Help Center
Quick guides for getting started and using TheGuys.app.
How TheGuys.app works
TheGuys.app is a crew management platform for contractors. Two roles use the app — Bosses, who win the work and dispatch the team, and Guys, the crew members who do it. The Boss creates a job (often with AI assist that turns a plain description into a structured work order), dispatches it to one or more Guys, tracks every step from arrival to closeout, and pays out automatically through Stripe Connect — 90%+ goes to the Guy; the rest covers the platform fee and Stripe's processing cost.
Your clients don't need an account. They're the people who hired you to do the work, and they benefit indirectly: a contractor running on TheGuys.app builds a more consistent, organized crew because every job carries the same structure — required tasks, photo evidence, lifecycle timestamps, signed closeouts. What your client sees is professional work delivered the same way every time — and, when the job is done, a clean invoice with your business name on it, built from what your crew logged and sent under your name. They can pay it online by card, straight from the email. When they do, TheGuys App keeps 5% of what they paid, Stripe takes its processing fee, and the rest lands in your account. If your customer pays you by cash or check instead of the link, there is no platform fee on that payment. That is your own customer paying your invoice, and nothing else: your Guys are always paid through the app.
Add TheGuys to your home screen
You can add TheGuys.app to your phone, tablet, or computer so it opens from an icon like a normal app — full screen, faster to load, no App Store or download needed. Here is how.
Step 1
Open TheGuys in Safari
This only works in Safari on an iPhone or iPad — not Chrome or any other browser.
Step 2
Tap the Share button
It is the square with an arrow pointing up, at the bottom of the screen (or top on iPad).
Step 3
Tap “Add to Home Screen”
Scroll down the share menu until you see it, then tap it.
Step 4
Tap Add
Tap “Add” in the top-right corner. The TheGuys shield lands on your home screen.
On iPhone and iPad this only works in Safari. If you are in Chrome or another browser, open theguys.app in Safari first.
How do I…
Step-by-step guides for the flows you'll use most. Tap a guide to open it. Each step that leans on a term links straight to its card under What things mean.
Create a job with AIBoss
The fastest way to build a job: say it in plain words, let the AI draft the work order, then check the draft.
- 1Start a new job. The AI window opens by itself, unless you turned that off in Settings. what's this?
- 2Describe the job like you'd tell a friend — where it is, what needs doing, and when.
- 3The AI turns your words into a work order: title, tasks, schedule, and pay.
- 4Check every field. Anything you type yourself stays yours — the AI never overwrites your edits.
- 5Add task controls where you need them: Required, photo proof, notes, a web link (like an install manual), penalties, bonuses. what's this?
- 6Your Prime Dispatcher steps (Pre-Check, Check In/Out, closeout) are added automatically. what's this?
- 7Save the draft, or dispatch it right away.
- 1Describe the job in plain words
- 2AI drafts the work order
- 3You check it and fix anything
- 4Dispatch to your crew
Dispatch a job to your crewBoss
Send a finished draft out to the Guys who should do the work.
- 1Open the job and tap Dispatch.
- 2Pick the Guys to send it to. If the job needs a Lead, tap him first — the ★ marks the Lead. what's this?
- 3Slots say how many Guys the job needs. Guys claim slots when they accept. what's this?
- 4Send it. Every picked Guy gets the job by email or text.
- 5Watch the pills on the job card: Dispatched, Viewed, and the accepted / declined count. what's this?
- 6The card says Awaiting Crew until every slot is claimed. what's this?
Work a job from start to finish (for Guys)Guy
What happens between accepting a job and getting paid, in order.
- 1Accept the job posting you got by email or text.
- 2Check In when you arrive — your Boss sees the time on his dashboard.
- 3Work through the task list. The icon next to each task shows where it stands. what's this?
- 4Required tasks must be done, and photo tasks need a photo before they count. what's this?
- 5Log materials you used if the rate doesn't already include them. what's this?
- 6Finish the closeout tasks — notes, a final photo, and the client's signature on client jobs.
- 7Submit your invoice — it goes to the Boss on its own once he approves the work. Or choose Review Invoice and send it yourself later. what's this?
- 8Check Out when you leave the site.
Get paid — how the money movesEveryone
From finished work to money in the bank, and who takes what along the way.
- 1The job wraps up and the invoice goes to the Boss. what's this?
- 2On a Net job the Boss approves the invoice first — that locks the terms and starts the payment clock. what's this?
- 3The Boss pays. Stripe moves the money — it never sits with TheGuys.app.
- 4The split happens by itself the moment the payment lands. what's this?
- 5The Guy's share lands in his deposit account. what's this?
- 6If a card is declined or a charge gets challenged, the invoice badge says exactly that. what's this?
- 7Bosses: once every crew invoice on the job is approved, it's your turn — bill your customer from the job's card. what's this?
Bill your customer (client invoice)Boss
Your crew's paperwork becomes your customer's bill: built from what they logged, priced by you, sent under your name. Nothing goes out until you send it.
- 1Approve every crew invoice on the job. Until then the finished job waits in Awaiting Invoice(s), one line per Guy so you can see whose is still out. what's this?
- 2The moment the last one is approved, the job moves to Archived marked Not billed yet. Tap Create client invoice on its card — or on the job's recap page. Every job has the button, internal ones too. what's this?
- 3The draft is built for you: crew hours merged into one Labor line with a blank price, materials and equipment at your prices, your customer's details filled in from the job. Anything logged by a Guy you removed is flagged Check this one. what's this?
- 4Price every line. Tap Link beside a line to pull it off your Materials, Equipment or Labor list, or type your own — we'll offer to remember a new one. Add a trip charge, a discount, tax, notes, a due date. what's this?
- 5Glance under each amount: Paid to crew, and Made on this job under the total. Only you see those. They never print. what's this?
- 6Save draft as often as you like. Cancel invoice throws a draft away — nothing was sent, so nothing is on record.
