Frequently asked questions

Yes. Flag the spray task on the round ("prompts a spray-diary entry"). On the visit the crew see a Start spray run button; they press it as they begin, spray, then Finish. The route is recorded from their phone and appears on the visit page as a trace over aerial imagery, and the visit report to the client gets a "see the map" link for each run. The spray diary entry is still logged separately for the statutory record.

Yes. The Clients list shows each client's phone, email and billing address on the row, in A–Z sections; tap the number to call or the email to write, without opening the client. The search box above the list matches names and contacts. When adding a job, the site picker has its own search so you don't scroll the whole book, and the schedule's Add button lets you choose one-off job, recurring round, custom pattern or contract before you start.

Week and fortnight views now open on the Monday of the current week, so on a Friday you still see Monday to Sunday. Use the ‹ › arrows to move a week or fortnight at a time, or the date box to jump. It also remembers where you were for the rest of the day: open a job from last Monday and press Schedule (or ← Schedule) and you land back on that week. Press Today to reset.

Build the full list once on a round, then in the Task checklist box use "Save these tasks as…" to make it a round template. On every new round, pick that template from "Start from a saved template" and tick only the tasks that site needs; the crew's checklist shows just those. Editing the round later adds or removes tasks for that site only, the template stays as your master list. A round's price and the crew checklist are separate: a task priced at zero on a quote still appears if it's in the round's task list.

It now dates itself the day it first goes out: the first time you email it (or mark it sent) the issue date is stamped, so a draft you sat on for a week while waiting on supplier prices is dated the day the client actually received it. If you need a specific date, set "Issue date" on the quote before sending and that one is kept. The PDF, the client's quote page and Xero all use it.

Yes. Operations → Gritting: each site has a "Grit tonight" button. Press it and SwardOps books this evening's visit on the schedule and emails the client a pre-set notice with a "Cancel tonight's visit" link. On the site's Winter gritting card, "Client call-out notices" sets who decides: the office every time, the office Mon–Fri with the frost trigger doing it automatically at weekends, or automatic every day. A client can cancel from the email link or from their portal (Visits → Cancel this gritting visit); the visit is cancelled straight away and the office plus the assigned driver are notified so nobody sets off. The completion report (with the proof-of-service certificate) is sent automatically when the operative completes a call-out visit.

Yes. Drag the bottom edge of a timed block to make it longer or shorter (it snaps to 15 minutes and only changes that one visit — the round's default stays as it was). Tap a block or the ✎ on a card to open the editor in place: status, team, a typed length, and "Delete visit", which removes that single visit and leaves the rest of the round alone. On a phone the editor slides up from the bottom of the screen. Visits from a repeating round carry a small repeat icon so you can tell them from one-offs.

Open the invoice: a red banner at the top shows the accounting system's own reason (e.g. "Account code 200 is not a valid code for this document" or a tax-rate or contact-name problem) and it stays there until a retry succeeds. The bell notification carries the same text. Fix the cause — usually the sales account code doesn't exist in your chart of accounts (Xero's stock code is 200; pick your own under Settings → Accounting (Xero) → Sales account), a tax rate is missing, or the contact name matches an archived contact — then press the accounting button on the invoice to send it again.

Rounds are built from the cadence set in the contract builder (weekly, fortnightly, monthly). A line quoted purely as a count with no cadence now appears on the award page under "Counted visits" with the dates spread evenly across the term (minus any already done before SwardOps) — edit them, then award and they land on the schedule. If a contract was awarded before this existed, its Allowance tab shows "counted lines have no visits yet" with a Schedule them button that opens the same page for just the missing lines.

Yes — Settings → Quotes & invoices → "Automatic invoice wording". Six templates cover the title and lines of contract instalments, the monthly rollup and per-visit invoices, with placeholders like {month}, {month_year}, {customer}, {site}, {service}, {visit_date}, {instalment} and {po}. {service} comes from the "Service label" on the contract or round (e.g. "grounds maintenance"), falling back to its title. {month} is always the month being billed — a rollup raised on 1 September says August. Leave a box blank to keep the built-in wording; a contract can override its instalment wording on its Overview tab. There is a live preview as you type.

