ERP Software Built for Joinery Shops
Long timber lead times, deposit-then-balance payments, sub-contractor fitters, and customers who call while you’re on the tools. IBIOS tracks every open order and collects deposits by link. Coming soon: AI call answering while you work.
The four problems every joinery shop knows
Long lead times, forgotten customers, and deposits that are hard to collect
Joinery is a long-cycle business. From the first enquiry to the final installation can take months. A lot happens in between: timber is ordered, arrives in the workshop, gets machined, and then needs to be fitted by a fitter who has their own diary. If any step is tracked on a whiteboard or in a spreadsheet, something gets missed.
The deposit problem is specific to joinery. You cannot order bespoke hardwood without a deposit — the material cost alone can be substantial before a single day of labour. But collecting a deposit by bank transfer means chasing the customer, waiting for the payment to clear, and starting the lead time clock late. A payment link that a customer can action on their phone removes that friction.
Lead times are the third problem. If you book a fitter for a week when the timber is expected but then the delivery is delayed, you pay a wasted day’s labour or a sub-contractor cancellation fee. Tracking open orders against booked installation dates is the kind of admin that falls through the gap when you are busy in the workshop.
And the phone rings constantly during the working day — while you are running machines, measuring up, or fitting on-site. Every missed call is a potential job that goes to a competitor who does answer.
IBIOS addresses the first three in one platform today. Coming soon: AI call answering for the fourth.
How IBIOS helps joinery shops
Six things that remove the admin from your working day
From the first customer enquiry to the balance payment on installation day, every step of a joinery job tracked in one place.
Made-to-Measure Quoting from Supplier PDFs
Upload your timber or hardware supplier’s price sheet. Quote Studio reads it into quote lines in about 60 seconds, then matches them to your own products. Build a bespoke joinery quote with your margin applied, ready to send, without re-entering a single figure.
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Timber Lead Time Tracking
Hardwood and engineered timber can take weeks to arrive from a specialist supplier. IBIOS tracks the expected delivery date for every open order, so you can see where the delivery date falls after the booked installation date before a fitter is booked on a job that is not ready. Late-delivery alerts are coming soon.
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Deposit-Then-Balance Payment by Link
Joinery businesses need a deposit before ordering timber and a final payment on installation. IBIOS sends a payment link at each stage. Customers pay by card from their phone. The deposit and balance are both tracked against the job record.
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Job Status Tracking from Order to Installed
Track every job from quote accepted through timber ordered, materials in shop, ready to install, and completed. IBIOS makes it visible at a glance which jobs are waiting on timber, which are in production, and which are ready to schedule.
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Sub-Contractor Installation Management
Assign sub-contractor fitters to installation jobs with restricted access — they see the job details and delivery status without seeing your cost prices. Manage a team of self-employed fitters from one dashboard without phone calls and email chains.
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AI Receptionist (coming soon) — Capture Enquiries While on the Tools
Coming soon: joinery shops are busy, and calls come in while you are running a CNC machine or fitting on-site. When it launches, IBIOS’s AI receptionist will take enquiries, capture the customer’s requirements, and log the lead so nothing falls through the gap.
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Why standard trade software misses the joinery workflow
Joinery is a long-cycle, deposit-led, bespoke-order business. Most trade software assumes you are fitting something off a shelf. IBIOS handles the reality.
Deposit-first payment flow
Quote accepted, payment link sent, deposit collected, timber ordered — all in the same workflow. No separate payment tool required.
Lead time vs. fitting date
See where the expected timber delivery falls after the booked fitting date, before a sub-contractor is wasted. Automatic late-delivery alerts are coming soon.
Version-controlled quotes
When a customer changes spec mid-order, a new quote version is created. The original is preserved. Every change is traceable.
Workshop job status board
From Timber Ordered to In Production to Ready to Fit to Completed — see every job’s status at a glance, without opening individual records.
AI Receptionist (coming soon)
Coming soon: will take calls during workshop hours. Customers will leave their requirements with the AI, and the lead will be in your system before you stop for lunch.
See pricing
Founding prices for waiting-list members are explained on the pricing page.
Go to the pricing pageBuying guide
Choosing software for a joinery shop: bespoke quotes, timber orders and workshop time
Written by the IBIOS team. IBIOS was built inside a working bathroom showroom in Northern Ireland, where it runs the business day to day. Last updated 18 October 2026.
How do you choose software for a joinery shop?
Joinery is made to order, so the expensive part is not the sale but everything between the survey and the fit: drawings, timber and hardware orders, workshop time and finishing. Decide first whether you need software to run the workshop machines or software to run the jobs, because they are rarely the same product.