- 7Send it. Email mails your customer a private link to the bill — no PDF attached — from your business, with replies coming to you. Print offers a DRAFT copy, or Finalize & print for the paper you hand over. Either way it gets its number, locks, keeps the exact copy that went out, and you land back on the dashboard. what's this?
- 8Email needs your Stripe connected with payouts switched on — your customer is about to pay you, so the money needs somewhere to land. Until then the button is greyed out and tells you exactly what to fix. what's this?
- 9Your customer opens the link, reads the bill, and can pay it by card right there — no account needed. When they do, TheGuys App keeps its platform fee and the card company takes its processing fee; the rest lands in your Stripe account. If your customer pays you by cash or check instead, there is no platform fee on that payment. That is your customer only: your Guys are always paid through the app. what's this?
- 10Wrong after it went out? Don't edit it — Correct & reissue voids it and opens a new draft with the same lines. The old number stays on record. what's this?
- 11Find every bill under Client invoices on your dashboard: Draft, INV-000n · Issued, Emailed, Paid, Void. Emailing a bill moves the job's card to Awaiting payment; once your customer pays, it drops back into Archived. what's this?
Build and send an invoiceGuy
Your invoice mostly builds itself from what you logged on the job. Here's the last mile.
- 1Finish the last task, then Submit Invoice — it goes to the Boss on its own once he approves the work. Choose Review Invoice instead only if you want to check and send it yourself. what's this?
- 2Materials and extra charges you logged during the job are already on it. what's this?
- 3Discounts the Boss gave during the job are locked on — you can't edit those. what's this?
- 4Tax is a flat dollar amount typed on the invoice — the app doesn't calculate rates. what's this?
- 5Send it, then track it: Draft → Submitted → Approved → Paid. what's this?
- 6Kicked back? Fix what the Boss flagged and send it again.
- 7Your Boss can't bill his customer until every crew invoice on the job is approved — sending yours promptly keeps his billing moving too. what's this?
Set when you can work (for Guys)Guy
Three settings tell Bosses when you're open. Only one of them actually blocks a job.
- 1Open Settings → Availability. what's this?
- 2Available today: flip it off when you're not open today. Jobs for other days don't care.
- 3Work Hours: your normal weekly days and times. Days you haven't set stay open around the clock.
- 4Time Off: exact dates you're fully out. This is the only setting that hard-blocks dispatch.
- 5Grayed out is a signal, not a block — a Boss can still send you the job and you can still accept.
- 6Set your travel radius on your profile so Bosses know how far you'll go. what's this?
Set up Stripe ConnectEveryone
Stripe Connect moves every payment on the platform. One-time setup, about ten minutes.
- 1Go to Settings → Stripe Connect and tap “Connect with Stripe”.
- 2Stripe walks you through identity, bank account, and tax info, then sends you back here.
- 3Check the status card: Details submitted, Charges enabled, Payouts enabled — all Yes means you're set. what's this?
- 4Your pay lands in your deposit account. You can change it any time. what's this?
- 5Bosses: a Guy shows as Pending on your crew screen until his payouts are connected. what's this?
Tune Prime DispatcherBoss
Your dispatch playbook — which steps land on every job, and how strict the rules are. New accounts start fully ON.
- 1Open Settings → Preferences. Prime Dispatcher sits at the top. what's this?
- 2The master pill flips the whole playbook at once. Custom shows when you've set your own mix. what's this?
- 3The auto-add toggles decide which steps land on every new job: Pre-Check, Check In/Out, closeout tasks. what's this?
- 4Unlock windows set how early Pre-Check and Check In open before the start time. what's this?
- 5Guardrails: Hard Submit Block stops incomplete submissions; Live Photo Capture makes the in-app camera the default and marks any camera-roll upload NOT LIVE. what's this?
- 6Changes only touch future jobs — a dispatched job keeps the settings it went out with.
Prime Dispatcher
Prime Dispatcher lives in /settings → Preferences. New accounts arrive with the playbook fully ON.
Prime Dispatcher is the full dispatch playbook — lifecycle tasks and discipline guardrails that keep every job on rails. Tap the master to turn the whole playbook on or off in one move. The toggles below let you tune individually; Custom shows when your settings don't match either preset.
Every sub-toggle has its own ? help icon, and each one is spelled out under What things mean → Settings below.
How to use task controls
Every task you add to a job has a row of controls beneath it. Each control marks the task with a different kind of expectation — what finishes the job, what needs proof, what you'll pay extra for. Start with Required.
- Required task
- Required marks a task as essential to the contracted work — if it's skipped, the job isn't done. Toggle it off to make the task optional, like a final cleanup, and attach a Bonus to encourage it. When Hard Submit Block is ON in Settings → Preferences, Guys can't submit closeout until every required task is done. Platform tasks (Pre-Check, Check In/Out, closeout tasks) auto-attach per your Prime Dispatcher settings and stay locked Required on the job.
- Photo required (camera icon)
- This task needs a photo before it can be marked complete — proof like before-and-after shots, receipts, or the finished install.
- Task notes
- Instructions attached to one task only — the small specifics, like “spare key under the planter” or “shut off the main water first.”
- Task link (chain icon)
- The chain icon on a work task attaches one web link, with an optional label like “Install manual.” The Guy sees a small chip that always shows the real website name next to the label — so a link can never pretend to be something it isn't. Tapping it shows a quick “You're leaving TheGuys” check before the site opens in his browser. Only secure https links are accepted, and link shorteners or tracker links are blocked. Every open is recorded for safety.
- Penalty
- A penalty is a dollar amount the Guy forfeits if the task is skipped or done wrong, plus a short reason that explains what triggers it. It pairs naturally with required tasks where the cost of getting it wrong is concrete — drywall not finished to spec, closeout photos missing, a deadline blown. The Penalty field can be hidden via Settings → Preferences → Show Penalty field.
- Bonus
- A bonus is a dollar amount the Guy earns on top of his rate when a condition you set is met — early completion, an extra-clean handoff, a client signature without rework. Use it to incentivize optional tasks or bake a quality bar into a required one. The Bonus field can be hidden via Settings → Preferences → Show Bonus field.