Once the quote is accepted with a package, the Allowance tab shows only that package's lines and says how many from the other tiers are hidden. Any line can also be removed by hand: expand "Edit allowance" under it and choose "Remove this line from the allowance". Removing a line only takes it off the countdown; a round it already created stays on the schedule.

Yes — Settings → Features → "Attach the PDF to invoice emails". Every invoice email (sent by hand, on completion, or the monthly rollup) then carries the invoice PDF alongside the view-online link. Universities, NHS trusts and councils usually insist on the PDF and a PO number, so pair it with the PO reference on the contract or job. Override for one client on their Details tab (Follow company / Always / Never).

Yes — Reports → Month review. Every completed visit in the month with date, site, round, crew, time on site, cost, revenue and margin; subtotals by client and site with the thinnest margins first; PDF, CSV and "Email to the office". It's internal only and never filed on a client. Visits with no time clocked show a blank cost (not zero) and unpriced visits a blank revenue, so the totals stay honest. Tick "Month review to the office" under Settings → Features to get last month's automatically on the 1st.

Yes. Reports → Monthly work reports: pick the month, then per client either Preview PDF, or Generate & file (saves it on the client and in their portal, and emails it if ticked). Each visit lists what was done, who was there, time on site, notes shared with the client, waste taken and photos, with totals at the top. The same button is on a client's Documents tab (all their sites) and a contract's Documents tab (that contract only). Tick "Send last month's report automatically on the 1st" on a client and it goes out every month without you.

Contract → Price rise tab. Choose percentage, fixed amount or a new value, the date it starts and a reason; the table previews the contract value and every round's per-visit price before and after. Apply, and it takes effect on that date (today = straight away). Work done before the date still bills at the old price. The client's billing contacts get an emailed notice unless you untick it, and the contract keeps a price history you can re-send from or cancel while it's pending. For several contracts at once use Bulk price rise on the Contracts list; for a lone round use the Price rise section on the round page.

Yes. Settings → Features → "Portal date changes & invoice queries". Off hides "Need a different date?" on their visits and "Query this invoice" on their invoices, so they phone or email you instead. Everything else in the portal (visits, photos, quotes, invoices, documents, messages) stays.

Because it's already ticked on another team. By default a machine or usual vehicle belongs to one team and drops off the other teams' lists (the list shows a collapsed "N items on other teams" note). If you genuinely share kit across teams, switch "Kit & vehicles can belong to more than one team" on under Settings → Features and every team sees the whole fleet again.

Yes. Settings → Team & payroll → Leave & holidays → tick "Bank holidays come off allowance". By default a booking that runs over a bank holiday (a closed day that doesn't use allowance) isn't charged for it; with the tick it is, which suits a "28 days inclusive" allowance where staff book bank holidays from it.

It is, but for next year. Team → Leave shows allowances for one leave year at a time; use the year pills next to the Allowances heading (or above the booked-holidays list) to switch to next year and you'll see next year's bookings against next year's allowance. Days used are counted in the leave year the booking starts in (Jan–Dec unless a person has a different leave-year start on their staff record). Weekends and bank holidays are not charged unless you switch "Count weekends as leave days" or "Bank holidays come off allowance" on under Settings → Team & payroll → Leave & holidays.

Settings → Operations → Closed days: add the shutdown dates and tick "uses allowance" before saving. Each working day then books a day of annual leave for everyone (weekends never burn holiday, and bank holidays are usually added without the tick so they stay free). If a shutdown was added without the tick, add the same dates again with it ticked — the day flips to a shutdown and the leave is re-booked as annual (and the reverse works too). Only working days you actually close need adding; the bank holidays themselves can stay as ordinary closed days.

Settings → Clients → Client notifications → under "Visit reminders", open "Reminder wording". You can set the email subject, the email wording and the text-message version (the text goes instead of the email when the client has a mobile and texts are on). Use placeholders and they fill in per visit: {name} the client, {site}, {when} ("tomorrow" or "on 14 September 2026" depending on how far ahead you send it), {date}, {company}. Leave a box blank to keep the standard wording. Your logo, header and the unsubscribe line are added automatically.

