What "Add work" does
On any job, "Add work" is how you turn what you're going to do into a priced, itemized line the customer can approve. It's not a blank box you fight with — it's suggestion chips for your trade, a price field that already speaks your trade's language, and a running total that updates with every tap.
Each thing you add can carry the labor, a part, a plain-English note, and a photo, all grouped together. So one estimate reads clean: here's the work, here's what it costs, here's a picture of why.
What you can use it for
Tap, don’t type
Work suggestions are pre-loaded per trade — the common jobs you actually do. Tap one instead of typing it from scratch, and the wording and pricing come with it.
Price it your trade’s real way
Hourly for a mechanic. Per square foot for flooring. Per linear foot for fence. Per load for junk. A flat service-call menu for HVAC. The price field relabels itself so the number makes sense for your trade.
Measure from the sky
For outdoor work, trace the roof, driveway, or lawn from the satellite and the measurement drops straight into the quantity — no tape measure, no guessing the square footage.
Good-better-best without the upsell tier
Mark a line "optional" and the customer checks or unchecks it on the approval page, with the total updating live. The add-on close, built in.
How to add work to a job
- 1
Open a job and tap Add work
Start a new job or open one, then tap Add work to begin building the estimate line by line.
- 2
Tap a suggestion for your trade
Pick from the work suggestions loaded for your trade, or type your own. The right pricing model comes with it.
- 3
Set the number
Enter the hours, the square feet, the load size, or the flat price — whatever your trade bills by. Or pull the quantity from the aerial measure tool.
- 4
Add the part, the note, the photo
Attach a part (pull it from your inventory if you stock it), a plain note about the work, and a photo — all in the same line.
- 5
Watch the total and send
The "This work = $X" total updates as you go. When it’s right, send it for approval — the customer sees a clean, itemized estimate.
Why it’s built per trade
One flat hourly rate slapped on every trade gets you nonsense — a $400 oil change, a $5,000 gutter clean. Real trades bill real ways, and an estimate that ignores that looks amateur and prices wrong.
So SideWRK prices each trade the way it's actually done, with the common jobs already loaded. You spend less time typing, your numbers come out right, and the estimate looks like it came from a pro — because it did.
Service calls
A service call is you showing up and figuring out what’s wrong — and it’s worth money before you turn a wrench. Here’s how to charge a diagnostic fee, when to credit it toward the repair, how to bill the travel to get there, and what to add for an after-hours call. Then quote the fix and get it approved on the spot.
A service call — the diagnostic or trip fee — is what you charge to come out and diagnose the problem. It covers your drive, your time, and your expertise, whether or not the customer moves ahead with the repair. Across the trades it commonly runs around $80–$150, and it’s the single easiest fee for a new operator to give away by accident.
A common, fair move is to credit the diagnostic toward the repair if the customer approves the fix — so they don’t feel double-charged, and you still get paid for the trip if they don’t. In SideWRK you add the service call as its own line, then subtract it when the repair is approved, right on the estimate.
Get paid for showing up
The trip and the diagnosis have value even if the customer passes on the repair. A service-call fee makes sure a “just come take a look” doesn’t cost you a half-day for free.
Credit it toward the repair
Show the diagnostic fee on the estimate, then credit it against the repair if they proceed. The customer feels the fairness and you never eat the trip.
Bill the drive on far jobs
For a job outside your normal area, add a trip charge or bill the travel and mileage so a long haul doesn’t erase the profit. See billable mileage for how that rides on the job.
Charge for after-hours
A 2 a.m. no-heat call or a weekend lockout is worth more than a Tuesday afternoon. An after-hours or emergency premium prices the inconvenience honestly.
Bench fees, pickup, and delivery
Shop trades run the same play under different names: a bench fee to put the mower or the generator on the table, and a pickup-and-delivery charge when you fetch it. Same rule as the trip fee — it’s work, it goes on the estimate as its own line.
What moves the price
Two driveways, same square footage, different price — because one has a slope, a demo, and nowhere to park the truck. Every trade has its movers: access, height, tear-out, hazard, disposal, after-hours. The pros who win don’t hide them in a padded rate — they put each one on the estimate as its own line, where the customer can see exactly why the number is the number.
A price mover is the thing about this particular job that makes it cost more than the textbook version: the second-story gutters, the tear-off under the new roof, the slab that needs demo before the pour, the machine that’s down in a field at 9 p.m. Every trade has its own list, and every experienced operator prices them — the question is whether the customer can see it.
SideWRK’s answer is to make each mover its own line: tear-off priced per square, the demo as its own item, the after-hours premium named, the dump fee passed through. The estimate reads like a plan instead of a number pulled from the air — and when a customer compares you to a lowball quote that ignored the movers, yours is the one that looks like it came from someone who’s done this before.
Access and height
The second story multiplies window and gutter work, the steep pitch moves a roof bid, the backyard with no gate access moves the concrete pour. Walk the job, name it, and price it as a line — not a silent pad on the rate.
Tear-out, demo, and disposal
Old shingles, old flooring, the cracked slab — getting rid of the old is real work with a real dump fee. Itemize the tear-out and pass the disposal through at cost, so the customer sees both.