Bill your customer
The last step of every job is the one that gets you paid. Your crew's hours, materials and equipment are already logged, so your customer's invoice starts almost finished: you press one button, put your prices on it, and send it — by email with a link your customer can open and pay by card, or printed to hand over. It carries your business name, replies come to you, and what you pay your crew is never on it.
Client invoice — Your bill to your customer for a finished job. You press Create client invoice, it's built from what your crew logged, it carries your business name, and your Guys' pay rates never appear on it.
Step by step: Bill your customer under How do I…. The whole story: Client invoice under What things mean, with Your cost and profit and Correct & reissue beside it.
What things mean
Every pill, badge, and term you'll run into on the site, in plain words. Tap a term to open it. Tapping a ? (or a dotted-underline item) anywhere in the app shows the same note in place.
On the dashboard
Business tilesEveryone
Net Earnings is Total Made minus Paid Out, with an arrow showing how that compares to the same days of the period before. Total Made is money earned and paid out to you — both the work you got paid for and what your own customers paid you on a client invoice. Paid Out is money you paid other people. Receivable is money you have invoiced but not collected yet, counting the client invoices you sent your customers and haven't been paid for. Overdue always shows two numbers and never mixes them: the big one is owed to you — including a client invoice whose due date has gone by — and a second line shows what you owe. Pending Payout is read live from Stripe — money on its way to your bank — and if Stripe can't be reached it shows a dash, never a made-up zero. Jobs Completed counts the jobs you finished in the period. Platform Fees is what the platform charged on your money, on both kinds of payment. Any tile you don't care about can be hidden from Customize.
See also: Period picker · Customize your dashboard · How the money splits
Period pickerEveryone
Your pick is saved, so the dashboard opens on the same period next time. Custom works differently on purpose — it rides in the web address and is gone when you leave, because a one-off look is not a setting. Days are cut using the time zone on your profile, never your phone's clock, so the same numbers show whether you're home or travelling. That zone is printed right under the pills so you always know which clock measured the period.
See also: Business tiles
Customize your dashboardEveryone
Open Customize and every section is listed — even ones with nothing in them today — so you can park a section before you ever have data for it. Drag the grip to move it. There is no way to hide a section, on purpose: a section with nothing in it already disappears from your dashboard on its own, and a section you hid with live work inside would be nowhere to be found. So sections come and go by themselves and you only decide the order. The eight Business tiles work differently — a number card traps nothing — so each tile has a trash, and Add or remove tiles puts one back. Hiding a tile never loses its spot: it keeps its place in the row and returns to it. Nothing is saved until you tap Save; Cancel throws the changes away.
See also: Business tiles · Period picker · Sections that fold open
Sections that fold openEveryone
These four are lists you dip into rather than things you act on every day, so they stay out of the way until you want them. The number beside the title tells you how many are in there without opening it. Archived and Client invoices also carry a search box, so a long list is a few letters away. Folding is just for right now — it is not saved, so every section is folded again next time you land on the dashboard, and your search box and page number start fresh each time you open one. A section with nothing in it does not appear at all.
See also: Customize your dashboard · Archived · Client invoices (dashboard)
Needs AttentionBoss
Everything that needs a decision from you lands in this one section instead of being spread across the page. Flagged jobs come first, then the task submissions your crew sent up for review, then invoices waiting on you. This is the only place work gets approved, and a Guy cannot send his invoice until that approval is finished — so clearing this section is what keeps somebody else's payday moving. When there is nothing waiting, the whole section is gone from your dashboard.
See also: Task status icons · Invoice status
Dispatched / Viewed pillsBoss
Every Guy you dispatch starts in the Dispatched pill and moves to Viewed the moment he opens the job. The green number is Guys who accepted and are still on the job; the red number is declines and back-outs — tap the red count to read each Guy's reason. If a job comes back and you re-dispatch it, the earlier attempt's decline reasons show anonymously as crew notes on the draft.
See also: Awaiting Crew · Slots · Backing out
Task progress barBoss
One segment per task on the job. Grey = not started. Amber = submitted, waiting on review. Green = approved. Red = denied. Grey stripes = skipped.
See also: Task status icons · Job progress bar
Job progress barBoss
Four steps, always the same four, on every job. Sent means it went out. Working means someone has started. Needs you means at least one Guy is waiting on your approval — that beats every other step, so you always see when you are the hold-up. Done means every Guy is finished and approved. On a crew job the bar also shows a plain count like “2 of 3 done”, and a red “Sent back” badge if you bounced someone's closeout and he still has to fix it. Tap into the job to see task-by-task detail.
See also: Task progress bar · Task status icons
Live job badgesBoss
Quick signals on a working job: Live (start time is here), Starts in 1h, N on site (checked-in Guys), Guy viewed, and total work time recorded so far.
Awaiting CrewEveryone
The job is dispatched but not fully staffed yet — some slots are still open. The card shows how many slots are filled so far.
See also: Dispatched / Viewed pills · Slots
“N waiting on you” (Lead review)Guy
Your crew submitted work that needs your OK as the Lead. Open the job and approve or deny each item before it counts.
See also: Lead
LeadEveryone
On a job that needs a Lead, the first Guy tapped on the dispatch screen is the Lead — the ★ badge marks him. The Lead reviews his crew's submitted work before it reaches the Boss and is the one who submits the closeout. If the Lead declines or backs out, the whole job is cancelled and returns to the Boss for a fresh dispatch. Lead extra pay, when set, is visible only to the Boss and the Lead.
See also: Lead extra pay · “N waiting on you” (Lead review) · Backing out
Stale draftBoss
This draft has sat untouched for 150 days. Tap Refresh to mark it still wanted and keep it active.
Awaiting Invoice(s)Boss
One card per finished job, with one line for each Guy who worked it, so you can see whose invoice is still out: not filed yet, draft, submitted (with a Review link straight to it), kicked back, approved, or paid. A Guy can be approved while another is still out — the card only leaves this list when the LAST one is in. There is no Create client invoice button here on purpose: until every crew invoice is settled you do not yet know what the job cost you.
