Quoting software for electricians.
A lot of electrical work gets priced twice: roughly, at the door, and properly later that evening. TradeDraft is for the second one. It handles the parts that are easy to get wrong on subcontract work, and shows you what the job leaves you before the price goes out.
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CIS is worked out on the labour
Materials are excluded at direct cost. That is the HMRC rule, and it is the one most often applied loosely. Enter the materials figure and the deduction is calculated on the labour element at your verified rate, with the split printed so the contractor can check it against their own records. Our CIS guide for subcontractors covers the rule itself. What changes between a house and a shop is in domestic vs commercial work.
The reverse charge, only where it belongs
Both directions cost you. Charge VAT when you should not have and the customer cannot reclaim it; miss it when you should have and the liability sits with you. TradeDraft tests the conditions that decide it, applies the charge only when all of them are met, and prints the required wording on the quote and the invoice. Background is in the reverse charge guide.
Your own prices, reused
Board changes, rewires, EV chargers: jobs you have done enough times to know what you charge. The rate book stores what you charge for each and drops it into the next quote, so the fourth consumer unit this month is priced the same way as the first three. Every figure is one you entered, which matters when the figure you send is one you are held to.
The margin is on screen while you build
The van, the insurance, the scheme fees and the test kit are paid for by the jobs, whether a quote allowed for them or not. TradeDraft spreads them across the days each job takes and shows the margin as you build, so a quote that does not pay is obvious before it goes rather than at the year end. The customer sees priced items and nothing labelled overhead. The sums are in our guide to working out your day rate.
What it has nothing to do with
It will not issue an EICR, a minor works certificate or an installation certificate, and it does not read your test instruments. There is no scheduling, no timesheets and no team rota either. It is built for one or two people rather than a fleet.
Questions worth asking first
What does a quote to a main contractor show for CIS and the reverse charge?
Where you and the contractor are both VAT-registered and the work is reported under CIS, the quote is net of VAT, carries the reverse charge wording and shows the VAT rate and amount for information. The CIS deduction sits beneath it, worked out on the labour with your materials figure taken out. If the customer is the end user and has told you so in writing, VAT is charged the normal way instead, and TradeDraft asks that question before it decides.
How much is it?
£45 a month or £450 a year, flat, with no per-user charge. Start by 5 April and it’s £22.50 a month for your first 12 months.