When the work comes and goes, and so does the money.
Feast one month, famine the next. So you take what comes in, sometimes below cost, because the van finance and the wages won't wait. That isn't a personal failing. Bidmio won't change it overnight. But it shows you where your money is, who owes you and when a bad week is coming, before it comes.
Checked on against gov.uk and legislation.gov.uk. Written for England and Wales: HMRC’s tax and CIS rules apply across the UK, and where we checked that a law does not reach Scotland or Northern Ireland, we say so.
What you see first in Bidmio
- Who owes you, how much and how long it's been overdue
- Which invoices have been paid, matched from your bank statement
- The quotes still waiting for an answer
- On Pro: 13 weeks of cash ahead, with a note on the thinnest week
You're not the only one
Tap the one who sounds most like you.
Sound familiar?
- “Priced it under to win it. The van finance won't wait.”
- “Undercut by a third. By a bloke with no certs.”
- “‘Cash price, mate?’ Every other job.”
- “20% gone before it hits my account.”
If you nodded at even one, you're not bad at business. This is what a lot of trade work looks like.
Why it's tight: the numbers
The government says late payment closes 38 UK businesses a day, and construction had more company insolvencies than any other industry in England and Wales.
Late payment closes businesses
Late payments close 38 UK businesses every day and cost the economy £11 billion a year. These are the government's own figures, given when it introduced its late payments bill in May 2026.
Construction tops the insolvency table
In the 12 months to November 2025, construction had more company insolvencies than any other industry in England and Wales: 3,950, or 17% of cases where the industry was recorded. The Insolvency Service notes that the count partly reflects how many companies each industry has.
Retentions and a 60-day cap: not law yet
The Small Business Protections Bill (the government's factsheet calls it the Commercial Payments Bill) was introduced to Parliament on 19 May 2026. It would cap large firms' payment terms at 60 days, make interest on late payment mandatory and ban retentions in construction contracts. It is not in force, and the government says it will consult further on when the retentions ban starts.
Let's talk about it
“Can you do it for cash?” You've heard it. Here's what it really costs.
Being paid in cash is legal. Not declaring it is the problem. HMRC puts the hidden economy at around 6% of the UK tax gap, and the largest part is moonlighting: people with a day job who don't declare their side work. We've set out HMRC's figures, the penalties and the honest way back.
Sources: HM Revenue & Customs, Measuring tax gaps 2026 edition: 7. Illustrative tax gap by behaviour; HM Revenue & Customs, Measuring tax gaps 2026 edition: 4. Income Tax, National Insurance contributions and Capital Gains Tax
Read the articleWorking under CIS: what's taken, and why
As a CIS subcontractor, the contractor deducts 20% from the labour part of each payment if you're registered, and 30% if you're not.
Register, so it's 20% and not 30%
Under the Construction Industry Scheme a contractor deducts 20% from your payments and passes it to HMRC. If you haven't registered, they must deduct 30% instead.
It counts towards your tax bill
The deductions are advance payments towards your tax and National Insurance. As a sole trader you report them on the self-employment pages of your Self Assessment return.
Not on your materials
The deduction is taken only from the part of the payment that isn't the cost of materials you bought for that contract. The contractor can ask you for evidence of that cost.
A statement every month
A contractor who deducted from your pay must give you a written payment and deduction statement by the 19th of the month.
Gross payment status got stricter
From 6 April 2026 HMRC can cancel gross payment status straight away if a business knew or should have known its payments were linked to tax fraud. It can charge up to 30% of the lost tax, and the business must wait 5 years to reapply.
Bidmio does not do CIS: no verification with HMRC, no deduction calculations and no CIS returns. Keep that with your accountant.
When a customer pays late, or changes their mind
If a business pays you late, you can claim statutory interest of 8% over the Bank of England base rate plus a fixed sum of £40, £70 or £100. A homeowner who agrees the job at home can cancel within 14 days.
Statutory interest
Between businesses, the rate is 8% a year over the Bank of England's official dealing rate (its base rate) as it stood on 30 June or 31 December before the interest started to run.
A fixed sum per debt
On top of the interest: £40 for a debt under £1,000, £70 from £1,000 to under £10,000 and £100 from £10,000. If your reasonable costs of recovering the debt are higher, you can claim the difference too.
When a payment is late
If you didn't agree a date, payment is late 30 days after the customer gets the invoice or after you did the work, whichever is later. Agreed terms between businesses must usually be within 60 days.
Adjudication on construction contracts
Under the Construction Act you can refer a dispute to adjudication, and the adjudicator must decide within 28 days of the referral. It does not cover work for a homeowner on the home they live in, and the Act does not extend to Northern Ireland.
You can stop work, with notice
If a sum due under a construction contract isn't paid, you can suspend work after giving at least 7 days' notice that says why.
Customers who sign at home can cancel
A homeowner who agrees the job in their own home has 14 days to cancel. Without the cancellation information, that stretches up to 12 months, and if they cancel after you started without their express request on paper or by email, they pay nothing.
