Invoice app for builders in London
Stage invoices, variations, CIS deductions — multi-month projects tracked through a single WhatsApp thread.
£29.99/mo · 7 days free · no card needed
Start Free on WhatsAppA real London builder’s voice note:
"Mrs Davies, Chelsea London, kitchen extension stage two, fourteen thousand, variation for the skylight two-fifty."
What builders in London actually have to log on a job
- CIS deductions — Subby gross/net flagged automatically on every invoice; monthly CIS300 export ready for your accountant.
- Stage payments & retentions — Valuation 1, 2, 3… each as its own invoice; final 5% retention auto-scheduled.
- Building Control sign-off — BC reference and inspector name attach to the invoice as a note.
- Materials vs labour split — VAT-correct lines so the client can claim back where eligible.
- Variations & day-works — Voice-note a variation, Holdfort drops it as a separate dated line so you don’t lose it at final account.
What builders in London actually deal with
Thames Water (most of the capital) or Affinity Water (north-west outskirts)
ULEZ — every day, every postcode. If your van is non-compliant, that’s £12.50 per working day on top of fuel.
32 London boroughs plus the City — Building Control is handled borough-by-borough, and Part P notifications vary by borough route.
Victorian terraces, ex-council flats, Georgian conversions, modern new-builds around Docklands and Stratford. Old lead pipework still common in pre-1970 stock.
Serving Chelsea, Hackney, Clapham, Islington, Camden and the rest of Greater London. Parking restrictions (red routes, controlled parking zones, school streets) and the congestion charge zone make a 20-minute job a two-hour billing situation.
London callout rates run £75–£120 vs £45–£80 for the rest of the UK. Materials cost the same but travel time and congestion eat the margin. Holdfort doesn’t set your prices — your rates are yours — but it stops you from losing track of what’s owed, what’s paid, and what’s been expensed along the way. All through WhatsApp. No app to install, no portal to log into.
Questions from London builders
Yes. Mark a payee as a CIS sub-contractor once and every invoice splits gross/net, deduction rate and verification number — all exportable to CIS300 at year-end.
Yes — voice-note "valuation 2 of 4, plus retention 5%" and Holdfort produces both as linked invoices on a single project so the running total stays accurate.
Not as a separate line, but you can log them as receipts (photo the email or Dart Charge notice) and they’re captured as deductible vehicle expenses at tax time. Every charged day reduces your tax bill.
Yes — set your scheme (NICEIC, NAPIT, ELECSA, Stroma) once. Each invoice prints the scheme and your notification reference, which is what boroughs like Southwark and Lambeth ask for on Building Control self-certification.
They voice-note the invoice from inside the van before moving. Sixty seconds, invoice sent, and they’re out of the red route before the warden comes. It’s the main reason central-London trades signed up first.
Yes — quarterly-ready breakdowns and sole-trader categories. Required for self-employed earners over the MTD threshold from April 2026. See the MTD guide.
£29.99 per month, all in. 7 days free, no card needed to start. Founding-member price locked for life.
London builder? Finish the job. Voice note the rest.
7 days free. 30 seconds to set up. Just WhatsApp.
Start Free on WhatsAppHold the fort. We’ve got the paperwork.