Stop second-coat creep eating your margin.
A two-bedroom skim job that 'should' need 18 bags ends up needing 22. MarginPal tracks every bag, every bead, every prep tub against your quoted estimate — so when materials are running hot, you know about it before you've made a third trip to the merchant.
What's eating your margin as a plasterer?
Bag count creeps on every job
Old walls drink plaster. New backing coats absorb more than the spec says. MarginPal logs every receipt against the job, and the budget-health badge flips to At Risk when you're trending past the bag count you priced for.
Prep is wildly underquoted on older properties
Stripping wallpaper, cracking out blown plaster, PVA on dusty walls — all eats hours you didn't price properly. MarginPal won't time your hands for you, but the per-job margin tells you which property types leak money so you can quote them realistically next time.
Second coats sneak in without invoicing
Customer asks for a second coat on the ceiling. You agree without a variation. MarginPal logs the extra materials as expenses on the job, so the final margin reflects what you actually delivered — useful data for the variation conversation next time.
Per-job margin you can compare across rooms, walls and finishes.
Build the quote line by line — backing coat, finish coat, beads, prep, labour — each with its own estimated cost. As you snap receipts at the merchant, the live KPI strip shows margin against the quote. The AI then surfaces patterns across your jobs over time.
- Line-item quotes with Labour / Materials / Other cost-type tags
- Snap any plastering-merchant receipt — OCR reads every line in seconds
- Live budget-health badge on every active job
- AI insights (Business tier) surface patterns across your jobs
Fair, flat pricing. Scans that scale with you.
AI receipt scanning and live quoted-vs-actual tracking on every tier. AI margin insights unlock on Business. Need more scans? Pay only for what you use.
Solo
For sole traders getting organised.
- Up to 3 members
- Manual quote management
- AI receipt scanning
- Quoted vs actual tracking
Pro
Everything a one-van operation needs.
- Up to 10 members
- Branded quote PDFs
- Send quotes by email
- Customer accept/decline
- AI receipt scanning
- Quoted vs actual tracking
Business
For small crews running multiple jobs.
- Up to 20 members
- Branded quote PDFs
- Send quotes by email
- Customer accept/decline
- AI receipt scanning
- Quoted vs actual tracking
- AI margin insights
- Priority support
Prices in GBP, VAT not included. Cancel anytime.
Questions plasterers ask.
Can I quote backing coats and finish coats as separate items?
Yes. Quote line items support whatever breakdown you want, each with its own estimated cost. Most plasterers list backing coat materials, finish coat materials, beads, and labour as separate lines so they can see where each job runs over.
Does it work for one-day skim jobs as well as full-plaster work?
Yes — every job is sized to the work, from a single ceiling skim to a full-house re-plaster. The KPI strip shows margin per job whatever the size, so you can see which job types are hitting the rate.
How does it handle commercial plastering for builders?
Treat each commercial job as its own job under the builder as the customer. Per-job margin tells you whether each builder is paying enough — useful when one starts pushing for tighter quotes than the others.
Built for the rest of the trades too.
Same engine, tuned to whichever trade you're in. Each one gets patterns specific to its work.
- MarginPal for Electricians Itemise rewires, CU upgrades and EV charger installs, then watch material cost track against your quote — live, on every job.
- MarginPal for Plumbers Boiler installs, leak fixes and bathroom fits all have different margins. See which jobs are really paying.
- MarginPal for Builders Long builds are where margin disappears. MarginPal flags drift in week 3, not week 13.
- MarginPal for Tilers Tile waste, adhesive and grout creep up. MarginPal flags when materials are running over before the job ends.
- MarginPal for Painters & decorators Track paint, prep and materials cost against your quote — and let the AI surface patterns once you have a few jobs in.
- MarginPal for Joiners Itemise bespoke pieces, then track every timber and ironmongery receipt against the quote.
- MarginPal for Roofers Track tile, felt, scaffolding and labour costs against your roofing quote — live, on every job.
- MarginPal for Gas engineers Boiler installs, annual services, breakdowns — all different margins. See which jobs are really paying.
- MarginPal for Kitchen fitters Track every unit, worktop, appliance and labour against your kitchen quote — and know if it's paying before you fit the last cabinet.
- MarginPal for Landscapers Patios, planting, lawns, full re-designs — track plant, paving and labour cost against the quote.
- MarginPal for Locksmiths Emergency callouts, planned lock changes, security upgrades — see which jobs are really paying.
- MarginPal for Glaziers Track glass, frames, beading and labour against your quote — and stop custom-cut waste eating your margin.
- MarginPal for Handypeople Small jobs, every kind, all different. MarginPal shows which ones are really paying.
Ready to see what your jobs really earn?
Quote, track, and compare — all in one app. 7-day free trial on Pro, set up in the time it takes to boil the kettle.