WorkPaid is the quote-to-paid app for UK decorators. Two-day interiors, wallpapering, exterior summer work - deposit before you lift a brush, final payment without chasing, even on jobs too small to chase in court.
No card to start. 2.5% per paid quote, capped at £500.
Below the small-claims floor.
£600 interior gone unpaid. Small claims fees + a day off site to attend court costs more than the debt. Easy for the customer to walk; you eat the loss.
"Bit darker than I wanted."
Job done to spec, customer changes their mind on the colour after the second coat's dry. Sudden objection conveniently arrives near final-payment time.
Paint costs upfront.
£200-£400 in trade-grade paint, rollers, and prep before the first stroke. You front it. Customer can ghost. Mylands isn't refunding the tinted Bond Street.
Three things WorkPaid does that a paper quote can't.
Quote the interior at £800. Customer opens the link and pays a 20-50% deposit by card (Apple Pay and Google Pay included) or straight from their bank - Pay by Bank is cheaper for you and can't be charged back. Money's in your account before you buy the paint, and Instant Payouts can land it in about 30 minutes for a 1% fee (or free on the standard 1-2 working day schedule). Their commitment covers your materials run - never frontloading on hope.
Customer gets a clean, branded quote with your name on it - not a WhatsApp screenshot. Looks like a proper contractor. Easier to charge a fair price, harder for them to argue afterwards. Takes you 30 seconds to build on your phone.
Job done. Tap "Request final payment." Customer pays the balance the same way - card or bank, done. No "I'll transfer it tonight" that turns into a fortnight of chasing. Auto-invoice generated for your records + their accountant.
£500-£3k typical. Deposit covers paint + prep, balance on snagging walk-through.
Designer paper costs ££. Deposit before you order means no risk on damaged returns.
Weather-dependent scheduling. Deposit locks the slot - they can't ghost when the sun comes out.
Small B2B jobs (shopfits, offices). Professional quote document + invoice for their accountant.
On a £600 job that's £15. Compare to the small-claims-court route on the same £600 going unpaid: £70 issue fee, a day off site, no guarantee you collect. The 2.5% is a tiny insurance premium against the much bigger downside. And if you'd rather not swallow even that, flip on fee-pass - the £15 is added to the customer's total as one all-in price, so you net the full £600.
A 20% deposit on a £600 interior is £120 - same as booking a hotel for two nights. The framing matters: it's not a deposit on labour, it's the materials cover. The customers who genuinely intend to pay don't mind. The ones who do mind were always going to be a problem.
The quote is in writing with what was agreed. Use the Notes field to capture "BS 4800 colour code 18-B-21 supplied by customer" or similar - documented before the job. If they want a different colour after, that's an amendment + cost difference, not a free re-paint.
No. They get a link, open it on whatever device, pay by card or straight from their bank. Stripe handles the payment (same system Uber and Deliveroo use). No app, no account.
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