Yes. On the visit page tap "Recommend work → Suggest": say what needs doing, add a note and up to three photos, and tick "worth quoting for" if it should be priced. It goes to the office as a crew suggestion on the client's Recommendations tab (Clients → the client → Recommendations, and the office is notified). Nothing reaches the client until someone in the office taps "Send to client" — that emails it, contractor-branded with the photos, and puts it in their portal where they can request a quote. The office can also dismiss it. Works offline like the rest of the crew app. Don't want crew suggesting work? Switch "Crew can recommend work" off under Settings → Features.

Yes. A request now costs working days only (Monday to Friday), so a Friday-to-Monday request is 2 days, not 4. The request form shows the working-day count as it is typed and anyone can still overtype the exact number. If your team works weekends and a Saturday off should count, tick "Count weekends as leave days" in Settings → Team & payroll → Leave & holidays and the count goes back to calendar days.

Yes, two ways. The person who made it can change the dates, length or reason from the crew app while it is still pending ("Change dates" under the request). Once it has been decided, the office (or their manager) amends it from Team → Leave: open "Amend dates / length" on the request, change the type, dates, half-day or day count, add a short reason, and save. The requester is notified of exactly what changed, an approved request whose dates move is re-swept off the rota, and the request keeps a note of what it was before.

From the crew app, open the visit and tap "Waste taken off site → Log a load". Pick the waste type (green waste, soil & turf, wood, hardcore, mixed — the six-digit EWC code is filled in for you), enter how much (bags, or a weight in kg / tonnes / cubic metres), how it is carried (loose, bags, bulk bag, skip), and the van registration (pre-filled from the crew's usual vehicle). Then hand the phone to the site contact: they sign on screen, type their name and tick the waste-hierarchy confirmation. Tap "Log this load". It works offline and syncs when signal returns. If everything the law needs is present the note is issued straight away — PDF filed on the client, emailed to them, and shown in their client portal under Documents. Otherwise it waits in Team → Waste notes under "Needs the office".

Two things. (1) Settings → Features → "Waste transfer notes": your waste carrier registration number and tier (upper tier if you carry your clients' waste — that is nearly every contractor; lower tier is free but only covers waste you produced yourself), its expiry date, your SIC code, and your usual tip or transfer station picked from Suppliers (put its permit number in the supplier's notes, e.g. "Permit EPR/AB1234CD", and it prints on the note). Saving mirrors the registration into Compliance so the expiry is chased. (2) On each client's record (Documents section) add the client's SIC code — by law the SIC code on a transfer note is the transferor's, and when you remove a client's waste the client is the transferor. Without it a crew-raised note waits for the office instead of going out automatically.

Because one or more items regulation 35 requires is missing, and SwardOps will not issue a non-compliant note on its own. Open Team → Waste notes, tap the note and the missing items are listed — most often the client's SIC code, a signature, or the place of transfer. Fix them (Edit) and tap "Issue & email client". If you must issue anyway you can, but the PDF is marked not yet confirmed.

No — set up a season ticket. Team → Waste notes → "+ Season ticket": pick the client (and site, or leave it for all their sites), the waste type and dates up to 12 months. From then on every load the crew log on that site goes on the ticket's transfer schedule (date, time, quantity, place, vehicle, who signed) instead of raising a new note. One PDF covers the year and prints the schedule. A season ticket is only valid while the client, the waste type and the place stay the same; if any change, start a new one.

Two years from the transfer (three in Scotland — SwardOps works this out from your postcode and stamps a "retain until" date on each note); for a season ticket it is two years after the last load on its schedule. An issued note is a legal record, so it cannot be deleted — you can Void it with a reason and it stays on file marked void. Drafts that were never issued can be deleted.

Defra's Digital Waste Tracking service replaces paper transfer notes with a central record of every waste movement. Waste receiving sites must use it from October 2026; carriers, brokers and dealers — that includes grounds contractors carrying clients' waste — from October 2027. Nothing to do yet: SwardOps notes already hold every field the service asks for (EWC code, weight and unit with an estimated flag, container type and count, physical form, recovery/disposal code, carrier and vehicle registration, receiving site and permit), so when Defra opens the carrier API your records will map straight across.

