“I'm halfway through fitting a lock when the phone goes. By the time I ring back, they've booked someone else.”
Locksmith software that catches the call you can't take. Then gives you your evening back.
Every call-out caught, recorded and invoiced without you sitting up at night, and a business that doesn't hang on one phone.
I'm Daniel Andrews, and I run a two-office law firm in East Sussex. Now I help self-employed locksmiths from Eastbourne to Uckfield set up their calls, records and invoices to run while they work.
A typical evening, after a day of lockouts
- 7pmRing back the missed callsFour from today. Two have already found someone else
- 8pmWrite up today's jobsWhich door, which cylinder, what was replaced, and the photos
- 9pmInvoice the letting agentThree jobs this week, all to be itemised
- 10pmUpdate the key logWho asked for each key, and what proof you saw
- 11pmBed, with the work phone on the bedside tableBecause the next lockout could come at 2am
On call all night, on paperwork all evening
If you work alone with a van and a phone, these may ring true.
“I can't pick up with a door off its hinges, so the job goes to whoever answers first.”
“I've stopped planning Sunday lunch. The work phone always wins.”
“Doorstep jobs get paid. Agent and landlord jobs turn into invoices I forget to chase.”
“Who I cut keys for, and what they showed me, is all in a notebook in the van.”
A locksmith who is always on call has built a job, not a business
Answering to nobody was the point of going self-employed. But lockouts don't book ahead, so a 24-hour number makes you the 24-hour number, and the evenings go on call-backs, write-ups and invoices.
If every call, record and payment passes through you, the work stops when you do. My own firm was the same: for years, growing it meant I was often still working at 2 in the morning. Putting it on systems changed that, and the firm is now four to five times the size it was when I started.
It comes down to three steps: see where the time goes, put the repeat work on systems, and spend the hours you win back on the business. For you, that means calls caught when your hands are full, jobs recorded as you finish and money in before you drive off. All of it is written down, so a second locksmith could follow it. My page on turning a trade into a proper business explains the bigger idea.
What should locksmith software do for a small locksmith business?
It should catch every call-out, even when you're mid-job, and turn it into a job with an address and a time. It should hold notes, photos and lock details for each door, take payment on the doorstep, send the invoice, and keep your records tidy for your accountant and Making Tax Digital.
| Job | How it often works now | Set up properly |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency call-outs | Answered mid-job, or not at all, and returned at night | An instant text back to every missed call, and one callback list |
| Quotes for planned work | Written up at home after the survey | Built on site from your own parts and labour list, sent before you leave |
| Booking and diary | Lockouts squeezed in around planned jobs, all in your head | One diary, with planned customers told automatically if a lockout delays you |
| Key and job records | A notebook in the van: who asked, which address, what was cut | Saved with the job as you finish, including the proof you checked |
| Invoices and chasing | Agent and landlord invoices left for the weekend | Sent from the doorstep, with polite reminders until paid |
| Reviews and repeat work | The relieved customer never hears from you again | A thank-you and review request the next morning, in your words |
What rules apply to emergency locksmith call-outs?
If a customer asks you to visit specifically to carry out urgent repairs, the usual right to cancel under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 doesn't apply to that repair. Extra work or goods you supply on the same visit, beyond the repair and the parts it needs, still carry the right to cancel.
Planned work agreed in the customer's home, such as new locks on every door, is different. The customer usually has 14 days to cancel, and must get the cancellation information on paper or, if they agree, by email. To start within those 14 days, the request has to come from them, in writing. See the urgent repairs exception on legislation.gov.uk and Citizens Advice on cancelling a service.
Then there's trust. A careful locksmith checks that whoever asks for entry, or a key, lives there or has the owner's say-so, and notes what they saw, the same way every time.
- Emergency jobs marked as urgent repairs when logged, so extras sold on the day are recorded separately.
- Cancellation information emailed with every planned-work quote, and any request to start early saved with the job.
- A phone checklist for every lockout and key cut: who asked, and what proof you saw.
A note pairing an address with its locks is personal data under UK GDPR, and exactly what a burglar would want. The ICO says protection should rise with the risk to people if data gets out.
