Hi, I'm Paul. I started out doing field work myself, on customers' sites with the paperwork to bring back at the end of every job. For more than ten years since, I've led the development of the electronic job and data-capture systems that field engineers use on site every day, at a large UK contractor.
Why I started this site
Most of my working life has been spent in the gap between the engineer on site and the office trying to invoice the job. I've seen the same problems again and again: missed calls with no one responsible for the callback, job records that come back without photos or readings, extras agreed on the doorstep and never written down, invoices that go out a week late because the details are missing.
A large contractor can throw people and systems at those problems. A plumber, electrician or builder running the business themselves usually can't, and software sales demos rarely start from how their week goes. I wanted to write down what I've learned about fixing those gaps, in plain language, for free.
What I know from doing the work, and what I don't
From my own work I know how field jobs get recorded, what makes a job sheet easy or impossible to fill in on site, how handovers between engineers and the office break down, and what happens when new software meets real engineers. I've written requirements for those systems, tested them before they went live, and trained the people who use them.
I'm not a plumber, electrician, gas engineer or builder, and I've never run a trade business of my own. I don't give technical trade advice, and I'm not a lawyer or an accountant. Where a guide mentions a legal, tax or safety rule, I check it against the official source, link to it and date the check. Examples in the guides are illustrative, and they're labelled as such.
How the guides are put together
Each guide starts from a problem trade businesses search for help with, such as missed calls, quotes that go cold or late payment. It sets out a routine you can run with the tools you already have. Facts come from primary sources such as the ICO, GOV.UK and legislation.gov.uk. Every guide shows when it was last checked. I haven't hands-on tested any supplier's software for this site, and the guides don't claim otherwise. See how we assess guides and tools for the detail.
How the site is paid for
At the moment the site has no affiliate links, sponsored placements or paid rankings. If that changes, any page with an affiliate link will say so before the first link, recommendations will be decided before affiliate status is known, and the affiliate disclosure page will explain how it works.
Get in touch
If something in a guide is wrong, out of date or doesn't match how your trade works, I want to hear about it. Email info@systemiseyourtrade.com and I'll check it and correct the guide where needed.