Best Invoicing & Quoting Software for UK Plumbers & Gas Engineers (2026)
A 2026 comparison of invoicing and quoting software for UK plumbers and gas engineers, covering quoting speed, automated late-payment chasing, VAT and accounting export, and mobile use.
Best Invoicing & Quoting Software for UK Plumbers & Gas Engineers (2026)
The best invoicing and quoting software for a UK plumbing or gas business does two jobs well: it gets a professional quote in front of a customer fast, and it chases the money afterwards without anyone in the office having to remember to do it. Most standalone invoicing apps only handle the first job.
By Daniel Sedgwick, Founder and Managing Director of Checker
If you run a plumbing, heating or gas business in the UK, the most useful invoicing and quoting software is not simply the one with the nicest templates. It is the one that turns a quote into an accepted job quickly, gets the invoice out the same day, and chases that invoice automatically until it is paid, without you having to phone a customer who owes you money. Checker, Powered Now, Tradify, ServiceM8, Joblogic and Commusoft all produce professional UK quotes and invoices. What separates them is what happens after you hit send.
That gap matters more than most buying guides admit. 81% of UK tradespeople are currently chasing a late payment, with an average of £6,210 outstanding at any one time and 86 hours a year lost chasing it (Direct Line Group). Invoicing software that only produces a nice PDF has not solved that problem. It has just made the paperwork look better while the same amount of chasing still falls on you.
Key takeaways
- Judge invoicing and quoting software on what happens after the document goes out, not just how it looks.
- 81% of UK tradespeople are currently chasing late payments, averaging £6,210 outstanding and 86 hours a year wasted doing it (Direct Line Group).
- Most standalone quoting and invoicing apps stop at sending the document. Few automate the follow-up.
- Checker’s Quote Chaser follows up automatically up to three times (day 7, 10 and 14 by default) with a one-click Accept Quote button, and its Invoice Chaser fires when payment terms lapse and stops the moment the customer pays.
- Look for genuine VAT and accounting export (Xero, QuickBooks, Sage), mobile and offline use, and ask any vendor directly whether it supports deposit requests and online card payment, since this is not consistently documented across the category.
On this page
What to look for in invoicing and quoting software
Six things separate a genuinely useful tool from one that just tidies up your paperwork.
1. Quoting speed. A quote should go out as a PDF or a link from the van or the job, not from a laptop back at the office that evening.
2. Professional templates and branding. Your logo, your business name and your own tone, not a generic form that looks like every other trade’s paperwork.
3. Deposits and payment collection. Whether a tool supports deposit requests or online card payment varies a lot, and it is not consistently documented on vendor pricing pages. Ask directly rather than assuming it is included.
4. Automated chasing. This is the feature most buying guides skip, and the one that saves the most time. A tool that nags a late payer on your behalf beats a nicer-looking invoice that still needs you to phone someone.
5. VAT and accounting export. Two-way sync with Xero, QuickBooks or Sage means invoices and payments reconcile without manual re-entry.
6. Mobile and offline use. A quote or invoice raised from a basement or a van with no signal should not be lost. Check whether the app genuinely works offline or simply refuses to load without a connection.
These six criteria sit inside a wider decision about job management software generally. If scheduling and CRM matter to you as much as invoicing, see our comparison of job management and all-in-one apps for UK tradespeople.
The late payment problem in UK trades
Chasing money is not a minor admin task, it is measurable lost time and lost cash. Direct Line Group’s UK research found 81% of tradespeople are currently chasing a late payment, with an average of £6,210 outstanding at any one time and 86 hours a year spent chasing it, close to two working weeks. Every hour spent on the phone asking where a payment has got to is an hour not spent quoting the next job.
Software that automates the chase, not just the document, gets that time back. We go into the wider automation picture in how gas and heating engineers win repeat business on autopilot, and in our CRM and repeat-business comparison for UK trades.
Powered Now
Powered Now is a UK-based quoting, invoicing and forms app built around getting paperwork out fast from a phone: quotes, invoices and job sheets, with a particular focus on paperwork rather than broader job management. It suits sole traders and small plumbing, electrical and gas teams who want fast, simple document generation from site.
