The invoice app for UK painters & decorators.
Voice note in. Branded PDF invoice out — 15 seconds. Per-room or per-m² quoting, materials markup, prep itemised — all through WhatsApp.
£29.99/mo · 7 days free · no card needed
Start Free on WhatsAppTry it in your head. A real decorator’s voice note:
“Two-bed flat repaint for Mrs Lee, walls ceilings woodwork, three days labour, paint two-twenty.”
Painters and decorators get judged on what people see, but you get paid for what they don’t — the surface prep, the filler, the second coat that turns a flat into a finished job. Holdfort lets you itemise the bits customers forget so they see the value, and applies the right materials markup automatically. Voice-note the room, get a quote PDF before you’ve packed away the dust sheets.
Common decorators jobs on Holdfort
Full-house repaints
Voice-note the rooms, the prep needed (filling, sanding, priming) and the brand of paint. Holdfort outputs an itemised quote with labour days, materials, and prep as their own lines so the customer sees what a "paint job" actually involves.
Single-room and tenancy turnover
Per-room rate quoting for fast jobs — student lets, end-of-tenancy, vacant-to-rent. Customer signs off via WhatsApp, you start the same week, agent gets a branded PDF for their compliance file.
Wallpaper hanging
Voice-note the dimensions; Holdfort calculates rolls needed, paste, drops and waste. Pricing model switches to per-m² with a separate hanging-labour line.
Listed-building & heritage
Specialist paints (mineral, lime, breathable systems) flagged so the invoice carries the spec for conservation officers and surveyors who sign off the work.
How decorators actually use it day-to-day
Most decorators lose money in two places: under-quoting prep, and not charging for materials markup. Holdfort fixes both by default. When you voice-note a quote, it breaks the price into prep, paint, labour and finish — so the customer can see why a "simple repaint" is three days, not one. Your trade-account receipts (Dulux Trade, Crown Trade, Johnstone’s) auto-categorise; you set 10/15/20% markup once and every job applies it. For decorators doing 50–80 jobs a year, the difference in margin is roughly £4,000–£6,000 you weren’t capturing before.
Questions decorators ask us
Both. Voice-note "master bedroom, walls and ceiling, two coats Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt" and Holdfort outputs an itemised quote at your set m² rate. For day-rate site work, switch to a flat day rate per quote — no rebuilding the template each time.
Either. Set a default markup percentage (10/15/20%) on materials and Holdfort applies it across every quote and invoice. Or flag a specific job as pass-through-at-cost for trusted repeat customers — receipts attach to the invoice automatically so they can see what you actually paid.
Yes — fill, sand, prime are separate lines from the painting itself. This is the single biggest reason decorators under-charge: prep is invisible work and customers forget to ask about it. Itemising it makes the cost visible and stops the "but it’s only painting" pushback when you invoice.
Yes. Voice-note the spec ("two coats Earthborn Eggshell, breathable, listed grade II") and the line item carries the full spec on the invoice. Conservation officers and surveyors often need this on the paperwork to sign off the work and release retention.
£29.99/month, inc. VAT. 7 days free. No card to start. Founding-member price locked for life. See the pricing page.
No. Holdfort is WhatsApp — the one you already have. There’s nothing to install and no login to remember.
Yes. Quarterly-ready breakdowns, sole-trader categories, no spreadsheets. Ready for MTD for Income Tax from April 2026.
Finish the job. Voice note the details. Invoice done.
7 days free. 30 seconds to set up. Just WhatsApp.
Start Free on WhatsAppHold the fort. We’ve got the paperwork.