The client’s side

They have their own side of the same job.

Every client gets their own page of the job, on your company’s web address. It shows what they agreed, every change since in date order with a running total, what they have been invoiced and paid, what is outstanding, the decisions waiting on them, how the work is progressing, and the drawings they were sent.

They read the job in the language they bought it in — English or Polish, switched whenever they like. You keep running it in yours.

Reception counter · Your accountFri 25 Sep
Agreement · 3 Mar£42,500.00
Rear shelving extended · 28 May+ £2,200.00
Oak to walnut, front panels · 9 Jul+ £950.00
Extra till cut-out · 14 AugDeclined
Brass to bronze, ironmongeryYour decision
Agreed to date£45,650.00
Illustrative. The client’s account: their agreement, their changes, their decisions.

01One change · Two documents

One change, seen from each side.

The client asks for the front panels in walnut instead of oak.

On your side the change is a piece of work: which drawing it touches, who owns it, when the panels go on the bench, what has been ordered for it. On the client’s side the same change is an agreement: the price they agreed, what week it fits, which drawing they were sent. Two complete documents of the same change, each written for the person reading it.

Change 7 · Front panels, oak to walnutYour side
StatusAgreed · 9 Jul
DrawingGA-201 · Rev C issued 15 Sep
OwnerL. Harrison · workshop
ProgrammeBench w/c 21 Sep · spray w/c 28 Sep
MaterialsWalnut veneer · ordered 12 Jul · delivered
Agreed with client£950.00
Change 7 · Front panels, oak to walnutThe client’s side
StatusAgreed · 9 Jul
Agreed£950.00
FittingWeek of 5 Oct
Drawing sent to youGA-201 · Rev C · 15 Sep

Illustrative. Two documents of one change, each complete for its reader.

Change 8 · Ironmongery, brass to bronzeThe client’s side
StatusInstructed · 14 Sep
PriceA price will follow
ThenYour decision: agree or decline
Illustrative. Until it is priced, the client sees that a price is on its way — never a number nobody has worked out.

02A change, as it stands

A change is shown as it stands.

A change is instructed first, then priced and proposed, then agreed or declined. The client sees each step as it happens, and their running total moves when they agree, and not before.

Decisions are theirs to make on their own page. A selection decided there lands on the job the same minute, with a receipt of what they chose and when. No “I thought we’d agreed”. Every decision written down where both of you can find it.

03Theirs

What the client keeps to themselves.

The client’s own notes and their own costs diary are theirs alone. You cannot read them. Their page is their record of the job, on your address, in their language.

Fewer update calls. A client who can see where the job stands, what they have paid and what is waiting on them does not need to ring on a Friday afternoon to find out.

Reception counter · PaymentsFri 25 Sep
DepositPaid · 5 Mar
Workshop completePaid · 2 Jun
FittedInvoiced · due 3 Oct
Final accountTo come
Waiting on you1 decision
Illustrative. What the client sees of the money: what they have paid, what is due, what is to come.