Invoice before you leave
You say: Invoice Mrs Evans: call-out plus an hour, new fill valve £18.
The invoice has its own page with your bank details, and a PDF. Show the QR code on your phone and she opens it there and then.
Invoice app for plumbersInvoice at the door. Extras included.
Tell Tools Down the call-out and anything you did while you were there. The invoice is ready before you’ve packed up, she scans a code on your phone, opens the invoice and pays by bank transfer from it, and the reminders chase if they don’t.
Coming soon to iPhone. First month free, no card.
Tools Down: Done. £128 for Mrs Evans.
Invoice · INV-0087Ready to share
Toilet repair, 12 Mill Lane
Mrs Evans
- Call-out and first hour
- £85
- Fill valve
- £18
- Isolation valve under the sink
- £25
Total£128
- Due on receipt
- Pay by bank transfer from the link
Heard on the forums
I give 14 days and chase when I have time
What matters on your jobs
What it does in a plumber’s day
The ten-minute extras get paid
You say: Add the isolation valve under the sink, £25, to Mrs Evans.
Say it by voice, with wet hands, as it happens. It goes on at that price, so it’s on the invoice instead of forgotten in the van.
Photos of what’s under the floor
You say: Show me the pipework photos from Mill Lane.
Take photos before the boards go back. They’re filed on the job, and when the leak question comes back in six months, ask and they’re there.
Planned jobs quoted and followed up
You say: Quote the Carters for a new vented cylinder, £1,150.
A quote page they accept in one tap, valid for 30 days. Gone quiet for a week? It shows up in your morning brief with a Follow up button.
One visit, one screen
- The call-out: “Mrs Evans, overflow running, Mill Lane.”
- While you’re there: the isolation valve, said by voice.
- Packing up: the invoice is ready.
- At the door: she scans the code on your phone, opens the invoice and pays by bank transfer.
- If she doesn’t: reminders at 3, 7 and 14 days, free.
The honest fit
What it doesn’t do yet
- No card payments, card reader or Tap to Pay, and no pay-by-bank button. The customer pays by bank transfer from the invoice page.
- No Water Regulations notifications, and no G3 or unvented commissioning certificates.
- Gas safety records are for Gas Safe registered engineers only.
- No Android and no team accounts yet.
Price and the free plan
Made for plumbers working on their own.
Free to start. One price if you need more.
- Your first month is free, with no card.
- After that, 50 messages a month to Tools Down stay free for good.
- Every screen works on the free plan: quotes, invoices, chasing, reminders, the customer’s pay page, gas safety records and export.
- Tools Down Pro is £29.99 a month including VAT, through Apple. It lifts the message limit and nothing else, and the price you join at is the price you keep.
- Tools Down’s ceiling is 2,000 jobs a month on every plan, so there’s no allowance to watch. A weekly fair-use limit on messages applies on every plan.
Coming soon to iPhone.
Be first to hear when Tools Down is ready for your iPhone.
We’ll only email you about early access. No spam.
Straight answers
Questions plumbers ask
Can I invoice on the spot, at the door?
Yes. Tell it the job by chat or voice and it makes the invoice: a page with your bank details, a PDF, and a QR code on your phone for the customer to scan. Card payments aren’t built; the customer pays by bank transfer.
Do I need to tell the water company before fitting something?
For some fittings in England and Wales, yes: for example a bath over 230 litres, a bidet with an ascending spray or flexible hose, or a pump drawing more than 12 litres a minute (Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999, reg 5). Approved contractors are exempt for some items.
Can a customer cancel after I’ve fixed an emergency leak?
A visit they asked for to carry out urgent repairs is outside the 14-day right to cancel (Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, reg 28(1)(e)). Planned work agreed at their home still carries the right.
Does it chase letting agents?
Yes. Every invoice is chased 3, 7 and 14 days after it’s due, free, until it’s paid. One tap pauses it.
Does it do gas safety records?
Yes, for Gas Safe registered engineers. If you’re not Gas Safe registered, you can’t do gas work at all (Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, reg 3).
Paperwork and rules
The rules around your work
Information, not advice. Open a rule to read it, with its source; check the source for your own job.
Notify the water company firstEngland and Wales
Some installations need notice and consent first, including a bath of more than 230 litres, a bidet with an ascending spray or flexible hose, and a pump or booster drawing more than 12 litres a minute. Approved contractors are exempt for some items.
Gas work needs Gas Safe registrationEngland, Wales and Scotland
Connecting or disconnecting a gas cooker, hob or boiler is gas work; a plumber who isn’t Gas Safe registered can’t do it.
Unvented cylindersEngland
Installing an unvented system is notifiable before work starts, unless the installer is in a competent person scheme for unvented systems.
Bathrooms and sanitarywareEngland and Wales
Installing a bathroom that involves plumbing may need approval; replacing baths, toilets, basins and sinks doesn’t.
Emergency call-outs and the right to cancelUK
A visit the customer asked for to carry out urgent repairs is outside the 14-day right to cancel. A planned job agreed in their home still carries it.
CIS on a builder’s jobUK
Installing water and heating systems for a contractor is construction work under CIS.
Your work
The jobs you quote and invoice
- Leaks, bursts and water through the ceiling
- Running toilets, fill and flush valves
- Dripping taps and seized stopcocks
- Outside taps and isolation valves
- Washing machine and dishwasher connections
- Sink and tap swaps, water softeners
- Vented and unvented cylinders
- Bathroom first and second fix
- Landlord and insurance work
How the money comes in
- Reactive work paid on the day: a call-out or first hour, then time and parts.
- Emergency and out-of-hours rates that differ from daytime.
- Letting agents order the work and pay later; the tenant is the one at the door.
- Deposits only for planned installs where parts are ordered.
Keep looking