What's new in YourTradebase?

Say hello to your new schedule

9 October 2019

In this game, it pays to be organised. So, we’ve rolled up our sleeves and whipped up a brand new schedule that’s easier to use, add to, filter and print. It’s everything you need to know, at a glance, and you can try it from today…

We’ve always had a calendar in YourTradebase, but until now, using it to check your schedule wasn’t as easy as it ought to be. Getting a clear picture of what you were doing and where you were going took a lot of clicks – and you couldn’t add new events straight from the calendar.

It wasn’t the greatest, and we knew we could do better. So we’ve had a complete revamp, and we’re really happy to be launching our brand new schedule today.

Your all-new schedule screen

It gives you a super smart, simple list of everything on your plate – easier to navigate, with fewer clicks and handy filters that let you search by event type or team member.

You can view it any way you like – by day, by week, in the classic calendar format or even on paper. Yep, we’ve made sure it’ll print great-looking lists without any faffing around.

Filter your schedule by event type or team member

Plus, to make life easier, you can now add events straight from the schedule screen (no more diving into jobs to add new dates). You can even add in lots of extra details to help you keep tabs on your jobs – just by opening up our brand new activity stream feature.

Add events directly from your schedule or calendar

Like a look? Here’s a quick run-through.

you can check out your own schedule right now by going to the new ‘Schedule’ tab in YourTradebase.

Have fun!

New tags for nippier emails

29 August 2019

Making everyday jobs easier is what we’re all about, so we just wanted to let you know about a handy update we’ve made to our email templates. From today, you’ll be able to send your emails faster thanks to a few nifty new email tags. Let’s take a look.

What are email tags?

Think of them like shortcuts, or signposts, that tell YourTradebase to pull information into your email from elsewhere. They save you looking up and typing out the same details again and again, making it quicker and easier to get your admin done. You can use them in your estimates, quotes, jobs and invoices – and now in your templated emails too. The new ones look like this…

Customer address

Drop the {{customer_address}} tag into your email templates, and whenever you’re emailing a customer through YourTradebase, we’ll automatically find and drop in their address. It’ll appear on one line, like this:

Job address

Want to add job addresses into your emails? No problem. The {{job_address}} tag does just that. Add the tag to your email templates and we’ll swap it out for the address of the job, which you’ll see on one line, like this:

Job start date

Using an email template to send a customer a job update? Or to let them know when you’re starting on site? Just add the new {{job_start_date}} tag and we’ll replace it with the first work date you’ve got in your schedule for that job. Easy. You’ll see it on screen like this:

More tips on tags

For a guide to all the email tags you can use in YourTradebase – and how to do it – head over here: https://help.yourtradebase.com/article/69-using-tags-in-your-email-templates

And if you’d like to learn more about using email templates, we’ve got you. Here’s a quick how-to: https://help.yourtradebase.com/article/79-using-email-templates

That’s it! These tags are live and ready for you to use in your email templates today. Happy tagging!

Always sending the same email? Turn it into a good-to-go template.

24 June 2019

Better communication = happier clients. Simple but true. So, with that in mind, we’re always looking for new ways you can keep people in the loop (and smiling).

YourTradebase already gives you a set of pre-written email templates you can use when you’re doing regular things like sending a quote or chasing up an invoice. You can adapt them to suit your company, job or specific customer, but they still don’t cover every eventuality.

So, we’ve made some improvements. From today, as well as using the email templates we’ve set up for you, you’ll be able to create and save your own, ready to use again and again. Which means more control over the messages you send – and when.

Say, for example, you always like to email customers to say thanks after they ask you to quote. Now all you need to do is create a new template, type that message in and save it. Then any time you need it, you’ll be able to open it up, tweak a few details and send it out. Boom.

No more typing out the same email over and over. Just fast, friendly messages in a few quick clicks. Happy customers, happy you.

Here’s how it works…

Creating a new template

Just visit your settings > email templates
Select ‘Add new email template’
Give it a name (like “Thanks for asking me to quote”)
Write out the subject and message
Use tags to auto-fill your client’s name
Include any attachments you’d like to send
Hit save and we’ll add the template to your list, ready to use anytime

Using a new template

Just open up a job or customer
Choose ‘Send a message’
Hit ‘templates’
Pick the one you want

Bam! The email subject, body and any attachments will be pre-filled and ready for you to send. If you used tags in your email message, they’ll be ready for you to use, too. Need to tweak any details? No problem. Just make the changes you need and press ‘Send’. Job done.

Creating a set of email templates that matches the way you work could save you a tonne of admin time. You could even map all the messages you regularly send, from a customer’s first call to the day they pay – setting up a stack of good-to-go messages you can send in a few quick clicks. It might just be a game changer.

You’ll find more about email templates in our help docs

We’re super-excited about our latest update and we hope you find it helpful. Happy templating!

