Self-serve vs paid software setup for a trades business

Choose self-serve setup when you can prepare and check the active records yourself. Consider paid setup when the documented help addresses your actual obstacle. Compare the scope of assistance, not just whether a service is called onboarding.

Explore the wider switching and implementation guides for the steps around this decision.

Setup choice table

Question	Self-serve	Optional paid setup
Who prepares the source?	Your business	Confirm the service’s preparation requirements
Who checks active work?	Your responsible person	Business confirmation is still needed
What data moves?	Supported entry/import scope	Written agreed service scope
Who chooses permissions/process?	Your business	Advice does not replace business decisions
What remains specialist?	Accounts/legal/trade tools	Still outside ordinary setup

JobDiary is self-serve by default and its optional setup is charged separately. The live pricing page provides the amount; do not rely on a historic free-import promise.

An illustrative decision

A small business with a clean active-customer sheet and few open jobs may prefer self-serve entry. Another has scattered diary entries and needs help organising the current position. Paid assistance is valuable only if its agreed scope covers that preparation and transfer.

Ask about timing, supported formats, reconciliation, unresolved records and what is excluded. Do not assume setup means importing every historic invoice, photo and private message.

Measure the result

Check that users can find current jobs, scope and balances, and inspect an export. A setup service should leave the business able to operate and review its own records, not dependent on an undocumented import only one person understands.

Manual provisioning and setup need practical scheduling. Confirm access and arrangements before promising a live changeover date to the crew.

Connect this to the next step

Continue with Can you leave a job app and take your data with you?. If the next issue is elsewhere in the workflow, use How to onboard a seasonal worker to a job app.

See starting a JobDiary trial to check how the product supports this work. Use the current product description and a trial to verify the fit for your business.