Workhand Setup Guide

From signup to your first sent estimate in about 20 minutes. The recommended order of operations for new contractors, written so you never have to backtrack to fill in a missing piece.

Note about features: Workhand v1.0 (in the App Store now) includes estimates, invoices, daily logs with photos, crew chat, time tracking, subcontractor management, multi-language documents, job costing, and punch lists. Features marked v1.1 — QuickBooks sync, AI estimates, mileage, online payments, customer portal, sales pipeline, reports, recurring invoices, photo annotations, public profile — ship in the v1.1 update rolling out alongside our v1.0 App Store launch, free for all paying customers.

Pick your setup level

Match the level to how much time you have today. You can always come back and finish later.

5 minutes

Level 1

"I just want to send an estimate."

  • Sign up
  • One customer
  • One job
  • Estimate from scratch
  • Send it
60-90 minutes

Level 3

"I want everything wired up."

  • Everything in Level 2
  • Invite crew / subs
  • QuickBooks & Stripe
  • Public profile page
  • Notifications, recurring billing
Step 1 · 1 minute

Sign up and create your account

  1. Go to workhand.app or download from the App Store / Google Play
  2. Tap Sign Up
  3. Enter your email and a password
  4. Tap the verification link in your email
  5. You're in

A company record was created and you're the owner. You're on the Free plan (1 active job, 1 user). Pro and Team plans have 14-day free trials.

Tip: Use a real business email, not Gmail, so estimates and invoices come from [email protected]. Changeable later in Settings.
Step 2 · 5 minutes

Set up your business profile

Makes every document you send look like it's from your business, not generic Workhand.

  1. Tap the Settings tab
  2. Tap Business profile
  3. Fill in business name, address, phone, email, and upload a logo (500×200px JPG/PNG works best)
  4. Tap Save
Tip: No logo yet? Just put your business name in clean text. Better than a fuzzy low-res image.
Step 3 · 2 minutes

Set tax rate and currency

  1. Settings → Defaults
  2. Set your default tax rate (e.g., 7% for Florida)
  3. Set your currency (USD default)
  4. Tap Save

Setting it once means every estimate auto-includes the right tax. Skip this and you'll add 7% manually 100 times this year — and forget once.

Step 4 · 10 minutes for 5-10 products

Add your products / services

Products are the line items you put on estimates. Add them once, drop them onto any estimate later with one tap.

  1. Settings → Products
  2. Tap + New product
  3. Fill in name, description, default price, unit (each / sq ft / hour / day)
  4. Cost price and material are internal only — customers never see them
  5. Tap Save
Tip: Don't try to add every product on day 1. Add the 10 most common, ship a job, then add more as you encounter them.
Step 5 · 10 minutes per template

Build estimate templates

If you bid similar jobs repeatedly, save them as templates. Future estimates take 30 seconds instead of 30 minutes.

  1. Settings → Estimate Templates
  2. Tap + New template
  3. Name it (e.g., "Standard gunite pool")
  4. Add line items: pick from your products, or type one-off lines
  5. Set default quantities and tap Save

Next estimate: tap From template at the top → pick the template → all line items appear. Edit quantities, add extras, send.

Multi-language tip: Workhand supports English, Spanish, and Portuguese estimates. Set default language in Settings → Language.
Step 6 · 5 minutes (optional)

Set up punch list defaults

Standard finish-out tasks for every job ("Clean site", "Final walkthrough", "Submit warranty paperwork")? Save them once.

  1. Settings → Punch defaults
  2. Tap + Add default item for each
  3. Save

Every new job starts with these in its punch list. Skip if you don't use punch lists.

Step 7 · 1 minute per customer

Create your first customer

  1. Tap the Customers tab
  2. Tap + New customer
  3. Fill in name (required), email, phone, address, notes
  4. Tap Save
Migrating 100+ customers from another tool? Don't type them in one by one. Email [email protected] with a CSV export and we'll bulk-import within 24 hours.
Step 8 · 1 minute

Create your first job

  1. Tap the Jobs tab
  2. Tap + New job
  3. Fill in title (e.g., "Wilson Pool Installation"), customer, address
  4. Optional: upload a hero photo
  5. Tap Save

The job is the container for everything: estimate, invoice, daily logs, photos, chat.

Tip: Name jobs so you'll recognize them 6 months from now. "Wilson Pool Installation" beats "Job #42".
Step 9 · 5 minutes from scratch, 30 seconds from a template

Build and send your first estimate

  1. Open the job you just created
  2. Tap the Estimate tab
  3. Tap + New estimate OR From template
  4. Add line items: pick from products or type one-off lines
  5. Adjust quantities; optionally add notes
  6. Total auto-calculates with your default tax rate
  7. Tap Send, enter the customer's email, send

Customer gets an email with a button that opens the estimate in their browser. They can view, tap Accept estimate, pay a deposit v1.1, or reply with questions.

