Guides and playbooks.

CIS invoicing and the VAT reverse charge, in order

A CIS invoice carries three things a normal invoice does not: the labour and materials split, the CIS deduction, and the domestic reverse-charge wording. This guide walks through the correct sequence, explains what each element depends on, and shows where invoices get rejected most often.

How to price promotional products for a UK distributor

Every promotional merchandise quote contains five cost lines: blank goods, decoration, origination, carriage, and sampling. Distributor margin is decided by the decoration and origination lines, not the blank goods price. The quotes that lose money are the ones where setup, carriage, and sampling were absorbed into a per-unit figure rather than priced as separate lines.

How to issue an MCS certificate at handover

An MCS certificate is issued by the installer, not the customer. This guide covers every step in the MCS Installation Database, the data errors that block SEG payments and grant claims, and what goes in the handover documentation pack.

How to Quote and Run a Commercial Piling and Foundations Contract

Commercial piling contracts require ground investigation data before any firm price can be issued. This guide covers quoting, mobilisation, on-site operations, pile testing, and handover to follow-on trades for piling sub-contractors and civils contractors.

ChecklistBeginner

Switching to Zigaflow: everything you can import from your old system

A checklist of every record type Zigaflow imports from spreadsheets - customers, contacts, suppliers, items, kits, variants, stock, client assets, leads and historical quotes, orders, POs, invoices and contracts - with the order that works and the rules each import follows.

7 min read

How to Quote and Run a Commercial Refrigeration and Cold Room Installation

Commercial cold room installation involves panel fabrication, refrigerant systems, electrical work, and compliance documentation. This guide covers how to survey a site, build a quote that reflects all cost elements, manage the installation sequence, and close the job with a compliant handover pack.

How to Quote and Run a Commercial Refurbishment Contract

Commercial refurbishment contracts are won on price and lost on margin. This guide covers how to survey and scope before quoting, build a refurbishment quote that prices risk accurately, manage phased working, control variations, and close the final account without disputes.

How to Quote and Manage a Phased Office Refurbishment Project

A phased office refurbishment is one of the most operationally demanding projects a furniture dealer handles. Learn how to quote accurately for multi-phase delivery, align your procurement programme with the fit-out contractor, manage swing space requirements, and close each zone with a clean handover.

How to Set Up and Run a Solar Panel Maintenance Contract

Solar PV installation businesses can build predictable recurring revenue through maintenance contracts. This guide covers how to scope, price, and run commercial solar maintenance contracts, from site survey and contract structure through to scheduling recurring visits and avoiding the common operational failures that erode margin.

How to Quote and Run a Hotel and Hospitality AV Installation

Hotel AV is not a single installation but a portfolio of interconnected systems. This guide covers how AV integrators should scope, quote, and deliver a hotel AV project - from the zone schedule at survey stage through commissioning and handover to hotel operations staff.

How to Quote and Manage a Professional Services Branded Merchandise Order

Professional services firms - law firms, consultancies, and accountancies - are among the most demanding buyers of branded merchandise. This guide walks distributors through briefing, quoting, artwork approval, presentation packaging, and building a repeat programme from the first order.

How to Set Up and Run a Commercial HVAC Service and Maintenance Contract

For HVAC and mechanical services businesses, a well-structured PPM contract provides a predictable revenue base, a compliance paper trail, and a clear billing mechanism for reactive callouts. This guide covers how to scope, price, and run a commercial HVAC maintenance contract from initial site survey to renewal.

How to Quote and Manage a Government and Public Sector Branded Merchandise Order

Public sector buyers - NHS Trusts, local authorities, police, and universities - are among the most consistent buyers of branded merchandise in the UK. This guide covers how to get on framework agreements, quote compliantly, manage approval chains, and get paid on time.

How to Quote and Run a Commercial Industrial Lighting Installation

A practical guide for electrical contractors on quoting, installing, and commissioning commercial industrial and warehouse LED lighting projects, from the site survey and lux specification through to controls commissioning and handover documentation.

How to Quote and Run a Building Automation and Smart Controls Installation

Building automation and smart controls jobs lose margin in commissioning, not installation. This step-by-step guide covers pre-contract survey, protocol selection, quote structure, stage payments, and handover documentation for BMS and lighting controls contractors.

How to Quote and Manage a Hotel and Hospitality Branded Merchandise Order

Hotel and hospitality merchandise orders span multiple product categories - uniforms, in-room amenities, gift shop items, loyalty gifts, and event merchandise. This guide explains how to quote accurately across all five, manage production timelines, and coordinate delivery to a property that runs on precision.

