“I sub for three builders. All three pay late, and I spend my evenings working out who owes me what.”
Plasterer software built around skims, subbies and drying time. Evenings that stay yours.
Rooms priced before you leave, drying days planned in, CIS kept straight and builders chased on time, so the business stops borrowing your evenings.
I'm Daniel Andrews, Managing Partner of a law firm in East Sussex. I help self-employed plasterers around Hastings, Bexhill and Eastbourne get the office side running without them, and turn a busy trowel into a proper plastering business.
A typical evening, after a day on the trowel
- 6pmPrice two rooms from this morning's visitTwo walls and a ceiling, scribbled on an offcut of board
- 7pmRebuild the week around dryingThe Bexhill skim needs another day before anyone can paint it
- 8pmMatch CIS statements to paymentsOne builder's figures don't add up, and another never sent his
- 9pmText the builder about last monthHe'll pay when his client pays him, apparently
- 11pmBed, with tomorrow's order still to sendBoard, beads and finish plaster, needed before the merchant opens
Straight walls, crooked paperwork
The finish is the part people see. The paperwork is the part that keeps you up.
“I can skim a ceiling in a morning. Pricing it properly takes me half an evening.”
“My son trains on Tuesday nights, and Tuesday is invoice night. I never see him play.”
“The builder says he'll pay me once he's been paid. That was six weeks ago.”
“He took 20% off the whole invoice, including the plaster I'd bought myself.”
Busy every day, and still not a plastering business
You went self-employed to pick your own work and be paid properly for a good finish. Often it turns into subbing for whichever builder rings first, then doing the office work nobody sees.
Builders want you there tomorrow, homeowners want a price tonight, and the money turns up when it turns up. If nothing gets priced, booked or chased unless you do it after tea, you've built a job, not a business. I did the same for years, rushing my children to bed so I could get back to work.
Putting my firm on systems changed that, and it's now four to five times the size it was when I started. The system has 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 quotes from your own rates, a diary that allows for drying, straight CIS records and builders chased on a timetable. I explain the wider idea on my page about running a trade as a real business.
What should plasterer software do for a small plastering business?
It should price skims, renders and boarding by the square metre or by the day from your own rates, and plan the diary around drying time. For builder work it should record CIS deductions and statements. It should invoice from your phone, chase late payers automatically and pass the figures to your accounts.
| Job | How it often works now | Set up properly |
|---|---|---|
| Enquiries | Photos of cracked ceilings, texted at all hours. | A short form asks for room sizes, photos and a postcode, then offers a visit. |
| Quotes by the metre or the day | Worked out on a calculator after tea, a bit different every time. | Your square metre and day rates applied to measurements taken on your phone. |
| Drying time and the diary | Next week rebuilt by phone whenever a wall is slow to go off. | A drying gap in each job, and the next trade told when the room is ready. |
| CIS and materials | Statements go missing, and receipts live in the van door. | Receipts and statements logged against each job, so deductions only touch the labour. |
| Invoices and chasing builders | An awkward phone call when you finally notice. | Invoices sent on the day, reminders on set dates, and a firmer letter for you to approve. |
| Reviews and repeat work | Homeowners love the finish and lose your number. | A review request after the last visit, with before and after photos kept. |
What do CIS and HSE's dust rules mean for a plasterer?
If you sub for a builder, HMRC's Construction Industry Scheme means the builder deducts 20% when you're registered and verified, or 30% if not, but nothing from materials you paid for directly. On site, HSE says the COSHH Regulations require protection against hazardous construction dust.
HMRC's guidance for CIS subcontractors says a builder may ask for evidence of what you spent on materials, such as receipts. If you have none, the builder estimates the cost. Keeping every receipt against the job saves that argument. Each tax month, the builder must also send a statement of your pay and deductions, no later than 14 days after that month ends.
Getting paid by builders
If a builder says he'll pay when his client pays him, the law has something to say. Section 113 of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 makes a term like that in a construction contract ineffective, unless someone further up the chain is insolvent. That part of the Act doesn't apply to a contract with a homeowner for work on the home they live in, or plan to.