If you hold customers' keys as a service, check the Security Industry Authority's guidance. It licenses key holding under contract as security work, though the law excludes keys held only to get in and do other, non-security work.
Please note: this is general information from official sources, not legal advice. For your own situation, speak to a solicitor, your trade association or your insurer.
Losing lockouts to missed calls? Let's work out how to catch every one.
Book a free 30-minute callWhat I'd set up first for a locksmith
Missed calls cost you work; the rest costs you evenings. So I'd start with the phone.
Catch the calls you can't take
A missed call triggers a text within seconds saying you're on a job and when you'll ring back. Every caller goes on one list.
Log the job before you touch the door
One quick form: address, problem, who's asking and what proof you saw. It becomes the job record, key log and invoice.
Get paid on the doorstep
Card payment and an emailed receipt before you leave. Letting agents get the invoice the same day.
Ask for the review while it's fresh
A thank-you text the next morning with your Google review link, in your words, so you never have to remember.
How do I choose locksmith software?
Start with how your calls come in. Look for something that turns a missed call or a text into a job, works one-handed on a phone, stores notes and photos for each door securely, takes card payments on the doorstep, and connects to your accounting software. Then try it on a real week before you commit.
- Marks emergency call-outs, and keeps extras sold on the day separate.
- Keeps key codes behind a login, with access you control if you take someone on.
- Works in a stairwell with one bar of signal, and catches up later.
- Connects to your accounts, and hands your data back if you ever leave.
Apps that serve UK trades include Joblogic, ServiceM8 and Commusoft. These are examples, not recommendations, and no software company pays me anything. A one-van locksmith may need only a well-set-up phone and accounting package.
For sole traders whose qualifying income topped £50,000, Making Tax Digital for Income Tax arrived on 6 April 2026. The line drops to £30,000 in April 2027 and to £20,000 in April 2028. Ask your accountant where you stand.
Why a law firm Managing Partner?
Records are everything in a law firm, and knowing who did what, on whose say-so, is second nature to me. I built the systems my firm of around 30 people runs on, including a live dashboard from our case management system. So what I'd set up for you isn't an experiment.
This consultancy is new, so I have no locksmith case studies yet. As a dad of two who coaches football, I know what an always-on work phone does to evenings and weekends. Read more about me and how I got here.
Other trades I help
PlumbingPlumbers
Call-outs answered, quotes built from your price list, parts matched to jobs and notifications tracked, so the van isn't your evening office.
For plumbers
ElectricalElectricians
Certificates written up on site, EICR recalls sent to landlords, remedials quoted and invoices chased, so testing days don't become writing-up nights.
For electricians
BuildingBuilders
Quotes, variations, subbies and the monthly CIS return, set up so the office side of a building firm stops eating your evenings.
For builders
Gas and heatingGas and heating engineers
Every landlord check and boiler service on one due-date list, records sent from site, and boiler quotes followed up, so winter weekends stay yours.
For gas and heating engineers
GardeningLandscape gardeners
For gardeners and landscapers juggling a maintenance round, bigger landscaping quotes and green waste records through a long summer of late nights.
For landscape gardeners
RoofingRoofers
Rained-off jobs rebooked, quotes built from roof photos and CIS statements kept straight, without giving up your evenings to do it.
For roofersQuestions from locksmiths
Can I stop missing calls while I'm on a job?
You can stop them going cold. A missed call can trigger an instant text, and every caller lands on one list. An answering service or an AI receptionist can take out-of-hours calls, saying only what you've approved.
Do customers get 14 days to cancel an emergency lockout?
Not usually, if they called you out specifically for an urgent repair. The Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 exclude those visits from the right to cancel. Extra work or goods beyond the urgent repair still carry the right to cancel. This is general information, not legal advice.
Is it safe to keep key codes in an app?
It can be, with a strong passcode, two-step login and access only for people who need it. That's usually safer than a notebook in the van or codes sitting in your texts.
I'm a one-person locksmith business. Is this worth it?
Probably more so. When it's just you, every missed call is lost work and every evening of admin is time you don't get back. A missed-call text, one job app and linked invoicing can cover most of it.
Keep the call-outs. Lose the late-night paperwork.
A free 30-minute call. No jargon and no hard sell. Tell me how your calls and key records work today, and I'll show you where I'd start.