See also: Archived · Invoice status · Client invoice
ArchivedEveryone
A job arrives here the moment the last crew invoice is approved or paid — that is the same moment you can build your own bill, which is why the Create client invoice button lives on these rows (it reads Open client invoice once one exists). Each row says where the crew's money stands (Crew approved, or Crew paid once everyone has been paid) and where your bill stands (Not billed yet, Draft, or its invoice number once issued — INV-0001 unless you set your own prefix in Settings — with Emailed once it has gone out). Print invoice/s opens the crew's own invoice — on a job with more than one Guy it drops down so you pick whose. Guys see their own paid jobs here too. Newest finished job first; search matches the title, job number, client and date.
See also: Awaiting Invoice(s) · Client invoice · Sections that fold open
On a job
Client job vs Internal jobBoss
Client job = work for a paying customer, and it can collect the client's signature. Internal job = your own work (your shop, your properties) — no client involved.
See also: Client invoice
Customer phone & billing addressBoss
Open it and you can add your customer's phone number and the address their bill should go to. Both are optional and you can add them later, or never. They are saved on the customer, not on this one job, so the next job for the same person already has them — and when you build your invoice, the Bill to box is filled in for you. Leaving a box empty never wipes what is already saved: to change something you type the new value over it. The billing address is deliberately separate from the job's site address, because where the work happens and where the bill goes are often two different places — Use the job site address copies it across once when they are the same. 🛑 The phone is for YOUR use only. TheGuys App never texts, calls or auto-dials your customer, and never will.
See also: Client job vs Internal job · Client invoice
Required taskEveryone
Required marks a task as essential to the contracted work — if it's skipped, the job isn't done. Toggle it off to make the task optional, like a final cleanup, and attach a Bonus to encourage it. When Hard Submit Block is ON in Settings → Preferences, Guys can't submit closeout until every required task is done. Platform tasks (Pre-Check, Check In/Out, closeout tasks) auto-attach per your Prime Dispatcher settings and stay locked Required on the job.
See also: Penalty · Bonus · Hard Submit Block
Photo required (camera icon)Everyone
This task needs a photo before it can be marked complete — proof like before-and-after shots, receipts, or the finished install.
See also: Require Live Photo Capture · Reference photos (images icon)
Task notesEveryone
Instructions attached to one task only — the small specifics, like “spare key under the planter” or “shut off the main water first.”
Task link (chain icon)Everyone
The chain icon on a work task attaches one web link, with an optional label like “Install manual.” The Guy sees a small chip that always shows the real website name next to the label — so a link can never pretend to be something it isn't. Tapping it shows a quick “You're leaving TheGuys” check before the site opens in his browser. Only secure https links are accepted, and link shorteners or tracker links are blocked. Every open is recorded for safety.
See also: Task notes · Reference photos (images icon)
Reference photos (images icon)Everyone
Photos the Boss attached to a task to show what the work should look like or where things are.
See also: Photo required (camera icon)
Auto-attached tasksBoss
Steps added to every new job automatically by your Prime Dispatcher settings — Pre-Check, Check In/Out, and the closeout tasks. Manage them in Settings → Preferences.
See also: Prime Dispatcher · Unlock windows
Flexible start vs Start atEveryone
Start at = a set arrival time. Flexible start = the Guy can begin any time between the earliest start and the deadline.
Priority (Routine / Priority / Emergency)Everyone
How urgent the job is, so your crew knows what they're walking into. It's a signal on the job posting — it doesn't change pay or scheduling by itself.
Must-havesEveryone
Hard requirements a Guy needs to take the job — specific tools, gear, or licenses the Boss flagged as non-negotiable.
SlotsEveryone
How many Guys the job needs (1–15). Guys claim slots when they accept — one Guy can grab more than one — and the job is fully staffed when every slot is claimed.
See also: Dispatched / Viewed pills · Awaiting Crew
Unlock windowsBoss
How many minutes before the scheduled start Pre-Check and Check In open up. The windows freeze when a job is dispatched — changes only affect future jobs.
See also: Auto-attached tasks · Tasks open before start
Task status iconsEveryone
Grey circle = not started. Amber check = submitted, waiting on review. Green check = approved. Red triangle = denied. Amber dash = skipped. Grey lock = opens later.
- Not started
- Submitted — waiting on review
- Approved
- Denied
- Skipped — waiting on review
- Opens later
See also: Task progress bar · Required task
Backing outEveryone
Leaving a job after accepting it, inside the allowed window, with a written reason. If the Lead backs out, the whole job is cancelled and returns to the Boss.
See also: Dispatched / Viewed pills · Lead
Invoice delivery choiceGuy
When you finish the last task, you choose: review your invoice first and send it yourself, or let it go out as-is the moment the Boss approves the work.
See also: Invoice status
Crew
Ready vs Pending crewBoss
Ready Guys can be dispatched right now. Pending Guys still have setup to finish — accepting the invite, finishing signup, or connecting payouts.
Pending crew statesBoss
Pending Account Setup = signup not finished. Pending Payment Authorization = payouts not connected yet. Syncing = checking with Stripe. Paused = the crew spot is on hold.
Invite nudges (“Sent”)Boss
You can nudge each invited Guy once every 24 hours. “Sent” means today's nudge already went out — the button wakes up tomorrow.
AI notesBoss
Short notes the AI keeps about each Guy, built from finished job activity. You can edit them any time, and Revert restores the previous version.
Travel radiusGuy
How far from your home base you're willing to travel for work. It's part of your profile — it doesn't block any dispatch.
See also: Availability
Money & invoices
QuickBooks CSVEveryone
QuickBooks Online imports transactions from a strict CSV shape: Date, Description, Credit (money in), Debit (money out). The export builds that exact file from the rows you have filtered — money you earned lands in Credit as the net amount that hit your bank, money you paid out lands in Debit. Because the shape is QuickBooks' contract, this one download ignores your column arrangement; the regular CSV and Excel downloads follow it exactly.
