Router cutter working wood in a joinery workshop

For trade businesses

Building site by day, quotations in the evening, invoices at the weekend. When do you actually finish for the day?

ivato takes the office burden off trade businesses: enquiries with photos and measurements, quotations in minutes, timesheets on the phone, invoice on the day of completion and more good reviews. Your trade software stays. You and your people work again on what you are good at, and the office keeps pace.

Callback from the industry consultant →From call to invoice ↓

Your daily work

Do you recognise these sentences from your business?

In the trades, work is rarely what is missing. What is missing is people, time and an office that keeps pace with the building site. The boss is master craftsman, estimator, dispatcher and bookkeeper all in one, and much happens in the evening at the kitchen table. This is exactly where we start.

You recognise 0 of 8 statements

Tap the statements you recognise from your day-to-day work.

The pattern behind it: Good tradespeople spend too much time on paper, and the boss is the bottleneck in their own business.

Let's talk about it ↓

From call to invoice

At which point between the call and the payment received do you lose the most time?

Click on a stage. You see how it works in many trade businesses today, what ivato implements there and what changes as a result. Usually two to three stages offer the greatest leverage. Which ones they are for you, we clarify in the initial conversation.

Today

Calls while working

Customers call when the boss is up a ladder, or write by WhatsApp and email. Callbacks get lost, many enquiries do not fit at all.

With ivato

Enquiries sorted and answered

  • Enquiry form with photos, measurements and preferred date
  • Pre-sorting by trade, size and region
  • Immediate reply with the next step

What changes

Only suitable enquiries remain

You are interrupted less and only deal with jobs that fit your business.

Descriptions show typical processes. We calculate concrete effects in hours and euros for your business in the business case.

Practical examples

What does this look like in a trade business like yours?

Four examples from finishing trades, wood and metal, and roofing and building, each with starting point, solution, result and calculation. What they all have in common: the trade software stayed in place, the journeymen work with a simple app, and after 8 to 12 weeks it was running in daily operations.

  • Painting and decorating firmSaxony18 staffPrivate & housing sector

    Quotation from photos and measurements, without driving out every time

    Starting point
    A site visit for every enquiry, quotations written by the boss in the evening. Many customers collected other quotations in parallel, some of the trips were for nothing.
    Solution
    Enquiry online with photos, room measurements and preferred date, AI prepares a quotation from photos and service catalogue, the boss checks it and sends it out with digital acceptance.
    Result
    Site visits only for larger jobs, quotations on the same day, significantly less office work in the evening.
    Investment
    €19,000
    Funding
    €7,600
    Own contribution
    €11,400
    Payback
    6 months

  • JoineryBavaria12 staffFitted furniture & interior fit-out

    Guide price online, post-calculation for each job

    Starting point
    Many enquiries initially only wanted a price. Every costing took time, and whether a job had made money in the end was unclear.
    Solution
    Configurator for fitted wardrobes and shelving with a guide price on the website, transfer into costing, hours and material per job via app, post-calculation automatic.
    Result
    Fewer price enquiries without an order, faster quotations, and the master craftsman sees which jobs are worthwhile.
    Investment
    €24,000
    Funding
    €9,600
    Own contribution
    €14,400
    Payback
    8 months

  • Roofing firmNRW25 staffRefurbishment & repair

    Invoice on the day of completion instead of after three weeks

    Starting point
    Timesheets on paper, material on request, invoices written at the weekend. Often weeks lay between completion and invoice.
    Solution
    Journeyman app for hours, material and site photos, acceptance with signature at the customer's site, invoice and interim payments prepared automatically and handed over to the trade software.
    Result
    Invoices go out on the same day, liquidity significantly better, no more forgotten hours.
    Investment
    €22,000
    Funding
    €8,800
    Own contribution
    €13,200
    Payback
    5 months

  • Metal constructionBaden-Württemberg30 staffStaircases, railings, structural steel

    Attracting new talent and making the business ready for handover

    Starting point
    Hardly any applications for training and journeyman positions. Costing and customer knowledge rested with the owner, who wants to hand over in a few years.
    Solution
    Careers page with a short application in two minutes by phone and quick feedback, costing principles and processes documented, key figures overview for the handover.
    Result
    More applications, faster hiring, and the business no longer depends on the boss alone.
    Investment
    €27,000
    Funding
    €10,800
    Own contribution
    €16,200
    Effect
    Value +12%

More case studies from Skilled trades & construction · Funding programmes

Solutions

Which tools does ivato use in the trades?

Simple tools that work on the building site and save time in the office. Adapted to your trade and your trade software. No computer course needed.

