The hidden bill on paper job sheets
You're already paying it. You just can't see it.
£150-280
per engineer / per week
Based on a typical UK engineer doing 8 jobs a week at a £75/hr billable rate. Most teams land in the middle once they sit down and count.
Here's where the money goes
The leaks
£15-25
per week
Office time typing 8 sheets a week into your accounts package
£30-65
per week
Lost or unreadable sheets. 2-4% of 8 jobs at £400 average = unbillable.
£50-100
per week
Memory bias on late-filled sheets. 30 min lost on 1-2 jobs at £75/hr.
£15-30
per week
Stock walking out the van. 5% of typical stock spend, untracked.
£30-65
per week
Disputes you can't win. 1-2% of revenue with no photo or signature.
8-12 days
invoicing lag
Working capital you're funding instead of the customer
What you get back
1 engineer
£8,500 /yr
Pays back
in 10 days
in 10 days
5 engineers
£42,000 /yr
Pays back
2 days a month
2 days a month
10 engineers
£85,000 /yr
+ a part-time
hire avoided
hire avoided
The non-£ wins
8-12 days
Faster customer payment with a signed digital job sheet
£3-8k
Engineer replacement cost avoided. Less paperwork = engineers stay.
30 sec
To pull a 2-year-old certificate. Not 30 min in a filing cabinet.
20 min
Training a tradesman to use the app. Not six months.
The bottom line
Paper - per engineer per week
£150-280
Invisible. Comes straight out of your margin.
vs.
Job sheet app - per engineer per week
£5-9
Visible. One bill, once a month. Cancel any time.
How we worked these numbers out
Real-world figures from UK trades businesses moving from paper to a job sheet app in 2024-2026. Built on a typical engineer doing 8 jobs a week, with a £75/hour billable rate and a £400 average job value. Ranges are wide because team culture and trade type both move the needle.
- Office data entry (£15-25/wk per engineer): 5-10 min per sheet typing into your accounts package, 8 sheets/wk, office cost £15-20/hr.
- Lost paperwork (£30-65/wk per engineer): 2-4% of 8 sheets at £400 average = £32-128/wk gross. Around half is genuinely unrecoverable.
- Handwriting and memory bias (£50-100/wk per engineer): Engineers filling sheets a day or two late consistently shave 30-45 minutes per job. 1-2 jobs a week × 30 min × £75/hr = £37-112/wk lost billing.
- Stock leakage (£15-30/wk per engineer): Paper sheets don't tally stock per job. 5% leakage on typical £15-30k/yr stock spend per engineer.
- Disputes (£30-65/wk per engineer): 1-2% of weekly revenue (8 × £400 = £3,200) lost to "you didn't do it" or "I never got the invoice" with no photo or signature to push back with.
- Invoicing lag (8-12 days faster paid): Paper takes 3-5 days to reach the office; batched processing adds another week. Digital signed sheets invoice same-day.
- App cost (£5-9 per engineer per week): Onsite Pro is £20/engineer/month plus £75/admin/month. Sole trader: ~£4.60/wk. 5-engineer team: ~£8/engineer/wk including the admin seat.
Weekly figures assume a 50-week working year. ROI tables sum a conservative middle estimate, not the worst-case.