Net terms (Net 15 / 30 / 60)Everyone
Every job carries payment terms picked at creation. On a Net invoice the Boss taps Approve (Net N): that locks the terms and starts the clock — the due date is N days from approval and shows as a countdown. He can pay any time during the term. Immediate-term invoices have no approve step; they go straight to Pay.
See also: Invoice status · How the money splits
Lead extra payEveryone
Optional extra money for the Lead on top of the regular rate. Only the Boss and the Lead ever see it, and it rides onto the Lead's invoice as its own line.
See also: Lead
PenaltyEveryone
A penalty is a dollar amount the Guy forfeits if the task is skipped or done wrong, plus a short reason that explains what triggers it. It pairs naturally with required tasks where the cost of getting it wrong is concrete — drywall not finished to spec, closeout photos missing, a deadline blown. The Penalty field can be hidden via Settings → Preferences → Show Penalty field.
See also: Bonus · Required task · Show Penalty field on tasks
BonusEveryone
A bonus is a dollar amount the Guy earns on top of his rate when a condition you set is met — early completion, an extra-clean handoff, a client signature without rework. Use it to incentivize optional tasks or bake a quality bar into a required one. The Bonus field can be hidden via Settings → Preferences → Show Bonus field.
See also: Penalty · Required task · Show Bonus field on tasks
Added costEveryone
Extra charges a Guy logged on a task, like materials. Green $ = the Boss approved it. Amber ($ in parentheses) = still waiting on the Boss's approval.
Rate includes materialsEveryone
Yes = the pay rate already covers materials, so Guys can't add material charges to the job. No = Guys log materials used and they're billed on the invoice.
Invoice statusEveryone
Draft = still being built. Submitted = waiting on the Boss. Approved = the payment clock is running. Paid = money sent. Kicked back = returned to the Guy to fix.
See also: Net terms (Net 15 / 30 / 60) · Invoice delivery choice · Payment failed
Payment disputeBoss
The bank challenged a card charge (a chargeback). Stripe reviews it. This is separate from kicking back an invoice — the invoice itself doesn't change.
See also: Payment failed · Invoice status
Payment failedBoss
The charge didn't go through — usually a declined card. No money moved. Fix the payment method and hit Pay again.
See also: Payment dispute · Invoice status
How the money splitsEveryone
That is the split when a Boss pays a Guy's invoice. A Boss's own customer paying a client invoice online splits the same way, with the Boss as the one getting paid: TheGuys App keeps 5% of what the customer paid, Stripe takes its card-processing cut, and the rest lands in the Boss's Stripe account. If that customer pays the Boss by cash or check instead of the link, there is no platform fee on that payment. That is the Boss's own customer and nothing else: a Guy is always paid through the app.
See also: Net terms (Net 15 / 30 / 60) · Stripe account status · Email an invoice to your customer
Invoice taxEveryone
Tax is a flat dollar amount typed on the invoice — the app doesn't calculate tax rates for you. Total = subtotal − discounts + tax.
See also: Money boxes do math
Money boxes do mathEveryone
Start a money box with = and it works the number out for you: type =2600*.065 and it shows $169.00. It takes + − × ÷ and parentheses. Click away and the answer stays.
See also: Invoice tax
Task discountEveryone
Price cuts the Boss made on logged items during the job. They're locked onto the invoice automatically — the Guy can't edit them there.
When your pay reaches your bankGuy
Standard payment-industry safety protocol: a new account's first payout gets extra verification, which across the industry typically takes 7 to 14 days to clear. The regular payout schedule follows. Once that first transfer completes, payouts usually land about 2 business days after the Boss's payment clears. The job's payment terms set how long the Boss takes to pay, not Stripe — an invoice on Net 30 is paid up to thirty days after it is approved, and that is the part of the wait nobody but the Boss controls.
See also: How the money splits · Stripe account status · Deposit account
Client invoiceBoss
Nothing is billed behind your back: you press Create client invoice on the finished job — on its Archived card or its recap page — and that builds the draft from what your crew logged: their hours merged into one Labor line with the price left blank for you (a Guy's pay rate is never a customer price), and the materials and equipment they used at your prices. Anything logged by a Guy you removed from the job is flagged Check this one, so money is never quietly dropped. The button switches on once you have approved every Guy invoice on the job, because that is when what the job cost you stops moving. Your customer's name and address fill in from the job and stay editable, and one tick saves what you type back to their record for next time. The screen looks like the invoice screen your Guys review, because it is the same kind of page. You put a price on every line and add anything else you want to bill — a trip charge is one tap. Every line has a Link button beside it: tap it, pick the item off your own Materials, Equipment or Labor list, and the name, the unit and your price fill themselves in; typing your own is still fine. Job details opens the job's recap in a new tab so you never lose what you typed. Save draft keeps your work; Cancel invoice deletes a draft nobody has seen. There is no separate Issue step: sending it is what makes it real. Print always saves first, then asks whether you want a draft copy — stamped DRAFT, no number, nothing locked — or Finalize & print for the paper you hand over. Email sends it to your customer. Either way it gets its number, locks for good, keeps the exact copy that went out, and drops you back on the dashboard. Wrong after that? You don't edit it — Correct & reissue. Every job has the button, internal ones included: you decide who you bill.
See also: Client invoices (dashboard) · Email an invoice to your customer · Correct & reissue · Your cost and profit · Archived · Materials margin
Client invoices (dashboard)Boss
This is the list of bills you have actually made, not a list of jobs you could bill. A job appears here the moment you press Create client invoice on it, and not one second earlier — if it isn't in this list, you haven't billed it. You start a bill from the job itself: the Create client invoice button sits on the job's Archived card and on its recap page, and it switches on once you have approved every crew member's invoice, because that is when what the job cost you stops moving. That is also how the job card moves: a finished job waits in Awaiting Invoice(s) until every crew invoice is approved, then moves to Archived — where you bill your customer. Email the bill and the job card moves again, to Awaiting payment, and it sits there until your customer pays or you cancel the bill; then it drops back into Archived. The section starts folded shut with a count in its title, like Archived; open it and the line at the top shows the money sitting in drafts and the money you have issued, a search box finds a bill by title, customer, invoice number or date, and it shows five at a time. Each row says where its bill stands — Draft, or its invoice number and Issued, plus Emailed once it has gone out and Paid once your customer has paid it — and a bill you cancelled still shows on its row as a small Void chip, with an arrow to the invoice that replaced it when there is one, so what you sent is never erased. Print opens the PDF; Open client invoice takes you to it.
