Guided and voice-assisted capture
Record the project, instruction, reason and notes in a guided flow, with voice-assisted capture available when speaking the detail is quicker than typing it.
Feature reference
The right controls for each role, not every control for everyone.
From voice-assisted field capture to office pricing, secure approvals, reporting and accounting, VariationDesk keeps the complete variation workflow connected without making every user learn the complete office system.
For the field team
Capture the variation while the detail is still on site
The mobile app keeps the field workflow short. Technicians can record what they know, leave uncertain commercial detail for the office and keep working when the signal drops.
Photos, files and GPS context
Keep site photos, supporting files and location context with the same variation instead of leaving evidence in camera rolls, messages or separate folders.
Offline working and sync
Continue capturing variations and evidence through poor coverage, then sync queued work when connectivity returns.
On-device and remote acknowledgement
Capture a site signature on the device or send a secure review link when the appropriate reviewer is elsewhere, without treating an evidence acknowledgement as hidden price approval.
For commercial teams
Finish the commercial record without sending it back to site
The office can resolve pricing and resource detail while the technician's submitted evidence remains intact. Unknown values stay unknown until somebody with the right authority confirms them.
Smart rate-card import
Upload the spreadsheet you already use. VariationDesk can identify the table and help map item descriptions, codes, units and selling rates before anything is saved.
Editable office commercial review
Add or amend labour, material, plant and other resource lines, quantities, units, rate-card matches, rates and VAT while keeping the technician-captured evidence underneath.
Quotation and amount-bound approval
Prepare a quotation before work, issue a secure decision route and keep the response tied to the current amount, scope and revision without adding the reviewer as a paid user.
Pending price is not £0
Keep an unpriced line pending, record genuinely no-charge work explicitly and prevent incomplete commercial records from being treated as ready for automatic finance handoff.
For operations and finance
Bring the work that needs attention forward
VariationDesk keeps day-to-day work focused on exceptions: what needs commercial review, what is overdue, what has been approved and what is genuinely ready for finance.
Commercial overview and reporting
See captured, pending, overdue and ready values, then use project, client, engineer, status, ageing and SLA views where your plan includes deeper reporting.
Direct accounting connections
Connect Xero, QuickBooks Online, Sage Accounting or FreeAgent from the Accounting area and hand checked variations into the finance workflow without rebuilding them from messages.
Evidence PDFs and export history
Generate customer-ready evidence packs, keep the approval history and retain the export or invoicing state with the variation record.
Commercial recovery tracking
Follow agreed work through valuation, certification, part-payment and payment while preserving the original variation evidence and decision history.
For workspace owners and managers
Set the company up without turning setup into a project of its own
Bulk setup tools and role controls help the office get existing data and people into the workspace quickly, while lower-frequency administration stays out of the field workflow.
Project import and team assignment
Add projects individually or import existing project information, then assign the people who need access to each job.
Team import and access groups
Invite one person or import a staff list, then use access groups and permissions to control what different office and field roles can see and do.
Branding and document templates
Manage company identity, customer-facing PDF wording, email wording, template profiles and quotation inclusions or exclusions from the office.
In-app support and guided setup
Raise and follow support tickets from the workspace, use the setup guide when you need it and contact the VariationDesk team without leaving the product workflow.
For connected contractor workflows
Share only the commercial record the other side needs
Contractors and subcontractors can work through the same variation relationship without turning Connected Supplier access into a full free workspace or exposing private supplier drafts.
Contractor Hub
Contractors can manage connected projects and supply-chain companies, review explicit submitted variations and record decisions from a dedicated contractor workspace.
Connected Supplier access
A supplier can receive limited, project-linked access for the contractor relationship, submit variations and see decisions without being given the normal full VariationDesk workspace.
Revision history
Submitted contractor records are retained as submitted snapshots. Withdrawal and resubmission creates the next revision while preserving the earlier commercial history.
Project-scoped contractor access
Viewer access can be limited to assigned projects and does not grant commercial decision authority. Unrelated projects and unsubmitted supplier records remain outside that view.
Built into the service
Security and audit controls stay underneath the workflow
The safeguards around customer records, evidence and external review are designed to work without becoming another task for the people trying to record a variation.
Organisation and role separation
Customer records are restricted to the correct organisation and authorised role, with additional project and permission boundaries where the workflow requires them.
Private evidence
Evidence files and signed records are stored privately and opened through authenticated or controlled access rather than public file links.
Action history
Important acknowledgements, approvals, pricing decisions, exports and support actions retain an audit history.
External reviewer boundaries
A remote response stays with the exact quotation or variation it belongs to without giving the reviewer general workspace access.
Need the instructions, not another feature list?
The resource library follows the real workflows.
Read step-by-step guides for setup, offline capture, quotations, sign-off, office review, rates, reports and accounting.