Choosing job management software as an electrician: a buyer’s checklist

Most job-management tools look the same on a demo. The differences show up three months in, when you’re on site with no signal or trying to raise a CIS invoice at 9pm. Here’s a checklist built around where electricians actually lose time.

On site

• Does the field app work offline? A job doesn’t stop when the signal does — captures should save and sync later, not fail.
• Can you capture the EICR / EIC observations on the phone, not re-type them at the office?
• Can the engineer see site access details — key-safe codes, who to call — without ringing the office?

The certificates

• Does it issue the certificates you actually produce — EICR, EIC, minor works, EV, PAT — to current BS 7671 model forms?
• Are your NICEIC/NAPIT numbers stamped on the PDF automatically?
• Does it remind you before the next inspection or test is due, so re-inspection work comes back to you?

Getting paid

• Does it handle the VAT domestic reverse charge, CIS deductions on labour, and retention — correctly layered — or do you patch it in a spreadsheet?
• Can a finished job become an invoice in one click, from the labour and materials already captured?
• Can customers pay by card from the invoice — with the money landing in your own account, not the vendor's?

The commercial traps

• Per-seat pricing that climbs with every hire — flat team pricing is usually kinder as you grow.
• Setup fees and ‘book a demo to see the price’ — a sign of a sales-led, not product-led, tool.
• Data lock-in — make sure you can export everything you hold, whenever you want.

The honest test

The best check is to run a real job through it on a free trial before you commit — create the job, do it on the field app, and raise the invoice — and see where it fights you. Worksum is built around exactly that loop for UK trades, with a free trial and no card required, so you can test the parts above on your own workflow before deciding.