Faster, easier, friendlier messages

16 May 2019

If there’s one thing that keeps customers happy and jobs running smoothly, it’s fast, friendly communication. It’s something we really believe in – a powerful way to make a big difference.

So, today we’re launching a new update that makes it quicker and easier to send and read customer messages in YourTradebase. Here’s what it’s all about…

All your messages in one place

Before, messages had to be linked to a specific quote, invoice or event, which meant finding that message Mrs Jones sent last month involved a fair bit of digging around.

Now, all you have to do is choose your customer, and you’ll see the last five messages you sent or received. Want to see them all? No problem. Just choose ‘View all messages’.

You can also search for messages by job. Go to your job summary screen and you’ll find all the messages you’ve exchanged about that job. Easy.

All your customer messages in one place

Super-simple message sending

Until now, you could only send messages to customers through quotes and invoices. That meant sending a quick update or keeping people in the loop was, well, not that straightforward. Being friendly and helpful was, in fact, a bit of a faff. So we changed it.

Now all you need to do is go to a job or customer, choose ‘Send a message’ and start typing. Hit send and we’ll make sure it wings its way to your customer, nice and quickly.

And of course, any message you send – or receive – will show up in your messages list for that job or customer. Just where it ought to be.

This is just the beginning. We really believe in fast, friendly communication and we’re working hard to make that as easy as possible, in all sorts of ways.

Stay tuned for more updates – and happy messaging!

Customer cards are here. All those essential contacts in one quick click.

1 April 2019

Finding your customers’ contact details really ought to be fast and faff-free. So today we’re launching a little update that makes it a lot easier. Say hello to customer cards, a one-click way to pull up all the details you need.

Until now, grabbing a customer’s phone number or email address meant stopping what you were doing, clicking on their name and looking through their customer page. That’s harder work than it should be.

Which is why we’re launching customer cards. From today, when you see the card icon next to a customer’s name, you can click (or tap) to pull up their customer card – showing their address, email and phone number.

You can call or email them instantly, just by clicking on the details in the card. And if you need more info about the jobs you’re doing for them, you can just click ‘View full profile’. Handy.

We think it’s a small change that’ll make a big difference. Want to see it in action? Here’s a (really) quick video…

That’s all there is to it. Super quick, super easy. Have fun!

A fresh new look – part II: Clearer. Easier. Faster.

14 March 2019

Back in October, we freshened up our look to make YourTradebase a little clearer, a little easier and a little faster to use.

So far, so good. But why settle for a little better when you can go the whole hog, right? That’s what we thought. We wanted YourTradebase to be much clearer, much easier and much faster. Because that’s the way it ought to be.

To make that happen, we’ve been busy making some big changes. Now we’re ready to roll, we thought we’d give you a quick tour. So, here’s what you’ll see the next time you log in to YourTradebase…

Navigation: Now darker.

We’ve activated dark mode on our navigation to improve the contrast and make things easier to read.

Headings: Now more helpful.

There’s more information at the top of each page about where you are and what you’re looking at, plus helpful links to keep you moving.

Forms: Now simpler.

We believe simple is always better, so we’ve stripped back our forms to make them clearer, quicker and all-round easier to use.

Paperwork: Now more focused.

Saving your paperwork is now easier than ever. We’ve fixed the save button to the bottom of the screen so it follows you around, making saving what you’ve done super straightforward. You’re free to focus on doing that paperwork, double-quick.

That’s it. Small changes, big difference. Happy fresher working!

Say hello to… friendlier customer names

20 February 2019

Introducing a neat new way to send friendlier, more human messages to your customers. Like the friendly human you are. How? By using their first names. Simple, right?

The way you talk to your customers is so important. Being clear and consistent gives people confidence and being warm and friendly, well, that makes people like you.

Trouble is, until now, it’s been tricky to sound friendly when you send emails in YourTradebase. You had to use people’s full names. Like Mr and Mrs Smith, or Mr and Mrs Fancy-Surname. All a bit formal really. Especially if you’d worked with them for a while. There was a way to choose a friendlier name, but lots of you told us it was a real pain.

So today, we’re introducing friendly names. From now on, when you add a new customer to YourTradebase, as well as entering their full name, you can choose to enter a friendly name too.

For example, their full name might be Mr & Mrs Taylor, but for their friendly name you can add Dean & Sharron. A whole lot more human.

Full names + Friendly names

Using friendly names in your emails

It’s up to you which name you’d like to use, so you can vary it depending how familiar you are with each customer.

Just visit your settings > email templates and switch the {{customer}} tag to {{friendly_name}}. Then we’ll automatically use their friendly name whenever you email them.

Or, if you’d like us to make the switch for you, just click switch to friendly names now… and we’ll get it done.

So, instead of this…

Email with customer’s full name

…you’ll get this:

Email with customer’s friendly name

Want to search based on your customer’s friendly name? Go right ahead – we’ve included that, too.

