Moving from paper docket books to digital dockets
Carbon docket books have run cutting and drilling businesses for decades, and the form inside them usually holds years of hard lessons. This guide covers what goes wrong with paper, what to carry over to a digital docket, a changeover plan that does not leave the crew stranded, and what to check in any docket app.
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What goes wrong with carbon books
None of these are the crew's fault. They come with paper.
- Lost copies: the white copy blows off the dash, the yellow goes through the wash, and the book itself is left on site. A lost docket is work that is very hard to invoice.
- Unreadable writing: a docket filled in with wet gloves in the rain, on a slurry-covered tailgate, leaves the office guessing whether that is 1.5m or 7.5m, or 150mm or 180mm.
- Books returned late: completed dockets sit in the ute until the book is full or someone remembers, so the office invoices days or weeks after the work.
- Re-keying into invoices: every line is typed again into your accounting suite, which is time spent copying, and every copy is a chance for a wrong figure.
- Unsigned extras: the crew do an extra cut or three more holes at the foreman's request, and it either never makes it onto the docket or goes on after the signature, where it is easy to dispute.
- No proof of what was there: without a photo of the marked-up area, a later "we never asked for that cut" is your word against theirs.
What to keep from your paper docket
Your paper docket has evolved to answer the questions your customers ask. Keep every field that earns its place, and let the digital version do the arithmetic.
| On the paper docket | Keep it because | On a digital docket |
|---|---|---|
| Order or PO number | Builders will not pay an invoice without it | A required field before the docket can be finished |
| Time on and time off | It backs standby, minimums and after-hours rates | Recorded on the phone, with breaks and standby as lines |
| Work done: cuts, holes, depths, diameters | It is what the invoice is built from | Picked from your rate card, with the measurement entered |
| Safety checks | Services located, area barricaded, slurry managed | Yes or no questions, with a stop if the answer is wrong |
| Terms on the back | Minimums, standby and payment terms | Shown for the customer to accept before signing |
| Customer signature and printed name | A signature alone is often unreadable | Signed on screen, with the name typed beside it |
A switch-over plan
Allow two to three weeks, and you can move across without missing an invoice.
- 01
Rebuild your form first
Start from your current docket, field by field, before you add anything. Crews accept a new tool far faster when the questions are the ones they already know. Add new questions later, once the basics are settled.
- 02
Load your rate card
If the crew will pick work from a list, that list needs to match how you price, with the right units and depth bands. Our guide to pricing concrete cutting per metre covers the layout that keeps crews picking the right line.
- 03
Carry on the numbering
Start the digital numbers after the highest number in your last book, so a builder's accounts team never sees a number go backwards or repeat. Write down the cut-over number and keep it with your records.
- 04
Train one crew, then everyone
Pick your most patient leading hand and run the first few jobs with them. Fix what confuses them, then show the rest of the crew together, on their own phones, with a practice docket. Fifteen minutes in the yard beats a manual.
- 05
Run both for a week
For the first week, the crew fill in the digital docket and keep the book in the truck as a fallback for a flat phone or a site with no signal. The office compares the two and fixes the form wherever they differ. After a week, the book becomes the backup only.
- 06
Settle the customer-not-on-site process
Decide what happens when nobody is there to sign: who the crew ring, whether photos of the finished work are required, and how the docket is marked. Write it down and tell your regular builders before it happens.
- 07
Retire the books
Collect the unused books, file the last used ones with your records, and tell your customers that dockets now arrive by email.
Signatures, absent customers and the head contractor
A signature is only useful if you can later show who signed. Have the name typed or printed beside it, and record the time. On a large site the person who signs is often a leading hand from the head contractor rather than the person who approves the invoice, so the docket should go to both: a copy to the person on site and a copy to the accounts or project email for that builder.
When nobody is there to sign, the crew should still finish the docket. Mark it as signed in the customer's absence, take photos of the finished cuts or holes with something in frame that shows the location, and note who they tried to contact. A clear record made on the day is far easier to defend than a docket signed a week later in the site shed.
What to check in any docket app
Whichever app you look at, put it through a real job from your own price list before you commit.
- Your own form: it should match your paper docket, including your safety checks and the terms on the back. A generic job sheet leaves your crew working around it.
- Pricing by measurement: the crew should be able to enter metres, depth, diameter and holes and have the price worked out, including loadings and minimums.
- Signal: find out what the crew can still do in a basement or plant room with no reception, and what happens to a docket finished there.
- The customer's copy: a signed PDF on your letterhead should reach the customer without anyone sending it, with office-only notes kept off it.
- Invoicing: a finished docket should become an invoice without retyping, in the accounting suite you already use.
- Getting your data out: check that dockets and records can be exported at any time, and where the data is stored.
- Setup: find out who builds the form and loads the price list, and whether that costs extra.
How Core Docket handles the switch
Core Docket was built for cutting and drilling businesses moving off carbon books. We rebuild your paper docket for you, including your safety checks and terms, and load your rate card from a PDF, spreadsheet or photos. The customer signs on the crew member's phone, or the crew can tick that the customer was absent if your form includes that option. The signed docket is emailed as a PDF on your letterhead when it is finished, with each field set to show or stay office-only, and a draft invoice is made for the office to check and send to your accounting suite. See which accounting suites connect today. If yours is not connected yet, Core Docket will build the connection where it is possible. Job numbers can start from a number you choose.
It runs in the phone's browser and can be added to the home screen. Pages the crew have already opened can still be read without signal, and a finished docket is kept on the phone and sent the moment signal returns.
Questions
How long does it take to move from paper docket books to digital?
Plan for two to three weeks: rebuild the form, load the rate card, train one crew, then run paper and digital side by side for a week before the books become a backup only.
What happens to docket numbering when we switch from paper?
Start the digital numbering after the highest number in your last docket book, and record the cut-over number, so customers never see a number repeat or go backwards.
Is a signature on a phone as good as a signature on a carbon docket?
For showing the customer agreed to the work, a signature on screen with a printed name, time and photos is generally a clearer record than a carbon copy. This is not legal advice, so check with your adviser if a particular contract requires something specific.
What if the customer is not on site to sign the docket?
Finish the docket anyway, mark it as signed in the customer's absence, attach photos of the finished work and note who you tried to contact. Agree the process with your regular builders in advance.
Should we keep paper docket books as a backup?
Keep a book in each truck for the first weeks and for the odd flat phone. Once the crew are comfortable, keep one spare book in the office and retire the rest.
Read next
- Digital docket bookCore Docket as a digital docket book for trades: your existing docket rebuilt for the phone, signed on site and in the office the same minute.
- Digital docketsDigital job dockets for trade crews: your own docket rebuilt, with photos, signatures, safety stop questions and the customer's copy emailed on your letterhead.
- Core Docket vs DocketbookWhat Core Docket does that Docketbook is not built for: dockets that price measured work from your price list, set-up fees applied for you, and every feature in one plan.
- Pricing per metreHow concrete cutting and core drilling businesses build a rate card: per lineal metre by depth band, per 10mm of depth by diameter, loadings, set-up, relocation and standby.
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