How-to GuideAdvanced

How to Quote and Run a Broadcast Studio AV Installation

Broadcast studio AV installations require a different approach to quoting, project management, and commissioning than corporate AV work. This guide covers the five cost categories integrators most often miss, how IP infrastructure changes procurement sequencing, and what a professional broadcast studio handover looks like.

How to Quote and Manage a Financial Services Branded Merchandise Order

Financial services companies are major buyers of branded merchandise, but most distributors treat the brief like any other order. This guide explains the compliance landscape, approval process, and documentation requirements that separate a stalled order from a delivered one.

How to Quote and Run a Residential Solar PV and Battery Storage Package

Combining solar PV and battery storage in a single package changes how you survey, quote, and close a job. This guide walks MCS-certified installers through every stage, from site assessment to final handover pack.

How to Quote and Run a Commercial Flat Roofing and Waterproofing Contract

A step-by-step guide for commercial flat roofing contractors: how to survey before you quote, select the right system, build a properly itemised quote with provisional sums, and run the contract from strip to handover.

How to Quote and Manage an Ergonomic Seating Project

A step-by-step guide for contract furniture dealers and workspace specialists: how to take a brief that covers DSE compliance, specify seating to commercial standard, build a quote with all the line items that generate disputes when missing, and close the job with a documented snagging sign-off.

How to Quote and Run a Commercial Boiler Replacement Contract

Heating contractors who treat commercial boiler replacement like a bigger domestic job tend to underprice the survey, miss procurement lead times, and absorb variation costs they never quoted. This guide covers every stage from site survey to Gas Safe handover.

How to Quote and Run a Commercial Shop Fit-Out

A practical guide for fit-out contractors on how to quote a commercial shop fit-out accurately, manage pre-start landlord approvals, coordinate trades on a tight programme, and protect margin through to final account.

How to Quote and Manage a Brand Ambassador Merchandise Programme

Brand ambassador merchandise programmes are complex to quote and run - quantities move, kits come in tiers, and every ambassador needs an individual despatch. This guide covers how to quote accurately in the ambiguity, hit a hard launch date, and set the programme up for ongoing replenishment.

How to Quote and Run a Commercial Mezzanine Floor Installation

Commercial mezzanine floor contractors lose margin at three points: the survey, procurement, and handover. This guide covers the full process from site survey to Building Control completion certificate, with practical steps for quoting accurately and collecting payment on time.

How to Quote and Run a Commercial Emergency Lighting Installation

A practical guide for electrical contractors on quoting and running commercial emergency lighting installations. Covers site survey, luminaire schedules, pricing the certification scope, installation programming, commissioning tests, and converting the job into an ongoing maintenance contract.

How to Set Up and Run an AV Service and Maintenance Contract

Most AV integrators rely entirely on project revenue. This guide shows how to set up, price, and operationally deliver an AV service and maintenance contract - from scope definition and SLA tiers to PPM scheduling, billing, and renewal.

How-to GuideAdvanced

How to Quote and Run a Commercial Asbestos Survey and Removal Contract

A step-by-step guide for HSE-licensed asbestos removal contractors covering how to structure quotes that capture every compliance cost, manage the 14-day notification timeline, and invoice correctly from survey to Certificate of Reoccupation.

How to Quote and Run a Domestic EV Charging Installation

A domestic EV charging installation takes half a day on site but has a compliance chain that catches many electricians out. This guide covers the OZEV grant process from April 2026, BS 7671:2018+A4:2026 requirements, and how to run a clean survey-to-invoice process across every job.

How to Quote and Manage a Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Promotional Merchandise Order

Healthcare and pharmaceutical clients offer high-value, predictable accounts for promotional merchandise distributors - but they come with complex compliance requirements. This guide covers how to identify your client type, navigate the ABPI Code 2024, price for extended approval timelines, and manage multi-site delivery and reorders.

How to Quote and Run a Retail Shop Lighting Installation

Retail lighting projects are routinely underquoted and overrun because the brief arrives incomplete and the access constraints are priced too low. This guide covers every stage from survey to handover: how to specify against CIBSE LG17, build a compliant quote, manage procurement lead times, and deliver a full documentation pack that passes any landlord or insurance audit.