- legislation.gov.uk: Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 30 (normal cancellation period)
- legislation.gov.uk: Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 31 (cancellation period when information is not given)
- legislation.gov.uk: Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 36 (supply of a service in the cancellation period)
- legislation.gov.uk: Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 5 (meaning of off-premises contract)
Bidmio sends payment reminders, but it does not work out statutory interest for you. The claim is your call.
How many weeks can you last without a new job?
Nothing is sent anywhere. It's just for you, so you can see how much time you have.
today
invoices sent and not yet paid
van finance, rent, insurance, phone
put 0 if it's just you
what you draw each month to live on
Example figures: replace them with yours.
Without the money you're owed
3weeks
Once the people who owe you pay
10weeks
The gap between these two numbers is money you have already earned.
Know your number before you quote
Taking a job below cost is sometimes the right call. Just know what it costs you. These free checks work it out for UK trades.
- Hourly rate calculatorThe rate you need to charge to take home what you want, with UK tax and National Insurance.Open
- Quote checkWhat your last quote really paid per hour once materials and extra hours are counted.Open
- Free work calculatorWhat unbilled extras, callbacks and free site visits cost you in a year.Open
What Bidmio actually does for you
Chase what you're owed
Invoice in pounds with VAT the day you finish. See who owes you, how much and for how long, and let reminders go out when it's overdue. Import your bank statement and payments are matched to invoices.
See a bad week coming
On the Pro plan, a 13-week cash forecast built from your invoices, due dates and regular payments shows when the bank will be at its thinnest, so you have time to ring round or ask for a deposit.
Look like a firm, even on your own
Send an itemised quote from your phone before you leave the customer's house, and they accept it online. Extra work gets a priced variation they approve before you start.
Work from old customers
Every customer, with their previous jobs and contact details, in one place. When it goes quiet, you know who to ring.
And then your accountant rings.
Receipts, deadlines, chasing. Work nobody pays you for, and it still has to be done.
“Receipts in the van, in my jacket, in the door pocket.”
Bidmio: Photograph the receipt at the counter. Bidmio reads the amount, date and supplier and keeps it on the job.
“My accountant says September is missing.”
Bidmio: Your accountant logs in and sees the receipts and invoices for themselves. No carrier bag.
“I pay an accountant and I still don't know where I stand.”
Bidmio: Invoices, expenses and which invoices are paid, every day, not once a year.
“I haven't got the head for bookkeeping.”
Bidmio: You don't need it. Keep your own accountant; they work from what you photograph and invoice in Bidmio.
Keep your own accountant or bookkeeper
Invite them into Bidmio as an external user, for the companies you choose. They see your invoices, receipts and bank matches and take CSV exports into their own software. You remove the access in one click.
Accountant access works on every plan.
Read: From shoebox to sorted, records, deadlines and your accountant
Honestly: Bidmio files nothing with HMRC. It is not Making Tax Digital software, it does not do CIS or UK payroll, and it does not replace your accountant.
What Bidmio can't do. Honestly.
- It won't put more money in your customers' pockets.
- It won't stop the bloke who undercuts you.
- It won't ring round or sell for you.
- It files nothing with HMRC: no CIS, no Making Tax Digital, no payroll.
What it gives you is an overview, some order and time to react. Sometimes that's the difference between a bad month and the end of the business.
If you work alone or as a pair
€19/mo.
If Bidmio helps you get paid one invoice you'd otherwise have chased for months, it has paid for itself.
Got staff? €49/mo., plus €19 for each extra person.
Give it a month.
The first thing you'll see: how much people owe you.
Try it free for 14 daysNo contract.
What people ask us
What is Bidmio?
Bidmio is job software for UK trade and construction firms. Quotes, jobs, invoices in pounds with VAT, receipts and a list of who owes you sit in one place, on your phone and on the computer.
How much does Bidmio cost a sole trader?
The Solo plan for one or two people costs €19/mo. If you have staff, the Pro plan costs €49/mo. plus €19 for each extra person. You can try Bidmio free for 14 days, with no contract.
PricingWill Bidmio find me work?
No. Bidmio won't ring round or sell for you. It helps you look organised, with a quote sent before you leave the customer's house, and shows you who owes you and for how long.
Does Bidmio handle CIS deductions?
No. Bidmio does not verify subcontractors with HMRC, work out the 20% or 30% deduction or file CIS returns. Keep that with your accountant or payroll provider.
Check your CIS dutiesCan I claim interest when a business pays me late?
Yes. Under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 you can claim statutory interest and a fixed sum of £40, £70 or £100 depending on the size of the debt. The late payment calculator shows what late payers cost you.
Late payment calculatorIs cash in hand work illegal?
Being paid in cash is not illegal. Not declaring the income to HMRC is. Our article sets out HMRC's figures, the failure to notify penalties and the honest way back.
Cash in hand: what it really costsPlenty of work, but struggling to keep on top of it?
Checked on against gov.uk and legislation.gov.uk. Written for England and Wales: HMRC’s tax and CIS rules apply across the UK, and where we checked that a law does not reach Scotland or Northern Ireland, we say so.