover sitting in someone else’s bank account is a real number. Here is how retention works and how to get it back.
26 May 20266 min CISCIS gross payment status: how to get it, and how firms lose it
Being paid gross is worth a great deal in cash flow. Three tests get you there and one late VAT return can take it away.
6 May 20266 min CISHow CIS deductions are calculated, and why materials are excluded
Take 20% off the whole invoice and you have underpaid your subcontractor. The deduction runs on the labour element only — here is the arithmetic, with examples.
21 April 20266 min VATWhat is the VAT domestic reverse charge, and does it apply to my job?
Five conditions decide it, and one of them is a question only your customer can answer. Here is how to work it out before you raise the invoice, not after it bounces.
14 April 20267 minBuilt for the way UK contractors actually work
Estimating, quoting, job management, timesheets, invoicing, CIS and site safety — with an offline field mode that installs to a phone and keeps working with no signal.