See also: Client invoice · Email an invoice to your customer · Correct & reissue · Sections that fold open
Email an invoice to your customerBoss
Emailing a draft is what turns it into a real invoice: it saves whatever you just changed, gives it the next number, locks it so it can never be edited again, keeps a copy of exactly what went out, and mails your customer a private link to it. It goes to the email address on the invoice, so the confirm box names the address before you send — if there isn't one, it sends you back to the field to type it. You need Stripe connected with payouts switched on before you can use this button: your customer is about to pay you, so the money needs somewhere to land. Until that is done the button is greyed out and tells you exactly what to fix. The email your customer gets is titled Invoice, then its number — INV-0001 unless you set your own prefix in Settings — then your business name, shows the amount and the due date, and has a Pay this invoice button. That button opens their own page for this bill, where they can read it, print it, download the PDF, or pay it with a card — there is no attachment and they never need an account. When they pay, TheGuys App keeps 5% of what they paid and the card company takes its processing cut; the rest lands in your Stripe account. They get a paid copy of the invoice by email, you get told, and the job moves out of Awaiting payment back into Archived. That paid receipt may end with one small invitation to TheGuys App, under the payment details and never in the subject line — see The invite on your customer's receipt. Any reply comes straight to you, never to us. Once it has gone, you land back on the dashboard, the invoice shows when it was emailed and where to, and the Sent copies list on it holds the very file your customer got — so if they say it never arrived you can send it again, which gives them a fresh link; the link in the older email keeps working too, until the bill is paid or you cancel it. Send it to a different address and the old links stop working, so a bill never sits live in the wrong inbox. Something wrong on a bill that already went out is fixed with Correct & reissue, never by editing it.
See also: Client invoice · Client invoices (dashboard) · Correct & reissue · The invite on your customer's receipt
Correct & reissueBoss
Once an invoice has been emailed or finalized it is locked — your customer holds a copy, and two different documents under one number is the mistake every invoicing tool exists to prevent. So you never edit it. Correct & reissue marks the old one Void (it stays on record, with its number, and its Sent copies stay too), opens a fresh draft with every line, the customer's details and your notes already filled in, and labels it Replaces, followed by the number of the bill it is replacing. Fix what was wrong, then Email or Finalize & print as usual and it gets the next number. On the dashboard the job's row keeps a small Void chip pointing at the replacement — Void INV-0004 → INV-0006, or your own prefix in place of INV if you set one — so what you sent is never erased. Cancel invoice on a sent bill voids it without a replacement; if you would rather start clean, Create client invoice on the job builds a new draft from the crew's lines again.
See also: Client invoice · Email an invoice to your customer · Client invoices (dashboard)
The invite on your customer's receiptBoss
The receipt is still a receipt: the amount, the date and the PAID copy come first, the subject line never changes, and the invitation is always the last thing, below the thank-you. Which one they see depends on one check we run while the receipt is being written — whether the email address you invoiced already has a TheGuys App account. If it does not, the receipt ends with a plain text link inviting them to make one of their own. If it does, it ends with a quiet button that says Add your business to their crew. That button does NOT connect you to anybody: it opens TheGuys App, they sign in, and they decide whether to send you an invitation — the same invitation any Boss sends a Guy, which lands in your inbox for you to accept or ignore. Nothing reaches you unless they choose to send it, nothing is added to anybody's crew behind your back, and we never tell you whether your customer has an account. There is no follow-up email and nothing for you to switch on or off.
See also: Email an invoice to your customer · Client invoice · Pending crew states
Your cost and profitBoss
Under each line's amount sits a faint Paid to crew figure — what you actually paid your crew for the work that line came from, frozen when the draft was built, so changing the quantity or the price never moves it (a line you added yourself shows a dash). Under the customer's total the same story adds up: Paid to crew, then Not on any line for crew money that no line accounts for — lead pay, travel, fees, adjustments — then Made on this job with the percent of what you billed, which turns red and says Losing on this job if the bill comes in under your cost. A fold called Your costs shows the whole cost next to what you have priced, with markup and margin side by side: markup measures your profit against what the job cost you, margin measures that same profit against the price you're charging, and margin is always the smaller of the two. One thing these figures do not know about: if your customer pays through the app, TheGuys App keeps 5% of what they paid and the card company takes its processing cut, so what reaches your bank is a bit under Made on this job. If your customer pays you by cash or check instead, there is no platform fee on that payment (your customer only; your Guys are always paid through the app). Every one of these figures hides with the Privacy switch, and none of them exists on the customer's copy — the invoice they see is built from a separate set of figures that has no place to put a cost.
See also: Client invoice · Email an invoice to your customer · Materials margin
Save this to my listBoss
It only asks for an item you actually named and priced, it asks once per line, and if you say no it never asks again for that item. A line you linked to your list never asks — it is already there. Materials are saved with the price you typed as the client price — no purchase is invented, so your cost history stays exactly as it was. Equipment and labor are saved as a rate at the unit you picked.
See also: Client invoice · Materials margin
Default labor rateBoss
Every customer invoice gets one Labor line built from the hours (or the flat job) your crew billed you for, and it normally arrives with no price. Pick a default here and that line arrives priced at that rate instead, with the rate's name on it so you can see where the number came from. It has to match how the job was charged: an hourly rate fills an hourly job's line, a flat rate fills a flat job's line, and a daily rate never fills either — when it doesn't match, the line arrives blank exactly like before. It only happens when the invoice is first built: changing your default later never touches an invoice you already have open, and an invoice you already sent never changes. If you archive the rate you picked, new invoices go back to arriving blank. Every seeded price is a suggestion you can change before you send.
