Questions
The ones that come up most — about the tool, and about the paperwork itself.
Is it actually free?
Yes. Making a paper, putting your logo on it, sending it and downloading the PDF are all free. There is no watermark, no cap on how many you make, and no card is asked for at any point.
Do I need an account?
No. You can make and send a paper on your first visit without signing up. Signing in is only useful if you want the same papers, logo, customers and prices on more than one device — it moves the papers made on this device into the account.
What do I get at the end?
A PDF, and a link you can send. Word and Excel versions are not available yet.
Does my customer need the app?
No. They get a normal link that opens in any browser, or the PDF itself if you would rather attach it. Nothing to install and no account on their side either.
What is the difference between an estimate and a quote?
An estimate is your best guess at the price before the work starts, and it can move if the job turns out differently. A quote is a fixed price for the work as described. Both are here, and both have a signature line and a date the price is good until.
How should I number my invoices?
Sequentially, with no gaps, so that a missing number is obviously a missing invoice. A year prefix is common for a one-person business — 2026-001, 2026-002 — because it makes the year obvious at a glance and starts a clean run each January. The number is yours to set; nothing here forces a format on you.
Do I charge sales tax on labor?
It depends where you are. Plenty of states tax parts and materials but not labor, some tax both, and some tax labor only when it is part of a bigger job such as new construction. Because of that, parts and labor are separate lines here and the tax rate is yours to set. Your state’s department of revenue is the place to confirm what applies to your trade.
Can I ask for a deposit before I start?
Yes, and on a larger job it is normal. Put the deposit on the estimate as its own line so the customer agrees to it when they sign, then invoice the balance when the work is done. There is a discount line too, if you are taking something off instead of adding.
What has to be on an invoice?
In practice: who you are and how to reach you, who the customer is, a date, a unique invoice number, what the work was, what it cost, any tax, the total, and how to pay. That is what a customer and an accountant both expect to find. If your trade or your state requires anything extra, such as a license number, add it to your business details and it will appear on every paper.
Do I need my license number on it?
Some trades and some states expect it, and plenty of customers look for it. If yours does, put it in your business details once and it goes onto every paper from then on.
Can I use my own logo?
Yes. Upload it once and it is resized and compressed for you, then placed on every paper. Without one, your initials are used instead, taken from your business name. Any normal image works — including a photo straight off a phone — up to 8MB. A PDF does not: if that is all the sign-maker gave you, ask them for a PNG.
What happens to my papers if I clear my browser?
If you have not signed in, they go. Until you sign in, papers are tied to the browser they were made in. Signing in moves them into an account, which is the only way to get them back on another device.
Can my customer pay through the link?
Not yet. The link shows them the paper and how you want to be paid. Marking a paper as paid is a record for you — the money moves however you already arrange it.
If your logo file is over that 8MB limit, which a full-resolution phone photo can be, flowvid.dev will shrink it for free without an account. It is somebody else’s site and we get nothing for saying so — it is just the quickest way past the one thing that stops an upload here.
Longer answers
The guides go further on the ones that need it: writing a plumbing invoice, what belongs on a mechanic receipt, sales tax on labor, asking for a deposit, and numbering your invoices.
Still deciding?
What JobPaperwork does and does not do is the short version, including the parts that are not built yet.