Pricing is per user, ex VAT: Business at £28 a month, Professional at £32, and Premium at £40, with two months free if billed annually and a 14-day free trial that does not require a card. Automated invoice and quote chasing is explicitly marketed as part of the Premium tier. Offline is a genuine, vendor-confirmed strength: “no signal, no problem,” with full offline working and data syncing once a connection returns. On accounting, Xero syncs two-way from the Professional plan upward; QuickBooks and Sage integration is not confirmed on Powered Now’s own site.
Checker
Checker is job management and compliance software built specifically for UK gas, electrical, plumbing and heating engineers, founded by Dan Sedgwick, a former gas engineer. It creates quotes and invoices as PDFs and lets you email them or send a link to the customer instantly. Checker’s own homepage currently puts the total at over 1.26 million invoices created to date, alongside close to 19,600 users and 6.88 million gas compliance reports logged.
Where Checker differs from standalone invoicing tools is what happens after the document goes out. Its Growth Engine automations do the chasing for you: Appointment Reminders fire 24 hours before a booked job, Quote Chaser follows up automatically up to three times (day 7, 10 and 14 by default) with a one-click Accept Quote button built into the message, and Invoice Chaser fires the moment payment terms lapse, running up to three independently toggleable follow-ups that stop the second the customer pays. An Annual Service Reminder also fires 11 months after a customer record is created (a record-creation timer, not the 12-month legal gas safety deadline, so it should not be relied on as a compliance date). All of this runs under your own business’s branding, so customers see a message from their engineer, not from a piece of software.
Pricing is transparent and per sub-user: Lite at £10.99 a month, Pro at £19.99, and Pro Plus at £25.99, all plus VAT, with no lock-in contract. Accounting syncs two-way with Xero, QuickBooks and Sage, and the app works offline, syncing job records, certificates and invoices to the cloud once signal returns. This combination of quoting, invoicing and automated chasing in one subscription is the main way Checker differs from a standalone invoicing app: you are not paying for a nicer template and then still doing the chasing yourself. You can get started at my.checker.app/register.
Tradify
Tradify is general job management software used widely by small UK trade teams, covering quoting, scheduling, timesheets and invoicing in one app. UK pricing runs Lite at £34, Pro at £37 and Plus at £44 per user per month.
Its reminder automation, called Service Reminders, schedules a reminder email roughly two weeks before a customer’s next service is due, but it is gated to the top Plus tier only, and a distinct automated invoice or quote chasing feature is not confirmed by name on Tradify’s own pricing pages. Accounting sync is solid: two-way with Xero at no extra charge and with QuickBooks Online, one-way (Tradify to Sage) with Sage Business Cloud, including CIS invoices. One limitation to know upfront: Tradify has no offline mode, a live connection is required at all times on both web and mobile, UK included.
ServiceM8
ServiceM8 is a mobile-first job diary, quoting and invoicing app popular with small plumbing and electrical teams who want to run the whole job from a phone. Pricing scales with job volume, ex VAT and with unlimited users on every paid plan: Free at £0 for 30 jobs a month, Starter at £25 for 50 jobs, Growing at £59 for 150 jobs, Premium at £119 for 500 jobs and Premium Plus at £269 for 1,500 jobs or more, with no contracts.
Offline use is vendor-confirmed directly: techs can log job details, take notes and add photos with no connection, syncing automatically once the device reconnects. Reminders exist through add-ons rather than as a bundled standard feature, a free Automation add-on plus a paid Recurring Jobs and Reminders add-on, and a distinct automated invoice or quote chasing feature is not confirmed by name. Xero syncs natively; QuickBooks and Sage support is not confirmed on ServiceM8’s own site.
Joblogic
Joblogic is UK job management software aimed at commercial and compliance-heavy trades running larger teams and service contracts. Standard pricing is £45 per user per month billed annually, with a 30-day free trial and a monthly rolling contract available as an alternative to the annual term; Premium and Enterprise tiers are quote-only and aimed at teams of 50 or more.
Accounting integrations are broad, natively covering Sage, Xero, QuickBooks, KashFlow, FreeAgent and AccountsIQ, though the Xero sync is only partially two-way (customers sync both ways, invoices and payments sync one-way from Joblogic to Xero). A customer-facing invoice-chasing feature of the kind Checker and Tradify offer is not confirmed by name on Joblogic’s pricing pages. At £45 per user before VAT, it is a heavier cost base than a sole trader doing mostly quoting and invoicing typically needs.