Tip: Send estimates the same day as the site visit. Closing rate drops about 30% for every day you wait.

What v1.1 adds

  • v1.1 AI line-item suggestions — describe the job in plain English; AI suggests line items based on your past estimates.
  • v1.1 Read receipts — see when the customer opened the estimate.
  • v1.1 Online deposit — customer can pay a partial deposit through Stripe when accepting.
Step 10 · 30 seconds

When the estimate is accepted, convert to invoice

You'll get a push notification when the customer accepts. Now:

  1. Open the job
  2. Tap the Invoice tab
  3. Tap + New invoice → Convert from accepted estimate
  4. Line items copy over — adjust quantities for change orders
  5. Set a due date (typical: 30 days)
  6. Tap Send

Customer gets an email with the invoice and a Pay online button v1.1.

Step 11 · 2-5 minutes per day per job

Daily logs — the habit that wins reviews

After every workday on a job:

  1. Open the job
  2. Tap the Daily log tab
  3. Tap + New log
  4. Fill in: date, hours worked, optional weather, 2-3 sentence notes
  5. Add 3-5 progress photos
  6. Tap Save

Customer sees these in their customer portal v1.1. Even if they don't look every day, the cumulative photo trail at job-end is your best review-asking moment.

Step 12 · 30 seconds v1.1

Photo annotations

When a photo needs explanation ("this is where the leak is", "customer asked for an outlet here"):

  1. Open the photo
  2. Tap Annotate
  3. Tap on the photo where you want to drop a pin
  4. Type a short label (max 120 chars)
  5. Tap Save

Annotation stays with the photo and appears in the customer portal.

Power features — set up when you grow into them

These aren't required on day 1. Come back when your business needs them.

Subcontractors and team

When: you have 2+ crew members or use subcontractors.

  1. Settings → Team → invite by email
  2. Settings → Subcontractors → add subs separately; track COI expiration

Workhand sends alerts 30 days before any sub's insurance expires.

QuickBooks Online sync v1.1

When: you do your books in QBO.

  1. Settings → Integrations → QuickBooks
  2. Tap Connect, sign in to QBO, authorize Workhand
  3. Map accounts

Workhand pushes every new invoice + payment to QBO automatically.

Stripe Connect for online payments v1.1

When: you want customers to pay invoices online.

  1. Settings → Integrations → Stripe
  2. Tap Connect Stripe account
  3. Follow Stripe Standard onboarding (5-10 min)

Stripe takes 2.9% + $0.30. Workhand charges no platform fee — money goes directly to your Stripe account.

Public profile page v1.1

When: you want a lead form / landing page for free.

  1. Settings → Public profile
  2. Fill in business description, trades, service area, photos
  3. Your page is live at workhand.app/c/your-business-name

Sales pipeline v1.1

When: you handle multiple leads at once.

Tap the Leads tab. Move leads through stages: New → Contacted → Quoted → Won/Lost. One-tap convert to customer + job + estimate.

Mileage tracking v1.1

When: you drive for work and want IRS-rate write-offs.

Tap Mileage+ New trip → enter distance and (optional) job. End of year: export a Schedule C-ready CSV.

Recurring invoices v1.1

When: you have monthly maintenance contracts.

On the customer's profile, tap Set up recurring invoice. Pick amount, cycle, start date, auto-charge (if Stripe Connect is set up). Set it and forget it.

Reports v1.1

When: you want to know what's actually making you money.

Settings → Reports. Revenue trend, top customers, win rate (estimates accepted ÷ sent), lead conversion, outstanding receivables. Run monthly.

Recommended cadence

Daily (5-15 min)

Weekly (15-30 min)

Monthly (30 min)

Quarterly (60 min)

Three setup mistakes to avoid

  1. Building 50 products before sending your first estimate. Build the 5 most common, ship, then add as you go.
  2. Skipping the business profile. Customers judge you by the look of your estimate. A logo and address takes you from "random app" to "real business."
  3. Not setting up daily logs. The habit with the highest ROI in the entire app. Every minute spent logging today is a Google review you close in 3 months.

When something goes wrong

"I can't send estimates / they bounce"

Most likely: customer's email is invalid. Double-check spelling. Workhand emails come from [email protected] by default; some corporate firewalls block it — ask the customer to whitelist.

"The customer says they didn't get my estimate"

Check the read-receipt status v1.1. If "not opened" — went to spam. Resend the estimate; the second copy often lands in inbox.

"I sent the wrong total / wrong line items"

Open the estimate → Revise. Edit. Tap Send revised estimate. Customer gets a new email with the update. Don't delete the original — the audit trail matters.

"My QuickBooks sync stopped working"

Settings → Integrations → QuickBooks. If it says "Reauthorize," tap and re-do OAuth. If invoices haven't synced for >24 hours, email [email protected].

"I lost my data / something broke"

Settings → Data export → download customers, jobs, estimates, invoices as CSV any time. Your data is yours. Backups go back 30 days.

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