Hazard and complexity
The leaning tree over the fence, the pre-1978 paint, hydraulic work on a machine — risk and skill are worth money. A hazard or complexity line, plainly named, gets approved when it’s explained.
After-hours and downtime
The 9 p.m. call for a machine that has to run tomorrow morning is not a Tuesday-afternoon job. An after-hours or downtime premium prices the urgency honestly — and the customer paying it knows exactly why.
Aerial takeoff
No tape measure, no climbing on the roof to guess the square footage. Open the takeoff inside a job, trace the roof, driveway, or fence on the satellite map, and SideWRK prices the materials and labor at your rates — then drops the lines straight into the estimate and makes the pick sheet for the supply run.
Open the takeoff inside a job and you get a satellite map. Trace the roof, the driveway, the lawn, or the fence line, and SideWRK turns your outline into a real measurement — square feet, squares, or linear feet — then prices it at your own rates and real trade prices. One tap drops those priced lines into the estimate.
It doesn't stop at the number. The takeoff knows the job is, say, 19 squares or 43 bags of concrete — so one tap makes the pick sheet: the check-off shopping list you take to the supply house. Sky to takeoff to estimate to the supply run, without a tape measure.
Quote without climbing up there
Measure a roof or a driveway from the truck on the satellite map instead of hauling out a ladder and a measuring wheel to eyeball it.
Price it right, at your rates
The takeoff prices the area at your own material and labor rates, so the estimate comes out accurate instead of a rushed guess that leaves money on the job.
Turn a measurement into an estimate instantly
One tap drops the priced lines into the job — the measurement is the estimate, ready to send for approval.
Walk into the supply house with a list
The pick sheet turns the takeoff into a shopping list — bags, boards, squares — so you buy exactly what the job needs and nothing you don't.
Adding work — common questions
Do I have to type every line from scratch?
No. Each trade comes with work suggestions — the jobs you commonly do — so you tap to add them with the right wording and pricing already attached. You can always type your own too.
How does pricing work for my trade?
The price field matches how your trade bills: by the hour, the square foot, the linear foot, the load, per window or per square, or a flat service menu. You’re not forced into an hourly rate that doesn’t fit.
What is "measure from the sky"?
For outdoor trades, you trace the area — a roof, a driveway, a lawn — on a satellite image and the square footage fills into your line automatically, so the quantity is measured, not guessed.
Can I offer optional add-ons?
Yes. Mark any line optional and the customer checks or unchecks it on the approval page, with the total updating live — the good-better-best close without a pricier plan.
How much should a service call be?
It varies by trade and area, but a diagnostic or service-call fee commonly runs about $80–$150 — often around $100. Set yours to cover your drive, your time, and the expertise to diagnose the problem.
Should I credit the fee toward the repair?
Many pros do. Showing the diagnostic fee and then crediting it against the repair if the customer proceeds feels fair to them and still pays you for the trip if they don’t move ahead.
Can I bill for travel on a far job?
Yes. Add a trip charge or bill the travel time and mileage as its own line so a long drive doesn’t eat your profit. See the billable mileage page for how it attaches to the job.
What about after-hours or emergency calls?
Charge more for them. A night, weekend, or emergency call is worth an after-hours premium — add it as a line so the higher rate is clear on the estimate.
What’s a bench fee, and should I charge pickup and delivery?
A bench fee is the shop version of the diagnostic — what it costs to get the machine on the bench and figure it out, often credited toward the repair. If you pick up and drop off, that trip is a real cost too; add pickup and delivery as its own line so the estimate reads honest and you’re not driving for free.
Should I set a minimum charge?
Most pros do — a one- or two-hour minimum or a flat trip fee, so a ten-minute job still covers the drive and the setup. SideWRK lets you set a job minimum per trade, and it nudges you when a job you’re writing comes in under it.
Why not just raise my rate to cover the hard stuff?
Because then every easy job is overpriced and every hard job is underpriced. Pricing the movers as their own lines makes each job carry its own weight — and customers approve a number they can see the reasons for.
What are the most common price movers?
Access (the second story, the fenced backyard, the far site), tear-out and disposal, hazard and complexity (the leaning tree, hydraulics, old paint), and timing (after-hours, downtime-critical, peak season). Every trade has its own version of each.
How do I charge for after-hours or emergency work?
Add the premium as its own named line. The customer calling at 9 p.m. for a machine that must run tomorrow understands urgency has a price — what they don’t like is finding it hidden in a padded rate later.
What if I find a hidden mover mid-job?
Add the work and the customer authorizes the new total before you continue — the rot under the shingles becomes an approved line, not an argument at the invoice.
Which trades is the takeoff for?
The outdoor, area-measured trades: roofing, concrete, fence, landscaping, sealcoating, pressure washing — anything you bill by the square foot, the square, or the linear foot.
How accurate is a satellite measurement?
It's a strong estimate off the aerial imagery — accurate enough to quote confidently — and you can adjust the outline or the numbers before you send. For a tight final, confirm on site.
Does it price the job or just measure it?
Both. It measures the area and prices the materials and labor at your own rates, then drops those priced lines straight into the estimate.
What is the pick sheet?
The shopping list the takeoff builds from the measurement — bags, boards, squares — a check-off list for the supply run so you buy exactly what the job needs.