Pick the site and the repeat pattern on the New round form and the "Best fit" panel under the date ranks the options for you: for a one-off, the three dates in the next fortnight that add the fewest extra road miles to what is already booked (and which existing visits they sit next to); for a repeating round, the best weekdays over the next four weeks. Tap a suggestion and it fills in the start date — nothing else changes. It needs the site pinned on the map, and your yard address in Settings for door-to-door mileage.

On the accepted quote, use "Or make a round from a single line". Each line becomes its own round: a line with a quantity of 2 or more becomes a repeating round at the cadence you pick, priced per visit from that line and ending exactly on the last one; a single-quantity line becomes a one-off. Choose "Invoice each visit automatically" and every completed visit raises an invoice for just that one visit, labelled "3 of 18". The quote and the round both show progress — done, invoiced and to go — so you can see the programme burn down. "Invoice this job" on that round only ever bills its own line, never the whole quote.

Yes. Settings → Business details → Email signature sets the organisation signature that signs off every email the business sends. Each office user adds their own under My details (an admin can also set it on their staff page) and it goes on the quotes, invoices, follow-ups and messages they send. Default is stacked — the person's signature then the organisation's underneath; there is a switch to use the person's only. Automated emails (reminders, receipts, reports) use the organisation signature. It's text — your logo is already at the top of every email.

Yes. Settings → Team & payroll → Unpaid breaks: tick "Deduct an unpaid break automatically", set the break length (e.g. 30 minutes) and the minimum day length it applies to (e.g. 6 hours), and save. From then on every worked day at or over that length has the break taken off on the Timesheets page, each person's timesheet, the crew's own timesheet view and the payroll export. Half days under the threshold are left alone, a day with two clock-ins only loses the break once, and nobody's actual clock times are changed — it's a deduction on top, so you can turn it off again and the hours return.

Turn on Pre-use vehicle checks in Settings → Features. Then in the morning briefing a van or trailer that hasn't been checked today shows "Check & take" — tapping it opens a short walkaround (lights, tyres, brakes, coupling, load). A clean pass takes the vehicle for the day; a safety item marked Not OK keeps it in the yard, raises an urgent fault for the office, and the crew pick another vehicle. Vehicles added through the Add-vehicle wizard get a tailored list; older vehicles get a sensible default for their type.

Yes. Turn on "Crews have their own vehicles" in Settings → Features, then set each crew's Usual vehicle under Team → Crews. It's tagged and shown first on that crew's morning list, and vans and trailers can be added to rounds like other kit. Leave the setting off for a shared pool where crews take whichever vehicle they need that day.

Yes, both. On any upcoming visit in their portal there is "Need a different date?" — they pick a preferred date and time of day and it lands in your Portal requests as a date change; the visit stays where it is until you press "Move visit & notify", which moves it, tells the crew and emails the client the confirmed date. On their Invoices page each invoice has "Query this invoice" which opens Messages with the invoice number filled in, so the question arrives in your Inbox thread already saying which invoice it is about.

Yes. Business → Reputation has an Embed snippet: paste that HTML into your website and it shows a live wall of the reviews you have collected through SwardOps (the same page also gives you the public link). It updates itself as new reviews come in, and you can pull it from your site any time by removing the snippet.

Yes. When you add or edit a site, if the address lookup cannot place it (rural lanes, fields, Irish addresses without an Eircode match), use "Drop a pin on the map" under the address and put the pin exactly where the gate is. That saves the latitude and longitude on the site, and everything downstream (schedule, travel times, live map, geofences, weather at the site) uses the pin, not the postcode. You can move the pin later from the same place.

Sign out, then on the sign-in screen enter your email and tap "Forgot password". You get an email link that lets you set a new one. Crew who sign in with a PIN have their passcode reset by the office from their staff page (Reset crew passcode).

Invoices and quotes print the client’s Billing / registered address (Clients → the client → Billing / registered address). It doesn’t have to be one of their sites: use a head office, a registered office or a managing agent’s c/o line. Underneath it the document names the site the work is for. If that box is empty, nothing prints, so fill it in and download the invoice again. A managing agent can also set a per-site billing address on the site itself, for sites billed to a different company.