Happy friendly messaging!

More customising power to you

1 November 2018

Customising paperwork means you can decide how your quotes and invoices look, and what your customers get to see.

It’s good to put your best foot forward, so we’ve made that even easier with a few extra paperwork customisation options.

Here’s what’s new:

Show prices that are £0.00… or don’t

Want to leave zero-priced items off your quotes? We’ve got this!

Just choose whether to show them with one teeny tiny click…

Show optional item prices… or don’t

Want to hide optional item prices? No problemo.

One quick click lets you show them in your quotes, or leave them off.

Show the ‘excludes tax’ label… or don’t

Want to make it clear your quote doesn’t include VAT or sales tax? Easy!

Just tick the box to add a label, so your customers know where they stand.

Bonus! Total won’t show if all quoted items are optional

Not quite a shiny new customising option, more of an added bonus, this one.

Yesterday: if all your quoted items were optional, we’d show a total box of £0.00. Urgh.

Today: if all your quoted items are optional, no total box is displayed. Hurrah!

Happy customising!

A fresh new look

24 October 2018

Lately, we’ve been freshening things up here at YourTradebase. Last month saw a spanking new main navigation menu. Today we’ve launched a sprinkling of extra freshness across the rest of the app.

What does this mean? You’ll find things clearer to read, easier to click and faster to use, on any browser.

Let’s take a look:

– It’s now easier to identify tasks and events on the dashboard and the invoice total is more visible

– It’s now easier to find customers when creating new quotes and invoices with improved auto-search

– Tasks are now tidier and more compact

– The Invoices listing is now easier on the eyes.

All these changes and more are ready and waiting for you in your account. Just log in to see them up close and personal…

Happy clearer, easier, faster working!

Say hello to our new navigation

19 September 2018

There’s a few changes heading your way to freshen up the way YourTradebase looks and to make things faster and easier to use.

Today, we launch the first of those changes: a fresh new navigation, updated for all screen sizes to be clearer, easier to click and faster to load.

Here’s how it looks on larger browsers:

You’ll find your settings, manage team and account options by selecting your initials:

And here it is on your mobile:

Happy navigating!

Updates for August 2018

3 September 2018

We’re always working to make YourTradebase better, faster, simpler and more helpful for you. Here’s what we’ve been up to in August…

More detailed CSV exports

Our CSV exports have been upgraded with some helpful extra titbits, including:

See a breakdown of costs for material and labour for your quotes and invoices.
Won dates are now included when exporting your quotes to CSV
All dates within your CSV exports have been updated so they can be more easily ordered when viewed in a spreadsheet.

That means more helpful data about what’s going on in YourTradebase.

Clearer reporting of email delivery issues

Letting you know if we can’t send an email reply to you. If your client replies and we’re not able to email it to you, we’ll let you know about it when you next log into YourTradebase.

Helping you stay in touch with your clients, and keeping things running smoothly.

Speedier materials and labour

We’ve been getting some reports of slowdown when searching through big material and labour lists. And that just won’t do.

So we’ve made some big speed improvements to materials and labour. Because faster is better! Whoosh.

More helpful help guides

Need some help with something in YourTradebase? Now you don’t need to leave what you’re doing to go grab some help – we’ll display helpful guides you want to read right there in YourTradebase for you.

Now, help is closer than ever.

Easier conversations

If you get an email reply from your client, it’s now easy to see the whole conversation in one place.

No more trying to remember what was said, or what that client reply is all about. Just follow the link in your email, and we’ll show you the whole conversation.

Fixed-up some duplication issues

We’ve fixed an issue where changes to already accepted quotes were causing job items to be duplicated. Now your job items are kept fully in sync with the work your client has accepted.

We’ve also fixed a small bug with quote numbers for teams that create multiple quotes at the same time. We now make sure that your quote numbers are unique, even if multiple people on your team create different quotes at the same time.

Connect YourTradebase to Xero

8 August 2018

If you’re already using the Xero accounting app, we’ve got some great news for you – link up your Xero account to YourTradebase and save a whole lot more time.

Invoices, cashflow, bookkeeping – all connected, all sorted. It’s a little bit like magic.

Freedom from accounting

We’ve been working with the nice folks at Xero to make integrating YourTradebase and Xero as easy as possible. Connect in 3 simple steps, then we’ll take care of creating all your invoices in Xero for you.

Bye bye, repetitive paperwork

No more double data entry or manual imports – any invoices, payments, or customers that you create in YourTradebase will automatically be created in Xero.

Hello happy accountant

With your accounts linked up, you’ll have up-to-date books, paperwork-free evenings and lots more time to get on with the job you love. Which means happy customers – and a happy accountant too.

Get started today by visiting Settings > Connect to Xero – you’ll be up and running in just a few clicks, or read more about connecting to Xero in our help guides.

Happy Xero’ing!