How Sterling Works — Field to Office, No Subscription

ONE

BackOffice — the office

The money, the schedule, the customers and the taxes. Runs on any computer, on as many computers as you like at once. Invoices go out from here, bank transactions come in already sorted, and the Tax Time report puts a number on what to set aside. What's in BackOffice →

TWO

OfficeKit — the field

The job itself. Checklists, photos, signature, estimate, invoice, payment — done on the phone at the kerb, with no signal needed. It syncs to BackOffice when it can. What's in OfficeKit →

THREE

A work layer — your trade

Buy the pack for your trade and a new tab appears in both apps, for every seat in the business. Your fields, your words, your document. The data it captures flows through the same jobs, invoices and reports as everything else — it isn't a bolt-on that lives in its own corner. Find your trade →

The part people get wrong

A work layer is bought once, for the business — not per person.

Buy the septic layer and it's on the owner's computer and every crew phone at the same time. Seats price how many people are working. Layers price which trade you're in. The two never multiply against each other.

A Tuesday

What it looks like in practice.

7.40am — The crew opens OfficeKit and sees the day. You built the schedule last night in BackOffice and printed a copy for the one who won't use the phone.
9.15am — First job, no signal in the basement. The whole thing gets recorded anyway: checklist, photos, readings in your trade's own fields, customer signature.
9.50am — Back in the van, the phone catches up. The job, the photos and the invoice all appear in BackOffice without anyone doing anything.
12.30pm — Fuel and a part. Receipt photographed at the counter, read, and filed on the right tax line.
4.10pm — Customer pays the QR code on the invoice. Money goes to your Stripe account. The invoice marks itself paid.
6pm — You look at one screen: what came in, what's owed, what's late, and what to put aside for tax. Then you shut the laptop.

Questions this raises

The honest answers.

Do I need both apps?

No. Plenty of people buy only the phone app, and some buy only the office hub. They're better together and the pair costs less than buying them separately, but neither one needs the other to work.

What happens if my crew has no signal all day?

Nothing bad. Everything is captured on the phone and syncs when it can. You can also decide, as the owner, whether a phone is allowed to send data up, pull data down, or both — set for the whole business or one seat at a time.

What if my trade doesn't have a layer yet?

Every account includes a free general service log that works for any trade, so you're not stuck. Tell us what you do and yours gets built — and the person who asks for a trade gets that layer free when it's done.

Can I use it on more than one computer?

As many as you like, at no extra charge. You at the shop, your spouse at the kitchen table, your office manager at the desk, all signed in at once. You pay for a second set of books, never for a second laptop.

What if I hire someone?

Add a seat for $99. If they leave, lock the seat and their device stops working within minutes.

Can I get my data out?

All of it, any time, as ordinary spreadsheet files. That promise matters more here than with a subscription, because you own this outright and we'd rather you never feel trapped by it.