A handyman quotes from experience and finds out afterwards whether the experience was right. The six-hour door job takes seven because one opening is out of square. The eight-hour fixture swap takes nine because two junction boxes were not to code. None of that is unusual, and none of it is a problem until the same estimate is repeated forty times a year at the same wrong number. HandyDesk US puts the quote and the outcome side by side.

The estimate is a record, not a text message

An estimate records the hours quoted, the rate and the material allowance, and computes its own total.

Because it survives as a record, the job that follows can be attached to it, and the comparison between what was quoted and what was charged becomes automatic rather than anecdotal.

Accuracy you can read down a column

Estimate accuracy shows the quoted total, the actual charged, the variance and a plain On estimate, Over estimate or Under estimate label.

One over-run is a bad day. Four in a row on the same kind of work is a pricing decision, and it is only visible when the comparison is kept.

Cost follows the person, not the company

Every worker carries an hourly cost, including the owner. A job records the hours once and the cost follows from whoever actually did it.

That is what makes sending a helper to a simple job a measurable decision rather than a feeling, because the margin on that job is computed from the helper's cost.

Tasks show where the time goes

Breaking a job into tasks with estimated and actual minutes turns an over-run into a location: it was the shimming, not the trim.

Over a season the pattern is more useful than the totals, because it tells you which line of your own estimate template is wrong.

Review exceptions every week

Resolve duplicate IDs, missing links, overdue balances, negative amounts, and open operational items in CHECKS before using the dashboard for decisions.

HandyDesk US Google Sheets Edition is designed for use with a Google account and current desktop Google Sheets.

No contractor licensing or permit filing, no lead-safe or trade certification records, no payroll filing or tax returns, no customer booking portal, and no automatic appointment reminders.