See also: Materials margin · Client invoice · Save this to my list
Materials marginBoss
Every catalog material carries a margin. New items inherit your default margin; editing an item's margin detaches it from the default, and “Apply to existing” updates only the items still tracking the old default. When a client invoice is built, each material your crew logged is looked up on your list by name: a client price you saved for it wins; otherwise the price is your unit cost marked up by the item's margin; an item that isn't on your list yet is marked up from what it cost on this job at your default. Every seeded price is a suggestion you can change before you send.
See also: Client invoice · Save this to my list
Settings
Prime DispatcherBoss
Prime Dispatcher is the full dispatch playbook — lifecycle tasks and discipline guardrails that keep every job on rails. Tap the master to turn the whole playbook on or off in one move. The toggles below let you tune individually; Custom shows when your settings don't match either preset.
See also: Custom (master toggle) · Auto-attached tasks
Auto-add Pre-Check taskBoss
When a job is built, automatically add a Pre-Check task at the start. Pre-Check verifies the Guy is ready before the job begins — sends a reminder one hour before scheduled start (when enabled). Set how early Pre-Check may be done with the 'no earlier than' window: a whole number of minutes before the scheduled start (0–120; 0 = at the start time). Your Guy sees this earliest time on the job, and the window freezes when the job is dispatched — changing it later never affects an already-dispatched job.
Auto-add Check In & Check Out tasksBoss
When a job is built, automatically add a Check In and a Check Out task together. Your Guy taps Check In on arrival (you see the timestamp on your dashboard) and Check Out when leaving the site (locks in the job duration). They are a pair — a Guy recording hours always has Check Out available, so a job can never have one without the other. Set how early Check In may be done with the 'Earliest Check In' window below: a whole number of minutes before the scheduled start (0–120; 0 = at the start time). Your Guy sees this earliest time on the job, and the window freezes when the job is dispatched. When both Pre-Check and Check In are on, Check In must unlock no earlier than Pre-Check — its window must be at or below the Pre-Check window.
Auto-add Closeout Notes taskBoss
When a job is built, automatically add a Closeout Notes task. Your Guy writes a short summary of the work done before submitting the invoice.
Auto-add Closeout Photo taskBoss
When a job is built, automatically add a Closeout Photo task at the end. Your Guy captures one final wide-shot of the finished work as documentation. When OFF, the task is skipped and you can still flag individual work tasks for photos one by one.
Auto-add Client Signature task on client jobsBoss
When a CLIENT job is built, automatically add a Client Signature task at the end. Your Guy collects the client's signature on-site as proof of completion. Only added to client jobs — internal jobs skip this.
Auto-add closeout materials & equipment entryBoss
Automatically adds a closeout-level entry where your Guy logs job-wide materials and equipment — items not tied to any single work task. They're added with the same Line Items Used picker as per-task line items and flow onto the invoice the same way.
Pre-Check AlertsBoss
Who gets notified one hour before a job's scheduled start when the Pre-Check task is on the job. Off = no notification. Guy = your Guy receives a reminder. Boss = you receive a reminder so you can check in with your Guy yourself. Both = both of you get notified independently.
Hard Submit BlockBoss
When ON, your Guys must complete every required task on a job before they can submit closeout. When OFF, Guys can submit incomplete jobs and you'll see flagged items at approval. Strict mode helps your crew build completion discipline.
See also: Required task
Require Live Photo CaptureBoss
When ON, the job opens the in-app camera and photos are taken at the moment of capture. A Guy who can't use the camera can tick "Upload from photo library instead" — those photos still arrive, marked NOT LIVE on your review screen and on the recap, so you always know which evidence was proven live. When OFF, Guys upload from their phone's camera roll and nothing is marked.
See also: Photo required (camera icon)
Show Penalty field on tasksBoss
When ON, you can set a per-task penalty (dollar amount + reason) on any work task. The penalty triggers at job approval if the task isn't completed. Auto-deducted from the Guy's payout. Turn off to hide penalty inputs from your task list.
See also: Penalty
Show Bonus field on tasksBoss
When ON, you can set a per-task bonus (dollar amount + condition) on any work task. The bonus is offered at job approval — you decide yes/no whether the Guy met the condition. Added to the Guy's payout when granted. Turn off to hide bonus inputs from your task list.
See also: Bonus
Tools / PPE / Support / EscalationBoss
When ON, jobs collect Required Tools, Required PPE, an off-site Support Contact, and Escalation Notes during creation. When OFF, those fields are hidden on the job form and the job posts without them.
Urgency / Site AccessBoss
When ON, jobs collect an Urgency tier (routine / priority / emergency) and an optional Site Access Notes field. When OFF, both fields are hidden and urgency defaults to routine.
AutomationBoss
Automation governs how AI assists you across the platform — catalog entries, crew notes, and the new-job assist window. Tap the master to turn AI features on or off in one move. The toggles below let you tune individually; Custom shows when your settings don't match either preset.
Auto-catalog new line itemsBoss
When you add a line item that isn't already in your catalog, the entry is created automatically with the price you entered.
AI auto-notesBoss
When enabled, AI generates and updates notes about each Guy based on completed job activity. Disable to stop AI from writing or summarizing any notes for any crew member.
AI assist on new jobsBoss
When enabled, the AI window opens automatically when you start a new job. Disable if you prefer to type directly into the form yourself.
Custom (master toggle)Boss
Custom means the switches under a master don't all match ON or OFF — you've set your own mix. Tapping the master snaps everything back ON.
See also: Prime Dispatcher · Automation
Notification DeliveryEveryone
How you receive job and account notifications. Email always works. SMS and Both need SMS Notifications turned on first — with SMS off, everything arrives by email no matter what is chosen here. Your choice is remembered: turning SMS back on restores it.