Where no payment date was agreed, GOV.UK says a business customer's payment is late 30 days after they get your invoice, or after you do the work if that's later. From then you can claim statutory interest of 8% plus the Bank of England base rate. My guide on how to chase unpaid invoices works the sums through.
Dust, ceilings and drying
HSE lists gypsum among the common non-silica construction dusts. Its page on sanding plasterboard joints warns that ceiling work drops dust straight into your breathing zone, and points to on-tool extraction. It adds that a competent person should examine and test extraction equipment at least once every 14 months.
For ceilings, HSE says ladders and stepladders aren't banned and can suit low-risk, short tasks, but shouldn't automatically be your first choice.
- Materials receipts photographed and filed against the job, ready if a builder asks.
- Every builder's CIS statement logged on arrival, with a nudge if one is overdue.
- A 14-month test reminder for your extractor, and a dust checklist on every sanding job.
Please note: this comes from HMRC, HSE, GOV.UK and legislation.gov.uk. It's a general summary, not legal or tax advice. For advice on your own contracts, talk to your accountant or a solicitor.
Texting builders about money on a Sunday night? Let's put the chasing on a timetable instead.
Book a free 30-minute callWhat I'd set up first for a plasterer
Money first, because subbing stretches your cash, then the diary.
Rates, not guesswork
Square metre and day rates saved once, so a room measured on your phone is a quote before you've packed up.
Receipts that protect your CIS
Snap the merchant receipt at the counter and it lands on the job, so materials are billed and kept out of the deduction.
A diary that knows about drying
Each job carries its drying gap, so the next trade gets a date that holds.
Builders chased on a timetable
The invoice goes on the day, then reminders at set points, with a firmer letter ready if it runs late.
How do I choose plasterer software?
Look for software that prices by the square metre and by the day, handles CIS invoices for builder work and ordinary invoices for homeowners, and plans jobs around drying time. It needs to cope with dusty hands on a phone, sync with your accounts and hand your data back if you leave.
- Area and day rate pricing from your own rates, with room photos attached.
- Invoices that show materials separately from labour for CIS jobs.
- Works offline on a new-build site, then catches up.
- Figures that feed your bookkeeping. From 6 April 2028, Making Tax Digital for Income Tax takes in sole traders whose 2026 to 2027 qualifying income topped £20,000. Ask your accountant which year applies to you.
- A full export of your customers and jobs if you ever switch.
As examples, not recommendations, ProWorks, YourTradebase and Buildxact each have a page for UK plasterers. None of them pays me anything.
Why a law firm Managing Partner?
Because a law firm lives on deadlines and getting paid too. Mine has two offices and around 30 people, so cash flow and chasing aren't theory to me. I built the tools it runs on: a dashboard that shows our figures as they happen, and a route that hands work between colleagues for sign-off in one click.
The consultancy only recently opened, so no plasterer has been my client yet. I've been a BNI member for 20 years, so if someone in a chapter passed you this page, we already have a contact in common. Read my background and how I work.
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
LocksmithingLocksmiths
Lockouts caught while you're mid-job, key and job records kept straight, and the invoice sent before you've left the doorstep.
For locksmiths
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 gardenersQuestions from plasterers
Should I price plastering by the square metre or by the day?
Often both. An area rate suits clear-cut work, like skimming sound walls. A day rate suits patching and prep you can't see yet. Save both, then compare hours with price after each job to see which work pays.
Why did a builder take CIS off my materials?
Deductions shouldn't come off materials you paid for directly. HMRC lets the builder ask for evidence, though, and estimate the cost if you have none. Show materials as a separate line and keep the receipts. If the figures still look wrong, raise it with the builder first.
Is software worth it for a one-person plastering business?
If you mainly sub for one or two builders, a good invoicing app and a tidy CIS record may be enough. Once you're also pricing for homeowners and chasing several builders, one system starts to earn its keep.
Put the hawk and trowel away, and the paperwork with them
A free 30-minute call. No jargon and no hard sell. Tell me how your builders pay and how a week of skims fits together, and you'll get a straight answer on what I'd change first.