Struggling with invoicing my cabinet crew, QuickBooks is killing me
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HeatPumpHero
·4mo·41 replies·37 participants
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HeatPumpHero⚒️ JourneymanOP4mo
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I've been running a small carpentry shop for 8 years, mostly custom cabinets and trim work, and just hired two new guys to handle the Festool router setups. But invoicing them through QuickBooks Online is a nightmare, especially splitting out the $75/hr labor for each on jobs like that $4,200 kitchen refit last month. Anyone got tips for making this less of a headache without switching software?
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LeakHunter7⚒️ Journeyman4mo
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Screw QuickBooks, those PE-backed assholes jacking up prices every year to squeeze us independents dry.
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GreenthumbGreg⚒️ Journeyman4mo
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Yeah, it's like they forgot we're the ones paying their yacht bills. Switched to Joist last year and never looked back.
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GreenThumbGuru7⚒️ Journeyman3mo
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Joist is solid for mobile invoicing on the jobsite.
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GarageGuruGary2⚒️ Journeyman3mo
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PE firms buying up software companies is ruining the game for small shops like ours.
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FloorKing99⚒️ Journeyman3mo
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Totally, now everything's subscription BS with hidden fees.
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FixItFelix6⚒️ Journeyman3mo
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Try exporting to Excel first, then tweak the splits there before finalizing in QB.
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SparkJockey3⭐ Expert3mo
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That works if you're doing under 10 invoices a week.
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WeedWhackerWill⭐ Expert3mo
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Man, I hate dealing with payroll deductions on top of material costs for plywood and hardware. Last crew I had screwed me on a deck job by underreporting hours.
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DeadboltDude⭐ Expert3mo
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Underreporting? That's theft, fire their asses.
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HeatPumpHank⚒️ Journeyman3mo
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Use Jobber, integrates invoicing with time tracking for employees right on their phones.
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JoistJoker⚒️ Journeyman3mo
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Jobber's great, but the routing add-on is worthless for static carpentry gigs.
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DrainDragon3⚒️ Journeyman3mo
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Proud of my setup now, went paperless with digital signatures on invoices and hit 95% on-time payments this quarter.
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SlateSlinger4⚒️ Journeyman3mo
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Same here, my back's killing me from long days, but these invoicing glitches make it worse.
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PipeLord42028⭐ Expert3mo
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I feel you, been chasing hours from lazy apprentices who ghost the time sheets.
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LeakLocator2⚒️ Journeyman3mo
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Yeah, nothing worse than arguing over 2 hours on a crown molding install.
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RollerRogue5⚒️ Journeyman2mo
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Total commiseration, my team's always shorting logs to sneak off early.
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BumpKeyBandit⚒️ Journeyman2mo
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SharkBite for plumbing sure, but for carpentry invoicing? Nah, stick to tried and true spreadsheets over fancy apps.
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WattTheHeck14⚒️ Journeyman2mo
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Spreadsheets are free, but they error out on big jobs with multiple employees.
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ShingleShark8⚒️ Journeyman2mo
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Controversial take: fancy apps like ServiceTitan are overkill for us woodworkers, just breeds dependency.
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FloorFixer⚒️ Journeyman2mo
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Those corporate software giants are the real enemy, locking us into contracts we can't escape.
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KeyMaster8⚒️ Journeyman2mo
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Festool tools are premium, but pairing with cheap invoicing software just frustrates everyone.
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NotAnElectrician12⚒️ Journeyman2mo
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I feel your pain, hired a newbie who botched a door frame job and invoicing the fix ate my margin.
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LockPickLarry8⚒️ Journeyman2mo
35
Same struggle, employees padding hours on simple trim runs to juice their pay.
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AmpedUp⚒️ Journeyman2mo
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My whole crew vents about this after shifts, kills the morale.
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PaintSplatterPat🔧 Apprentice2mo
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FieldPulse has a clean interface for tracking employee hours per project, worth the trial.
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WrenchWarrior⭐ Expert2mo
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Warning: don't skip verifying hours weekly, or you'll eat the overages like I did on a $5k remodel.
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FaucetFiend⚒️ Journeyman2mo
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Frustrated as hell, last month my lead guy disputed an invoice split and we almost lost him.
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BugBusterJoe3⚒️ Journeyman2mo
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Haha, my invoicing software glitched and billed a client for 'ghost labor' from non-existent employees.
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ShingleShark17⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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Set up automated alerts in QuickBooks for hour discrepancies, saved me from a few messes.
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RollerRanger4⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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Don't trust employee self-reports without spot checks, had a guy claim 10 hours on a 4-hour cabinet install.
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DuctDoctor10⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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Frustrated with the learning curve, but once dialed in, QuickBooks handles splits decently for multi-man crews.
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ShingleShark17⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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Yeah, been there with payroll fights over joist work hours.
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RollerRanger4⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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Try Housecall Pro, their employee portal makes time entry foolproof and invoicing seamless.
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DuctDoctor10⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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Spot on, commiserating from a shop full of similar headaches this season.
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PipeDreamer19⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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man, quickbooks has been a total nightmare for tracking our crew's hours too, feels like it fights you every step.
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HaulHero2⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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quickbooks is a damn headache, spent two hours last week just trying to enter crew hours and it crashed on me. switched to jobber for invoicing and it aint perfect but at least it doesnt fight you every step.
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LeakHunter7⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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dude, quickbooks is a total pain for crew time tracking, try housecall pro instead, it syncs hours straight from the app and spits out invoices in like 5 minutes. saved my ass on a big cabinet job last month, no more late night cursing at the screen.
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NailGunNinja2⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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man, quickbooks has me ripping my hair out on every damn job, switching to housecall pro was the best move i made.
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CleanFreak42⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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QB is a total nightmare, man, been there with my crew and it sucked.
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OpenerOperator3⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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ditch quickbooks before it tanks your whole operation, i lost a full week of hours once because it glitched out on a payroll run. been running a small cabinet shop for years and that crap made me redo everything by hand. dont trust their cloud sync either, had a client payment vanish into thin air last summer. switched to housecall pro and never looked back, tracks crew hours without the bs fights. if youre still on qb, export your data now while you can. seriously, one bad update and youre screwed with no backup. ive seen guys eat the cost on jobs because of this mess.
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FixItFelix6⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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For bigger crews, outsource invoicing to a VA service, costs $200/month but frees you up for actual building.
