📋 The Brief
The Problem: Running a Field Service Business on Paper
A 12-engineer plumbing and heating company had grown quickly — from a 2-person operation to a team of 12 in three years. But the systems hadn't kept up. Jobs were booked by phone and written in a paper diary. Engineers received job details by WhatsApp message. Quotes were Word documents emailed as PDFs. Invoices were raised 2–3 weeks after completion because no one had a reliable record of what work had been done.
The result was predictable: jobs were double-booked, engineers sometimes showed up to addresses twice, customers chased invoices that hadn't been sent, and cash flow suffered because of the lag between job completion and billing. The owner was spending every evening on admin instead of running the business.
The brief was tight and clear: build a system where a job goes from customer enquiry to paid invoice with as little manual intervention as possible — and where every engineer knows exactly where to be and what to do, from their phone, without needing to call the office.
❌ Challenge
Jobs booked in a paper diary — double bookings common, no way to see engineer availability at a glance
✓ Solution
Digital scheduling board with real-time engineer availability — conflicts flagged before booking is confirmed
❌ Challenge
Invoices raised 2–3 weeks after jobs because completion details lived in engineers' paper job sheets
✓ Solution
Engineers complete digital job sheets on mobile at job completion — invoice auto-generated and ready to send same day
❌ Challenge
No quote tracking — quotes sent, then forgotten. Follow-ups done from memory, many fell through the cracks
✓ Solution
Quote pipeline with status tracking, automated follow-up reminders at 3 and 7 days after sending
🔄 The Core Workflow
Quote to Cash — One Seamless Flow
The platform is built around a single end-to-end workflow. Every touchpoint from first customer contact to final payment lives in one system — no copying data between tools, no manual handoffs.
📞
1
Enquiry Logged
Customer calls or submits online form. Job created with contact details and requirements.
📋
2
Quote Sent
Quote built in platform and sent by email. Customer approves with one click. Auto-follow-up if no response.
📅
3
Job Scheduled
Engineer assigned from availability view. Customer receives SMS confirmation with time window.
🔧
4
Job Completed
Engineer completes digital job sheet on phone — notes, photos, materials used, customer signature.
💳
5
Invoice Paid
Invoice auto-generated from job sheet. Sent by email. Customer pays via Stripe link. Done.
📦 Platform Features
Everything Built, Nothing Wasted
Every feature maps directly to a pain point identified in the discovery process. Nothing was built speculatively.
📋
Kanban Job Board
Visual dispatch board showing every job by status — New, Quoted, Scheduled, In Progress, Completed. Drag to move. Instant overview of the day's workload.
📅
Engineer Scheduling
Calendar view of all engineers — availability, current location and active jobs. Conflict detection prevents double-booking. Travel time estimates between consecutive jobs.
📱
Mobile Engineer App
PWA for engineers — view today's jobs, get navigation links, complete digital job sheets, capture photos and collect customer signatures on site.
💬
Quote Builder
Build itemised quotes from a parts/labour price list. Send branded PDF by email. Customer approves with one click — job status updates automatically.
🧾
Auto Invoice Generation
Invoice auto-generated from completed job sheet — parts used, labour hours, materials. Sent immediately on job completion. Stripe payment link included.
👤
Customer Portal
Customers log in to view upcoming appointments, job history, invoices and make payments. Reduces inbound calls asking "when is the engineer coming?"
⚙️ Tech Stack
Technologies Used
Next.js 14
React 18
TypeScript
PWA (mobile app)
PostgreSQL
Prisma ORM
Stripe API
Twilio SMS
SendGrid
AWS S3 (photos)
Google Maps API
Tailwind CSS
📅 Timeline
Live in 8 Weeks
1
Week 1
Process Mapping & Data Modelling
Shadowed the office team for two days. Mapped the full job lifecycle from enquiry to payment. Designed the data model — jobs, customers, engineers, quotes, invoices, job sheets.
2
Week 2–4
Core Job Management + Dispatch Board
Kanban board, job creation flow and engineer scheduling calendar built. Admin and office staff could create, assign and track jobs by end of week 4. First internal test with real jobs run.
3
Week 5–6
Mobile App + Digital Job Sheets
PWA built and tested on iOS and Android. Engineers could view jobs, navigate and complete job sheets with photo capture and digital signature. Three engineers piloted it on live jobs.
4
Week 7
Quote Builder + Invoice Automation
Quote builder with branded PDF generation live. Auto-invoice generation from completed job sheets. Stripe payment links integrated. First automated invoice sent and paid in the same week.
5
Week 8
Customer Portal, SMS Alerts & Launch
Customer portal live. SMS confirmation and engineer-on-the-way alerts configured via Twilio. Full team training completed. All 12 engineers onboarded. First paper-free day achieved on launch day.
📈 Results
Paper Gone. Cash Flow Fixed. Business Scaled.
The most immediate impact was on invoicing. In the old process, the average gap between job completion and invoice payment was 24 days — a combination of delayed invoice creation and slow follow-up. In the first month on the platform, that number dropped to 14 days. By month three it was 9 days.
3×
More jobs dispatched per day — same team, same engineers
40%
Faster invoice-to-payment cycle — from 24 days to 14 days average
0
Paper job sheets used since launch day
The dispatch board transformed the owner's daily routine. What had been an hour of morning chaos — calling engineers, checking a paper diary, figuring out who was where — became a 10-minute review of the Kanban board. The owner told us it was the first time in three years they'd left the office before 7pm regularly.
Within six months of launch, the company had taken on 4 additional engineers — something the owner said would have been operationally impossible to manage under the old system.