Self-sign internal jobsBoss
When ON, your own jobs (no external client) automatically get a closeout signature task that your Guy signs as proof of completion. When OFF, internal jobs skip the signature step. Off by default — turn on only if your workflow needs the audit trail.
Tasks open before startBoss
How many minutes before a job's scheduled start the worker's tasks open for completion — for jobs that don't include a Check-In step (default 15). Jobs that include a Check-In step take their timing from the Check-In window instead, so this setting is inactive while Auto-add Check In is on. It can't be set later than your Pre-Check window — work can never open before a worker is able to acknowledge the job. Changes apply only to jobs you dispatch afterward; already-dispatched jobs keep the timing they went out with.
Customer invoice numberingBoss
Your customer invoices are named with a prefix and a number — INV-0001 to start. The prefix is 1 to 10 letters or numbers, saved in capitals, and the dash is added for you. The next number is the one your very next bill will take. You can change both whenever you like, but the number only goes forward: it has to be higher than every number you have already sent, because two bills can never share one. Changing the prefix does not start the count over — the numbers keep climbing. And nothing already sent changes: every bill keeps the name it went out with, on your copy, on your customer's copy and on the PDF.
See also: Client invoice · Email an invoice to your customer · Correct & reissue · License numbers
License numbersBoss
Adding a license here is optional — nothing prints until you add one. Each one has three parts: who issued it, the number itself, and a class if your trade uses one. Switch Show on customer invoices on and that license prints on the invoice PDF and on the pay page your customer opens; switch it off and it stays private. It prints the exact characters you type, and nothing is ever added in front of the number — some states want a prefix like ROC ahead of the digits, so type the number the way your state wants it shown. Knowing your state's display rules is your job, not ours: we do not check the number, look it up, or confirm it with any licensing office. And nothing already sent changes — a bill keeps the licenses it went out with.
See also: Customer invoice numbering · Client invoice
Stripe account statusEveryone
Whether your Stripe account is ready to move money. Details submitted, Charges enabled, Payouts enabled — all Yes means you're fully set up.
See also: Deposit account · How the money splits
Deposit accountEveryone
The bank account (or debit card) your job pay lands in. Stripe holds the full details — we only ever see the name and last 4 digits. You can change it any time; we'll confirm your password first.
See also: Stripe account status
AvailabilityGuy
Days you haven't set stay open 24/7 until you give them hours or mark them closed. Available today OFF, or a start time outside your Work Hours, only grays you out on the Boss's crew screen — he can still send you the job and you can still accept. Time Off is the only hard block: on those dates you disappear from dispatch entirely and no notifications are sent.
See also: Travel radius
Two-Step LoginEveryone
An extra check at login to prove it's really you. Backup codes are one-time keys that get you in if you lose your second step.
Materials catalog
The Materials tab in /line-items tracks items you buy in bulk and resell to clients. Enter the bulk quantity and total cost; the platform calculates your unit price automatically.
Every catalog material carries a margin. New items inherit your default margin; editing an item's margin detaches it from the default, and “Apply to existing” updates only the items still tracking the old default. When a client invoice is built, each material your crew logged is looked up on your list by name: a client price you saved for it wins; otherwise the price is your unit cost marked up by the item's margin; an item that isn't on your list yet is marked up from what it cost on this job at your default. Every seeded price is a suggestion you can change before you send. Set the default once at the top of the tab and override it per item when something doesn't fit.
Search and sort at the top of the catalog get you to a specific item without scrolling.
Setting up Stripe Connect
Stripe Connect handles every payment between Bosses, Guys, and clients — money never moves through TheGuys.app itself. To connect, go to /settings → Stripe Connect card and tap “Connect with Stripe”. Stripe walks you through onboarding (identity, bank account, tax info) and returns you to TheGuys.app when it's done.
Once your account is active, Stripe handles the split automatically: 90%+ to the Guy who did the work, 5% to the TheGuys.app platform, and finally Stripe's processing fee. The split is invisible to you — it happens the moment a Boss approves a completed job and pays.
It works the same way when you are the one getting paid. When your customer pays your client invoice online, the charge runs through Stripe too: TheGuys App keeps 5% of what they paid, Stripe takes its processing fee, and the rest lands in your account. That is also why the Email button on a client invoice needs your Stripe connected with payouts switched on — the money needs somewhere to land. If your customer pays your invoice by cash or check instead of the link, there is no platform fee on that payment. Your Guys are still paid through the app, every time.
Availability & dispatch
The Availability card on /settings holds three settings that tell your Contractors when you're open to work. Only one of them actually blocks a job from reaching you.
Available today is a sticky on/off switch you control. Flip it off when you're not open to work today; jobs scheduled for tomorrow or later are unaffected. The platform never changes it for you — it stays off until you flip it back on, at which point you're available right away.
Work Hours are the days and times you normally work — your default weekly schedule. They apply to every job, no matter when it's scheduled.
For a job scheduled today, you appear grayed out on your Contractor's crew screen if Available today is OFF, or if the job's start time falls outside your Work Hours. For a job scheduled for any other day, only Work Hours matter — the toggle is ignored. Grayed out is a signal, not a block — the Contractor can still send you a job posting, and you can accept or decline as usual.
Time Off works differently. Enter specific dates you've fully blocked out — vacations, holidays, anything you don't want disturbed. During a Time Off date you're completely removed from every Contractor's dispatch radar: no grayed-out badge, no presence on their screen, and no notifications get sent. It's the only setting that hard-blocks dispatch.
SMS notifications
TheGuys App LLC sends SMS text messages to crew members (“Guys”) who have been invited to a Boss's crew. Accepting a crew invitation in the app opts the Guy in to receive job-related texts.
These messages are transactional only — new job dispatches, schedule reminders, and job status updates. We never send marketing or promotional texts. Message frequency varies by job activity. Message and data rates may apply.
Reply STOP at any time to opt out of further messages, or reply HELP for help. For support, email support@theguys.app.
Where to get help
Email support@theguys.app for direct help. Check this Help Center first for common questions.
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