For drylining & ceiling fixers

Invoicing for drylining and ceiling fixers

Boarding, MF ceilings, and stud partitions are taken off the drawing by the metre and paid against a programme somebody else sets, one valuation at a time. Sendinvo puts the measure on the invoice, keeps the boards and sections on a line of their own, and works the CIS deduction out on the labour figure alone.

30 days of everything, free. No card needed.

How a package runs

Take it off the drawing, bill it at valuation

1

Price the measure

Areas in the Qty column, your rate beside them, and the line total works itself out. Send it as a quote and, once it is accepted online, it becomes an invoice carrying those lines, so nobody re-types the take-off.

2

Keep the boards off the labour

Fixing labour on its own lines, and the boards, MF sections, beads, and jointing materials on another. That split decides the deduction later, and it settles who is supplying what before the contractor’s office asks.

3

Invoice the valuation

The contractor pays at valuation, so bill at valuation: one invoice for that period, with its own labour figure and its own CIS deduction. On a private fit-out you invoice direct, split one invoice into a payment plan instead.

4

Chase the accounts office

You are not ringing anyone. Reminders follow the invoice on the schedule you set and stop the moment it is paid. A private client can pay by card once you connect Stripe, or by instant bank payment on a sterling invoice up to £10,000.

The awkward parts of the trade

Measured work on somebody else’s programme

Drylining is measured work billed against a programme you don’t set. You take the quantities off the drawing, the contractor pays what the surveyor values, and the deduction comes off before the money reaches you. The invoice has to hold up in an office you never visit, which means the measure has to match the drawing and the labour has to be separated from the boards before anything is deducted.

The measure goes on the invoice

MF and suspended ceilings by the square metre, stud partitions by the area of the wall, bulkheads and shadow gap by the linear metre. Put the area in the Qty column and the rate beside it, and the invoice carries its own working, so a surveyor can check it against the drawing instead of ringing you on site. The marked-up drawing or the take-off sheet can ride along with the invoice email, up to 10 MB across everything the message carries, the invoice PDF included. See email attachments.

Boards and sections on a line of their own

CIS comes off labour, never materials. Keep fixing labour on its own lines and the boards, MF sections, beads, and jointing materials on another, then enter the labour figure on the invoice. Sendinvo takes one labour figure per invoice, so when the boarding and the ceilings are priced separately, add those lines together and enter the total. Set your rate once in company settings, 20%, 30%, or 0% for gross payment status, and the deduction lands on the labour alone.

One invoice per valuation

A package can run for months across several plots or floors, so bill it the way it is valued: an invoice per period, each with its own labour figure, deduction, and due date, sitting together under one client. When the contractor’s accounts team wants the whole picture, a client statement puts every invoice for them on one branded A4 page with what is still outstanding. A CIS invoice can’t carry a deposit or a payment plan, so keep those for the fit-out work you invoice direct.

The reverse charge, between two VAT-registered firms

On CIS work between VAT-registered businesses, tick the domestic reverse charge alongside the deduction. The invoice charges no VAT and carries the wording HMRC expects, worked out on the full net, so the main contractor accounts for the VAT at their end and you don’t have to remember the phrasing.

When the package changes

Sites change their minds: the contractor takes over the board supply, or a floor comes out of your package. A credit note nets that value off the invoice at the rate it was billed at, and work that goes in instead is a new invoice. Regular monthly labour for the same contractor can sit on a recurring schedule and be raised and emailed on the same date each month, though CIS is ticked per invoice, so keep the deducted work on one-off invoices.

Long terms on a fast programme

You board a floor in a fortnight and wait two months for it. Reminders chase on the schedule you set and step up in tone as the invoice runs on. If a sterling invoice to another business goes past its due date, Sendinvo shows the statutory interest accrued at the base rate you keep in settings plus 8%, along with the fixed sum the Act allows, and drafts a separate interest invoice for you to read before it goes.

See it in action

The real app, seeded with a plasterer’s books

There isn’t a drylining demo yet, so this is the plastering one: two builders on a monthly account, a materials deposit on a large external render, an overdue invoice with reminders chasing it, quotes accepted online, and a credit note. Different trade, same screens you’d be working in. Have a click around.

sendinvo.com/invoices

A live demo seeded with a plastering business, the closest trade we have data for. Nothing you do here is saved or sent.

A worked example

One valuation on a housing block

Ceilings and partitions measured off the drawing, boards and sections on a line of their own, and the deduction taken on the two labour lines added together.

Valuation 3 to a main contractor, CIS at 20%
Labour, MF ceilings, 410m² at £14.50 £5,945.00
Labour, metal stud partitions, 96m² at £21.00 £2,016.00
Materials, boards, MF sections & jointing £2,364.00
Subtotal £10,325.00
VAT (domestic reverse charge) £0.00
CIS deduction (20% of the £7,961.00 labour) −£1,592.20
Amount due £8,732.80 Net of CIS

The labour figure is the two labour lines added together, £7,961.00, and the deduction is 20% of that rather than of the £10,325.00 subtotal, so the boards and sections keep their full value. Both firms are VAT registered, so the invoice charges no VAT and the contractor accounts for the £2,065.00 at their end. Valuation 4 goes out as its own invoice, with its own labour figure.

Questions

Good to know

Can I price boarding and ceilings by the square metre?

Yes. Every line carries a quantity and a rate, so 410m² of MF ceiling at £14.50 goes on as 410 in the Qty column, £14.50 as the rate, and £5,945.00 as the line total. Price the drawing as a quote first, and once the main contractor accepts it online it converts to an invoice carrying the same lines.

My labour sits on two lines. Which figure does the deduction come off?

The one you enter. Sendinvo takes a single labour figure per invoice, so add the labour lines together and put the total in the labour box. The deduction is worked out on that figure alone, at the rate you set in your company settings, and your boards, sections, and jointing materials keep their full value. Leave the box empty and the deduction comes off the whole subtotal.

Can I invoice against the main contractor’s valuation dates?

Yes, as one invoice per valuation. Raise an invoice for the work in that valuation, with its own labour figure, its own CIS deduction, and its own due date, and they sit together under the same client so you can see what is still out. A CIS invoice can’t carry a deposit or a payment plan, so keep instalments for the work you invoice direct.

The main contractor is VAT registered. What happens to the VAT?

On CIS work between VAT-registered businesses you tick the domestic reverse charge alongside the deduction. The invoice then charges no VAT and carries the wording HMRC expects, with the VAT worked out on the full net so the main contractor can account for it at their end. You never type the wording yourself.

The site supplied the boards after I’d invoiced. How do I take them off?

Issue a credit note against that invoice for the materials line. Its value comes off the balance to the penny, at the rate it was billed at, and if that clears what’s left the invoice settles to paid and its reminders stop. Anything you fit instead goes out as a new invoice.

The contractor’s terms run to 60 days. Can Sendinvo chase them?

Yes. Reminders go to the accounts office on the dates you set, and the tone steps up the longer the invoice runs. On an overdue sterling invoice to another business, Sendinvo shows the statutory interest accrued and the fixed compensation the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 allows, from £40 on a debt under £1,000, and one click drafts a separate interest invoice for you to read before it goes. The invoice the contractor already has is left exactly as it went out. This is general information, not legal advice.

Measure it once, invoice it at every valuation.

30 days of everything, free, no card. After that it’s £20 a month for one person and £5 a month for anyone else on the account.