How to use Foreman
Everything you need to know — from creating your first job to sending a professional invoice. Built for plumbers, electricians, builders, landscapers, and anyone who works job to job.
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What is Foreman?
Foreman is a job management app for self-employed tradespeople. It replaces the notebook, the spreadsheet, and the inbox — keeping everything in one place on your phone.
Track your jobs
Store every job with client contact details, the address, your rate, and notes. Active jobs live on the Jobs tab; finished ones move to History.
Log your hours
Start and stop a timer directly from the job. Sessions add up automatically so your total hours are always accurate when it's time to invoice.
Send invoices
Generate a professional PDF invoice in one tap — with your logo, labour hours, parts, and a running total. Share it via email, AirDrop, or print it on the spot.
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Getting Started
You'll be up and running in a few minutes. Before creating your first job, take a moment to set up your business details — they'll appear on every invoice you send.
Foreman uses iCloud to keep your jobs safe and synced across your devices. Go to Settings → [your name] on your iPhone and make sure you're signed in. You don't need to do anything else — Foreman handles the rest.
Tap the Settings tab (bottom right). Fill in your business name, phone number, email address, and upload your logo. This information appears at the top of every invoice.
In Settings → Invoice, enter the rate you charge most often. You can override this rate for any individual job, but having a default saves time when creating new jobs.
Tap the Jobs tab, then tap + in the top right. Give the job a title, fill in the client's details, and tap Save. That's it — your job is ready.
Free plan: you can have up to 3 active jobs without a subscription. Completing a job moves it to History and frees up a slot.
Day-to-Day Use
Managing Jobs
➕ Creating a job
Tap + on the Jobs tab. Every job has the following fields:
✏️ Editing a job
Open the job, then tap the ••• button (top right) → Edit. Change whatever you need and tap Save.
✅ Completing a job
When work is done, mark the job complete. There are two ways:
- From the job: tap ••• → Mark Complete.
- From the list: swipe left on the job row → tap Complete (green).
Completed jobs move to the History tab and the slot becomes available for a new active job.
Complete, don't delete — completing a job preserves all its time entries, photos, and invoice items in History. Deletion removes everything permanently and cannot be undone.
🗑️ Deleting a job
Swipe left on a job in the Jobs list → tap Delete (red). This permanently removes the job, all its time entries, all attached photos, and all invoice items. There is no undo.
Deletion is permanent. If you just want to clear the active-job slot, use Mark Complete instead — the full job history is preserved in the History tab.
Day-to-Day Use
Time Tracking
Track the hours you spend on each job directly from your phone. Your total hours feed straight into the invoice calculation — no manual entry needed.
▶️ Starting the timer
Tap the job from your list. Scroll to the Time Tracking section (second section in the job detail).
The row turns red and changes to Stop Timer. The total time in the row above updates live every second while the timer is running.
The session is saved and added to the running total. You can start and stop the timer as many times as needed — each session is recorded separately and the total accumulates.
Multiple sessions: you don't need to keep the app open. Start the timer when you arrive, close the app, and stop it when you leave. The session records the elapsed time correctly.
🧾 How time becomes labour cost
When you generate an invoice, Foreman calculates:
Total Hours × Hourly Rate = Labour Charge
This appears as the first line item on the invoice, labelled Labour. Any invoice items you've added (parts, materials, etc.) appear below it.
If the hourly rate is set to 0 for a job, no labour line appears on the invoice. Use this for fixed-price jobs where you still want to log your time internally.
Day-to-Day Use
Job Photos
Attach photos to any job — before-and-after shots, photos of completed work, or evidence of what you found on site. Photos are stored privately on your device and in iCloud.
📷 Adding a photo
The Photos section lists any existing photos and shows an Add Photo row at the bottom.
If your phone has a camera, you'll be offered Camera or Photo Library. If not, it opens your Photo Library directly.
The photo is attached to the job immediately. It appears in the list labelled Photo 1, Photo 2, etc. unless you add a caption.
Photos are not included in the PDF invoice — they're for your records only. Good practice: take a photo when you arrive (showing the problem) and one when you leave (showing the fix).
Day-to-Day Use
Invoice Items
Invoice items are line items for anything beyond your hourly labour — parts, materials, call-out fees, equipment hire, or any fixed charges you want to bill separately.
🔩 Adding an item
Tap Add Item at the bottom of the Invoice Items section.
Description — what you're charging for (e.g. Copper pipe 22mm × 2m).
Quantity — how many units (decimals allowed, e.g. 2.5).
Unit Price — the price per unit.
The item is saved. The row shows the description and the total (quantity × unit price). Add as many items as you need.
Add items as you buy parts on the job — it's much easier than trying to remember everything at invoice time.
Day-to-Day Use
Generating & Sending Invoices
Foreman generates a professional, ready-to-send PDF invoice with one tap. No formatting required.
📄 Creating the invoice
Make sure all your hours are logged and any parts or materials are added as Invoice Items.
The PDF is generated instantly and displayed on screen so you can check it before sending.
The standard iOS share sheet opens. Email it directly to the client, AirDrop it to a nearby device, save it to Files, or send it to any app that accepts PDFs (WhatsApp, Messages, etc.).
📋 What's on the invoice
The invoice number never resets. Each time you tap Invoice from a job, a new sequential number is assigned and permanently recorded. This ensures your records stay in order for accounting purposes.
Day-to-Day Use
Job History
The History tab (middle tab) shows all your completed jobs, sorted by completion date with the most recent at the top.
