Extra work, from finding it to being paid for itNew
Pricing work nobody quoted for, showing the customer why, and getting it onto the bill with their yes in writing.
Written 6 October 2026
What is said in this recording
Work that turns out to be more than the quote covered is the most commonly disputed thing a trade bills for, because it is usually agreed standing in somebody’s hallway and written down afterwards — if at all. This is the whole loop: priced on site, with a photograph or a note of what was found, sent to the customer, approved by name, and on the invoice. Nothing is billed until they say yes.
Step by step
- 1
Open the job and choose Extra work.
The job has to have come from a quote — extra work adds lines to agreed work. A recurring visit or an appointment has one price rather than line items.
- 2
Describe it and price it, a line at a time.
Materials and labour separately, exactly as they would have been quoted up front. Prices are typed the way your settings say, including or excluding VAT.
- 3
Show them what you found, in the same form.
A photo, a video, a voice note or just a note, underneath the price. This is the part that stops it being one person’s word, and it is taken before anything is sent.
- 4
Send it for approval.
They get an email with a link. Nothing touches the quote, the invoice or any total until they answer.
- 5
They approve it in their own name.
Their page shows the price, what you found and what it adds. They type who they are — and their position, if they are approving for a business — and the exact sentence they agreed to is kept with the date and time.
- 6
The quote and the invoice move with it.
The lines join the quote and the invoice grows by the same amount, ready to send once the job is finished. Nothing is retyped.
Worth knowing
What you attach here DOES go to the customer
Everywhere else in TaskMyJob a photo is internal until somebody chooses to send it. The extra work form is the exception, because showing them why is its whole purpose, and it says so above the buttons. A photo you want kept internal goes on the job itself instead.
Finishing the job does not send the bill while you are waiting
Completing a job normally emails the invoice. It does not while extra work is still unanswered — the invoice is raised and held, because sending it would stop the extra work ever reaching it. You are told so when you complete, and both an approval and a decline tell the office it is ready to go.
Once the invoice has gone, it is too late
Extra work cannot be added to an invoice the customer is already holding — changing a bill behind somebody’s back is worse than billing the extra separately. Raise a second invoice for it instead. The Invoice now button will still send it with a request outstanding, because that is a decision somebody has made on purpose.
A no is worth as much as a yes
If they decline, nothing is billed and you can record why. The photographs stay on the job record either way — a customer saying no is precisely when the proof matters.
Financed jobs are fixed
A job being paid for with finance is fixed at the amount the lender agreed to. The extra work is real work, so it goes on its own invoice and is paid the ordinary way.
The engineer can raise it from site
The same form is on the engineer’s job card while the job is running, so it can be priced and sent while they are still standing in front of the thing.