Commusoft
Commusoft is a UK field service platform built for established, multi-engineer businesses rather than sole traders, and Commusoft itself states it is designed for businesses with six or more staff. Pricing is not published self-serve, a demo call is required to get a figure, and core plans run on a 12-month contract that renews annually (additional monthly or daily licences exist for temporary or subcontracted staff, layered on top of that annual commitment).
Whether automated quote or invoice chasing and specific accounting integrations (Xero, QuickBooks, Sage) are included was not confirmed on Commusoft’s own site in the research behind this guide, so confirm both directly on a sales call before assuming they match what smaller, self-serve tools publish upfront.
Comparison table
| Tool | Quoting & invoicing | Automated chasing | VAT / accounting export | Mobile & offline | Pricing | Best suited for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Powered Now | Yes, forms-focused, fast document generation | Automated invoice/quote chasing on Premium tier | Xero two-way (Professional+); QuickBooks/Sage not confirmed | Yes, confirmed native offline | £28/£32/£40/user/month ex VAT | Sole traders needing fast quotes, invoices and forms |
| Checker | Yes, PDF quotes and invoices, emailed or sent as a link | Quote Chaser and Invoice Chaser, up to 3 follow-ups each, stops on payment | Xero, QuickBooks, Sage (two-way) | Yes, works offline, syncs on reconnect | Per sub-user: Lite £10.99, Pro £19.99, Pro Plus £25.99 (+VAT), no lock-in | Gas, electrical, plumbing and heating engineers wanting quoting, invoicing and automated chasing together |
| Tradify | Yes | Service Reminders (Plus tier only); no named invoice/quote chaser | Xero, QuickBooks (two-way); Sage (one-way) | No offline mode | Lite £34, Pro £37, Plus £44/user/month (UK) | Small to mid-sized teams with reliable site signal |
| ServiceM8 | Yes | Reminders via add-ons; no named invoice/quote chaser | Xero (native); QuickBooks/Sage not confirmed | Yes, syncs on reconnect | Free to £269/month by job volume, ex VAT, no contracts | Small, mobile-first trade businesses |
| Joblogic | Yes | Not confirmed by name | Sage, Xero, QuickBooks + more (Xero partly two-way) | Not documented | £45/user/month, annual; Premium/Enterprise quote-only | Commercial and compliance-heavy contractors |
| Commusoft | Yes | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed generally | Quote/demo only, 12-month contract, designed for 6+ staff | Established multi-engineer service businesses |
Frequently asked questions
What is the best invoicing and quoting software for UK plumbers and gas engineers?
There is no single best tool for every business, it depends on whether you need statutory gas or electrical certificates alongside invoicing, and whether you want the follow-up automated. Powered Now, Checker, Tradify, ServiceM8, Joblogic and Commusoft all produce professional UK quotes and invoices. Checker’s combination of quoting, invoicing and automated Quote Chaser and Invoice Chaser follow-ups makes it a strong fit specifically for gas, electrical, plumbing and heating businesses that want the chasing done for them.
Does invoicing software need to chase late payments automatically?
It does not need to, but it helps enormously. 81% of UK tradespeople are currently chasing a late payment, averaging £6,210 outstanding and 86 hours a year spent chasing it, according to Direct Line Group. Checker’s Invoice Chaser fires automatically when payment terms lapse and runs up to three follow-ups that stop the moment the customer pays, so that chasing does not fall on you manually.
Can I collect deposits or take card payments through trade invoicing software?
This varies a lot across the category and is not consistently documented on vendor pricing pages, so confirm it directly with any vendor you are shortlisting before assuming deposit requests or online card payment are included as standard.
What is the best free or low-cost quoting app for a sole trader plumber?
ServiceM8’s Free plan covers up to 30 jobs a month at no cost, and Checker’s Lite plan starts at £10.99 a month per sub-user plus VAT with no lock-in contract, both suited to a sole trader testing the water before committing to a bigger plan.
Does Checker sync invoices with Xero, QuickBooks or Sage?
Yes. Checker offers two-way sync with Xero, QuickBooks and Sage, so invoices and payments raised in Checker reconcile with the business’s accounts without manual double entry.
Daniel Sedgwick
Daniel Sedgwick is the founder and managing director of Checker, and a former gas engineer who built the tool he wished he had on the tools.
Try Checker
Checker is built by a former gas engineer for UK gas, electrical, plumbing, and heating businesses that want quoting, invoicing and automated chasing in one place, with no lock-in contract. Plans start at £10.99 a month per sub-user plus VAT.
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