  • Enquiry with photos & measurements

    Customers send photos, measurements and preferred date via your website. Enquiries are pre-sorted, suitable ones get an immediate reply.

    To Sales & CRM Automation →

  • Quotation in minutes

    A draft quotation is created from photos, measurements and your service catalogue. You check it, change it and send it out with digital acceptance.

    To Implementation →

  • Journeyman app

    Hours, material and photos on the phone, acceptance with signature at the customer's site. As simple as WhatsApp, even without a network.

    To Reducing cost pressure →

  • Invoice & post-calculation

    Invoice and interim payments prepared straight from the site, payment reminder automatic, post-calculation shows which jobs are worthwhile.

    To Strategy →

  • Reviews & repeat orders

    After acceptance, the request for a review, later the reminder of maintenance or follow-up work. Regular customers instead of chance.

    To Sales & CRM Automation →

  • New talent & handover

    Short application by phone in two minutes, quick feedback to applicants, costing and processes documented for the next generation.

    To Securing succession →

Trade software

Do we have to switch our trade software?

No. Your trade software remains the leading system for quotations, invoices and customers. We connect it with the website, phone and customers, so that data is not copied three times. Where there is only Word and Excel today, we create a simple foundation.

Your systems stay

  • Connection to common trade software via existing interfaces
  • Datanorm items and your own service catalogue are used
  • Journeyman app also works in the cellar and on the roof without a network
  • Customer data stays on servers in Germany
E-invoicing2025 · 2027 · 2028

Is your business ready for e-invoicing?

Since 2025, businesses must be able to receive e-invoices from other companies. From 2027, companies with prior-year turnover of more than €800,000 must issue e-invoices to business customers, from 2028 all companies. Anyone who already creates invoices digitally from the site meets this along the way.

As of: 10/2026 · simplified presentation, not legal or tax advice

Clarify in a conversation ↓

Process & prices

How do we start when the order books are full?

With a 30-minute conversation, preferably early in the morning or after work. After that you decide step by step. Your effort is a few appointments with the boss, the office and one journeyman. We do the rest.

  1. Step 1

    Initial conversation

    30 minutes with a consultant who knows trade businesses. We discuss where things get stuck and tell you honestly whether and where digitalisation pays off.

    free of charge

    Request a callback ↓

  2. Step 2

    Strategy

    We look at your path from call to invoice, calculate the business case in euros and set a roadmap.

    Fixed price by scope · eligible for funding

    To Strategy →

  3. Step 3

    Implementation

    We implement the most effective building blocks, connect your software and show the office and journeymen how it works until it runs.

    from €20,000 net · 8–12 weeks

    To Implementation →

Estimate your funding

Funding rate
Funding
€12,000
Your contribution
€18,000

Simplified calculation. Rate and maximum amounts depend on the programme, federal state and company size. Consulting can additionally receive a grant of up to €5,600.

projects successfully supported
1,000+
projects successfully supported
years of experience with mid-sized companies
25+
years of experience with mid-sized companies
funding for implementation
up to 60%
funding for implementation
dedicated contact person in the project
1
dedicated contact person in the project

Frequently asked questions

What master craftsmen and business owners want to know beforehand

Your question is not here? In the initial conversation we take 30 minutes for your specific topic.

Especially then. We set everything up and keep operation as simple as possible. You should spend less time at the computer, not more. If something gets stuck, you have a dedicated contact person.

If it takes work off their hands, yes. No more slips of paper in the van, no catching up on Friday. We involve one journeyman from the start and remove everything that nobody needs on the site.

Because then you can choose. Anyone who sorts enquiries quickly only drives out to worthwhile jobs, sends quotations before the customer asks elsewhere, and can take the best jobs at better prices.

Often precisely then, because the boss does everything himself. If a building block saves a few evening hours every week and invoices go out two weeks earlier, it pays off quickly. The business case shows this before the investment.

Yes. A business with documented costing, digital processes and clear figures is much more attractive to successors, whether from the family, from the team or from outside. With our Exit check we additionally prepare the handover.

For consulting, grants of up to €5,600 are possible, for implementation up to 60% depending on federal state and programme. We check the suitable programmes in the initial conversation and take care of the application documents. As of: 10/2026, programmes change regularly.

Read on

Contact

Exchange ideas with one of our specialists from your industry.

30 minutes, free of charge, preferably at seven in the morning or after work. We tell you openly which two or three points are worthwhile for you and roughly what that costs.

  • Callback within one working day
  • Preferably early in the morning or after work

Request a callback

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