Tapping a completed job opens its full detail — all time entries, photos, invoice items, and notes are preserved exactly as they were. You can re-open the invoice from History at any time, for example if a client asks for a copy again.
Completed jobs do not count toward the 3-job free limit. Only active jobs on the Jobs tab count. Use Mark Complete regularly to keep your active list manageable.
Settings
Business Settings
Tap the Settings tab (bottom right). Your business details appear at the top of every invoice — take a moment to fill them in properly.
🏢 Business Details
💰 Default Hourly Rate
The rate automatically filled in when you create a new job. You can override it per job. If most of your jobs share the same rate, setting a default here saves you time every time you create a job.
🔄 Editing a setting
Tap any row in the Business or Invoice sections. A small prompt appears where you can type the new value. Tap Save to confirm. Changes take effect immediately — the next invoice you generate will use the updated details.
Logo tip: a square image works best. If your logo has a white background, it will blend cleanly into the invoice. If it's on a coloured background, it will still appear but may look less polished.
Settings
iCloud Sync
Foreman automatically keeps your jobs, time entries, photos, and invoice items in sync across all your Apple devices signed in to the same iCloud account.
☁️ How it works
Whenever you make a change — creating a job, logging a time entry, adding a photo — Foreman saves it locally and then syncs it to iCloud within seconds. If you open Foreman on another device, it will see the update the next time the app comes to the foreground.
Works offline too. If you don't have an internet connection, all data saves to your phone. It syncs automatically as soon as you're back online — nothing is lost.
🔧 If sync seems slow or missing
On both devices, go to Settings → [your name] and confirm you're signed in to the same Apple ID.
iCloud sync requires an active Wi-Fi or mobile data connection.
Swipe Foreman to the background and open it again. This triggers a fresh sync check and usually resolves any delay.
Settings
Free Plan & Pro Subscription
🆓 What's free
Foreman is free to download and use with up to 3 active jobs at any time. All features are available on the free plan — time tracking, photos, invoice items, PDF invoices, iCloud sync — for those 3 jobs.
Completed jobs move to History and do not count toward the 3-job limit. If you regularly complete jobs before starting new ones, the free plan may be all you ever need.
⭐ Pro subscription
Upgrading to Pro unlocks unlimited active jobs. Everything else stays the same — no features are gated behind the paywall, just the number of active jobs.
🔄 How to subscribe
When you hit the limit, Foreman will automatically show you the upgrade screen. You can also reach it from Settings → Subscription → Upgrade to Pro.
The price is shown before you commit. Tap it and confirm with Face ID, Touch ID, or your Apple ID password.
The app updates immediately and the limit is lifted. No restart needed.
↩️ Restoring a purchase
If you reinstall Foreman or get a new phone, your subscription is linked to your Apple ID and can be restored. Go to Settings → Subscription → Restore Purchase and tap Restore. If an active subscription is found, Pro is re-enabled automatically.
Help
Tips & Shortcuts
Use swipe actions in the job list
Swipe left on any job to reveal Delete (red) and Complete (green). Completing from here is faster than opening the job.
Name jobs clearly
Include the client name or address in the job title — e.g. "Rewire — 12 High St". This appears in the invoice "Bill To" section and makes your History easy to browse.
Use address autocomplete
Start typing any address and Foreman will suggest matches. Selecting one stores the precise coordinates — helpful for finding past job sites later.
Add parts as you go
Open the job on your phone at the trade counter and add invoice items as you buy materials. Much easier than trying to remember everything when invoicing days later.
Photo before you start
Take a photo when you arrive showing the existing condition. If a client ever disputes the scope of work, you have timestamped evidence in the job record.
Invoice straight from site
Once you've stopped the timer and added any parts, you can generate and email the invoice before you've even left the property — faster payment, happier clients.
Help
Frequently Asked Questions
No — deletion is permanent and cannot be undone. If you no longer want to work on a job but want to keep the record, use Mark Complete instead. Completed jobs are preserved in full in the History tab.
Invoice numbers are assigned automatically and increment sequentially — they can't be changed or reset. This keeps your numbering continuous for accounting. The number is assigned the moment you open the Invoice screen from a job.
Yes — all data is saved locally on your device at all times. You can create jobs, log time, add photos, and generate invoices completely offline. Everything will sync to iCloud automatically when you're back online.
First confirm both devices are signed in to the same Apple ID. Then try bringing Foreman to the foreground on the device that's missing data — this triggers a sync. If data still doesn't appear after a minute, check that both devices have an active internet connection.
Address search requires an internet connection. It doesn't need Location Services to be enabled for your device — just network access. Make sure you've typed at least 2 characters before suggestions appear.
Yes. Set the job's hourly rate to 0 — no labour line will appear on the invoice. Then add your fixed charge as an Invoice Item with a quantity of 1 and the price you're charging. This gives you full control over how the invoice reads.
Yes — opening the Invoice screen for a job assigns it an invoice number. If this wasn't intentional, don't worry: just don't share that PDF. The next invoice you generate will simply continue from the next number in sequence.
The invoice is generated fresh each time you open it, based on the current job data. To change what's on the invoice, edit the job (client details, notes, rate) or adjust the time entries and invoice items — then open Invoice again. The updated PDF will reflect your changes.
Go to your iPhone's Settings → [your name] → Subscriptions → Foreman and tap Cancel Subscription. Your Pro access continues until the end of the current billing period. Your data is never deleted.
Yes. All your job data is stored in your private iCloud database — only your Apple ID can access it. No one at Foreman, Apple, or anywhere else can see your jobs, client details, or invoices.