Open the visit from the office side (Schedule or the client’s site → the visit) and look under Time on site. Each clock-in has "Edit logged time": set the real clock-out (or clock-in) and save. The visit’s cost-to-serve and the round’s profitability recalculate straight away. Visits the phone closed automatically the next morning are flagged "auto clock-out" so you can spot them. Task timers can be shortened the same way from the job page.

Timers only run once you’ve clocked into your day (the morning briefing). If you skipped it, tap Clock in from Today first, then the timers on the visit work. To put hours in after the event, use Catch up a past day from the Yard page: pick the day, the visits and the hours, and they’re logged against the right jobs.

Yes. On the round, Repeats includes Custom (every N days), Custom (every N months) and Twice a month (the same two dates each month, e.g. 1st & 16th, which unlike fortnightly never drifts). Rounds have no end date by default: visits keep rolling forward every night, so an annual contract never needs re-generating. Set a season if it should pause over winter.

One-off work: raise a quote (or go straight to a job from a lead) and give it a date, or use Projects for anything with several elements. Repeating work is a round: weekly, fortnightly, four-weekly, monthly, every N weeks, or Yearly (same date each year) — pick Yearly for an annual hedge cut or a once-a-year renovation and it comes round on its own.

Yes, completely. Each business’s data is isolated at the database level (row-level security). No other SwardOps business can ever see your clients, sites, jobs or financials. Even the SwardOps platform owner is blocked from seeing your client and financial data. It’s enforced in the database, not just the app.

Only their own jobs for the day. Crew get a focused mobile day-view. They cannot see your other clients, your pricing, your financials, or the office console. Roles control this: only Admin/Office accounts get the back-office.

Connect your Stripe account (Settings/Billing) and clients can pay invoices by card directly from the invoice page. The money goes straight to your Stripe account, SwardOps never holds your funds.

Yes. Crew use the mobile day-view on their phones. The office console works best on a laptop/desktop but is usable on mobile too.

Yes, Clients → Clients has a CSV import so you can bring your existing client list across rather than typing it all in.

You can see your plan and trial status under Business → Billing. Founding beta members are on a free-for-life arrangement using a promo code at checkout. You won’t be charged.

No, set up a recurring contract and SwardOps raises the instalment invoices as drafts automatically when they’re due. You just review and send.

Add expiry/due dates under Team → Compliance and Equipment → Machines. SwardOps notifies your office before anything expires (LOLER/PUWER/MOT, spraying certs, licences) and flags anything overdue.

Yes, for approved leave, your office is reminded 4 weeks, 2 weeks and 1 week before it starts, so you can arrange cover.

No. It’s opt-in per company, only captured while a crew member is on shift, and the history is deleted after 90 days. It’s there for lone-worker safety and dispatch.

Yes, Xero and QuickBooks both sync invoices and import your products & services into the price book, and GoCardless collects by Direct Debit. Each connects with your own account in a couple of clicks under Settings.

Yes, Team → Subcontractors. Invite a subbie by email (they get a free account locked to working with you. They never see your clients or prices) or link a firm that already uses SwardOps with their subbie code. Offer them jobs, ask for prices, and settle their invoices in-app.

Set each subbie’s CIS rate (0/20/30%) and every invoice they send shows gross − deduction = what you pay, on both sides. If your subcontract work sits outside the Construction Industry Scheme (common for pure grounds work) untick the company CIS switch and invoices simply show the gross.

Yes, the work board on Team → Subcontractors. Set how far from your yard you’ll travel and you’re notified when another SwardOps firm posts work within that radius. Register interest and they get your subbie code to link you in one step.

Yes. Untick “VAT registered” in Settings → Quotes & branding. New quotes and invoices default to 0% and clients see no VAT line anywhere, pages, PDFs or emails. Tick it again any time you register.

Yes, switch on the public request form (and optionally full online booking) under Settings. Booking only offers days you actually have room, from your weekday and capacity settings, and you can keep an approve-first step. There’s an embed snippet for your website too.

Yes, enable the client portal per client and they sign in with a secure email link to see visits, photos, quotes, invoices and messages (only their own). Use Portal preview to see exactly what they’d see before switching it on.