How to Quote and Manage a Conference Delegate Merchandise Pack

A conference delegate pack involves five to eight product lines, multiple suppliers, and a fixed event date that does not move. This guide covers how to brief, quote, order, and deliver a complete delegate pack without missing the event.

How to Quote and Manage a Sustainable Merchandise Order

Sustainable merchandise orders are more complex than standard jobs. This guide covers how to verify certifications, qualify suppliers, write accurate briefs, build in realistic lead times, and pass compliance documentation through to your client at delivery.

How to Quote and Manage a Reception and Breakout Furniture Project

A step-by-step guide for contract furniture dealers on scoping, quoting, and managing reception and breakout furniture projects - from the first client brief through multi-manufacturer order management, mid-project specification changes, and final snagging.

How to Quote and Run a Commercial Demolition and Strip-Out Contract

A guide for commercial demolition and strip-out contractors covering how to define scope, manage R&D surveys and CDM obligations, price the job accurately, run the programme, and close the final account with full documentation.

How to Quote and Manage a Facilities Management Contract

A facilities management contract renews every month and runs continuously across its full term. This guide covers how to scope the asset base, choose the right pricing model, build a PPM schedule, manage reactive call-outs, and bill monthly so every visit is documented and every variation gets paid.

How to Quote and Run an Education AV Installation

Schools follow different procurement rules from corporate clients. This guide covers UK education AV procurement routes, the five system zones in a typical project, installation programme management around term-time constraints, and handover documentation requirements.

How to Quote and Manage a Commercial Energy Audit

Commercial energy audit projects lose margin in three places: underestimated site time, unbounded report revisions, and compliance scope that surfaces mid-engagement. This guide covers how to scope, quote, run, and close an energy audit engagement profitably - from data collection to follow-on work.

How to Quote and Run an Architectural Lighting Project

Architectural lighting projects require a different approach to quoting, procurement, and commissioning than standard commercial electrical work. This guide covers how to read a luminaire schedule, manage bespoke lead times, price controls scope, and deliver a clean handover.

How to Quote and Manage a Print and Signage Order

Print and signage orders are unforgiving: once in production, mistakes can only be fixed with a reprint. This guide covers how to spec the job accurately, manage artwork approval, coordinate trade suppliers, and close the order cleanly before raising the final invoice.

How to Quote and Run a Commercial Drainage Installation

A step-by-step guide for commercial drainage contractors covering how to read a drainage design, price pipe runs and SuDS elements, manage Building Regulations Part H and Section 106 approvals, run the installation to a tested handover, and recover cost when ground conditions differ from the design.

How to Quote and Run a Commercial Painting and Decorating Contract

Commercial painting and decorating contracts differ from residential work at every operational level. This guide covers how to quote by zone and surface, price preparation separately, plan a programme for an occupied site, manage variations, and invoice in stages from mobilisation to practical completion.

7 min read

How to Quote and Manage a University and Schools Promotional Merchandise Order

University and schools promotional merchandise orders are among the most repeatable in the distributor's book - but hard seasonal deadlines, multi-layer brand approval, and split deliveries make them unforgiving. This guide covers the full process from quoting to delivery and account retention.

PlaybookIntermediate

Creditor days benchmarks for UK trade businesses

Creditor days measures how long your business takes to pay trade suppliers. For UK trade businesses, a healthy figure depends on where you sit in the payment chain, not a single industry average. This guide gives the formula, sector benchmarks, and a diagnostic framework for reading your own number.

Utilization Rate: Benchmarks and Worked Examples

Utilization rate is the one number that tells an equipment-heavy or people-heavy service business whether its capacity and workload are properly matched. This guide explains the formula, shows how to choose the right benchmark for your asset type, and walks through three fully worked examples across hire fleets, trade businesses, and construction plant.

Boardroom AV Installation Costs: What Drives the Price

Boardroom AV installation in the UK runs from around £9,500 for a straightforward system to over £35,000 with DSP audio and custom control. The final number is determined by five decisions made before any kit is chosen.

How to Quote and Run a Commercial Tiling Contract

Commercial tiling contracts carry hidden costs that standard per-m² rates never cover: substrate levelling, wet area tanking, pattern complexity, and programme delays. This guide covers how to quote accurately, scope the contract, and run the project from substrate check to final invoice.

TemplateBeginner

What to Include in a Quote

A professional quote must contain nine core sections to be both legally sound and easy to accept. This guide breaks down each section - from line-item pricing to your validity period and acceptance mechanism - so you can build a reusable template that works across every type of job or order.