Yes, Clients → Campaigns. Pick a segment (all / active contracts / lapsed 60+ days), add photos or a video, and send branded. Opt-outs and unsubscribe links are handled automatically, which keeps you on the right side of the marketing rules.

Yes, Settings → Quotes & branding has editable covering-email text for quotes and invoices, with placeholders like {name}, {number} and {total}. You can also add a one-off personal message per quote, and link a quote to the site it refers to.

The gritting pack is a switch in Settings. Crews run GPS-traced grit runs so every visit has a coverage map (your slip-and-fall evidence) and completed runs invoice per visit or roll into contracts, with salt stock tracked automatically.

SMS and WhatsApp share a monthly text allowance included with your plan (see the SMS pack in Settings). A dedicated business text number is about £1/month, and missed-call text-back uses the same allowance.

Start typing in the client box. It filters as you type (names that start with what you typed come first), arrow keys and Enter pick one. Every client on your account is in there, however many you have.

No. Save a site with an address or postcode and it is pinned automatically; imported sites without a pin get pinned overnight. Only drop a pin by hand when the postal address is not where the crew should arrive, e.g. a gate on a big development. A hand-placed pin is never overwritten.

Settings → Operations → Closed days. Enter the shutdown as a from/to range, tick "Staff use holiday allowance for these days" and add it. Working days in the range are booked as annual leave for everyone and come off their balance; weekends are skipped and anyone already on leave is left alone. Add bank holidays first (the gov.uk button) so 25 and 26 December stay free days. Each person's holiday year runs from the date on their staff profile, 1 January by default.

When you set up a round the Repeats list covers one-off, weekly (one day or several), fortnightly, every 4/6/8 weeks, monthly (same date or same weekday), quarterly, twice a year and yearly, plus a custom "every N weeks" if you need something else. Pick the first date and the schedule fills in the rest.

Yes. Settings → Team & payroll → Team kit: turn on "Automatically add each team's kit to their rounds", then tick the machines that belong to each team. From then on, any round you give that team carries its kit without you picking it each time. Anything you add on the round itself still comes along, and spare kit you leave unticked stays yours to allocate by hand.

Yes. Open the quote or invoice and check the Activity panel: it shows when you emailed it and to whom, and whether the client has opened their online link, with the first and last time and how many times. A chip tells you at a glance whether it's been opened yet, so you know if a quiet quote has actually been seen. Opening it yourself from Preview doesn't count — only the client's opens are logged (repeat opens within half an hour count once).

Yes — Reports → Sales & targets. Assign each lead an owner on the Requests board, and the Sales report then shows, per person: leads in, quotes sent, win rate, the value they've won, and progress against target, for the month, quarter or year. Set each person's monthly target at the bottom of that page (quarter and year views add the months up). A quote counts for the owner of the lead it came from, or whoever created it if there's no lead.

Yes, this is rolling out now. Settings → What each role can do → Custom permission sets: create a named set (e.g. "Scheduler"), tick what it can see and do, and assign your office people to it. Someone with no set keeps full Office access, and Admins/Owners always have everything. Two controls are live now: "Reports & KPIs" (turn it off and those people can't open the Reports hub) and "Money & margins" (turn it off and they don't see financial reports, profitability, debtors or the dashboard money tiles — it works alongside the company-wide "Office staff see money" setting). "Client contact details" is live too — turn it off and that person sees who a client's contacts are but not their phone or email, and can't add or edit them. "Contract values" is live as well — off means they can work with a contract's sites, schedule and documents but don't see what it's worth, the per-visit money split, charge rates or renewal pricing. "Other people's timesheets & pay" is live too — off means Timesheets shows only their own row and other people's profiles hide the hours/pay card and Pay tab (their own always show). All five "can see" controls and all six "can do" controls are live. "Can do" covers creating/editing clients and sites, invoicing and refunds, dispatching the schedule, managing contracts, staff & HR, and the Settings area. These are enforced on the server when the action runs, not just by hiding buttons, so if someone tries something their set doesn't allow they're returned to the dashboard with a note saying which permission they're missing. Admins and Owners are never restricted.

Email support@swardops.com. As a founding beta member your feedback shapes the product, so do tell us what’s confusing, broken or missing.