- Machines or jobs. Cutting lists and machine output come from design and CAM software. Quotes, orders, deposits and fitting come from business software. Decide which gap you are filling.
- Survey and specification. Sizes, species, finish and ironmongery captured once and carried into the quote.
- Quotes for bespoke work. Materials from supplier prices plus your own workshop and fitting time, with the customer accepting a clear version.
- Timber and hardware orders. Long-lead timber, glass and ironmongery ordered against the job and checked in when they arrive.
- Workshop and fitting schedule. Bench time and fitting days booked so jobs do not collide.
- Deposits. A deposit before you cut anything, and a balance on fitting, each recorded with its reference.
Why does the deposit matter so much in joinery?
Once timber is cut to a customer’s design it has little value to anyone else. That is why most joiners take a deposit before ordering materials and why the accepted specification matters if the customer changes their mind.
If you sell in the customer’s home, the Consumer Contracts Regulations generally give them a cancellation period, across the UK including Northern Ireland, but goods made to the customer’s specification are usually an exception. Make sure your terms say so and keep the accepted quote with the job.
What happens when the customer changes the specification?
Every change should be a new version of the quote, accepted by the customer, before the workshop acts on it. The original stays on record so nobody argues later about what was agreed.
IBIOS keeps revisions of each quote and lets the customer accept online. An accepted quote can also become a contract the customer signs online; you send the signing link from your own email.
Does IBIOS produce cutting lists?
No. IBIOS is not design, CAM or cutting-list software and does not drive workshop machines. If that is the gap in your shop, a joinery design and manufacturing package is the better buy.
IBIOS fits the business around the workshop: bookings for surveys, quotes, deposits and balances, timber and hardware orders against the job, goods-in, and scheduling your team.
Joinery design / CAM package, field-service suite, spreadsheet or IBIOS?
How the usual options tend to work out for a joinery shop.
| Option | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Joinery design / CAM package | Drawings, cutting lists and machine output. | It runs the workshop, not the customer: deposits, supplier orders and fitting dates usually live elsewhere. |
| Field-service / job-management suite | Repair and maintenance joinery with many short site visits. | Made-to-order work with long-lead materials can fit awkwardly into a call-out model. |
| Spreadsheet and diary | A one- or two-person shop. | Timber orders and spec changes live in someone’s head. |
| IBIOS | Joinery shops that quote bespoke work, take deposits, order timber and hardware per job and schedule a team. | Early access by waiting list. Not a design or cutting-list tool. Timesheets and the AI receptionist are coming soon, not live yet. |
What you need in place before you switch
- Your survey sheet and the specification fields you always record.
- Your timber, glass and ironmongery suppliers and their price lists.
- How you price workshop time and fitting time.
- Your deposit and balance terms, and your cancellation wording for bespoke work.
- A list of joiners, finishers and fitters, and what each may see.
What it costs
In a joinery shop the losses are timber cut to a specification the customer then changed, and bench time quoted too low. Judge software on whether it would have stopped those on your last few jobs.
Founding prices for waiting-list members are explained on the pricing page. You can start with quoting or bookings on its own.
Last reviewed October 2026.
What people get wrong
- Ordering timber before the deposit and the final specification are in.
- Acting on a spec change agreed by phone with no revised quote.
- Buying CAM software when the real problem is quotes and deposits, or the reverse.
- Leaving bench time off the quote because it is hard to estimate.
- Not checking long-lead materials in against the order when they arrive.
Related reading
- Quoting software buying guide
- Supplier orders
- Workforce scheduling
- Pay by link
- Survey checklist template
Joinery business software FAQs
Does IBIOS produce cutting lists?
No. IBIOS is not design or CAM software; it runs quotes, deposits, supplier orders and scheduling around the workshop.
Can a customer accept a revised specification online?
Yes. Each change is a new revision of the quote that the customer can accept online, and an accepted quote can become a contract they sign online. You send the signing link from your own email.
Can I take a deposit before ordering timber?
Yes. Customers can pay by link, and each payment is recorded against the job with the provider and transaction reference.
Can I track timber and hardware orders per job?
Yes. Supplier orders sit on the job, and goods-in is recorded against them.
Can IBIOS schedule workshop and fitting time?
Yes. Workforce scheduling is live; timesheets and mileage are coming soon.
How do I get IBIOS?
Join the waiting list. IBIOS is in early access and there is no free trial.
Workshop software or job software?
Tell us where jobs get stuck in your shop. If the answer is cutting lists, we will say so and point you elsewhere; if it is quotes, deposits and orders, we will show you how IBIOS handles them.
IBIOS Limited · company no. NI743167 · 10 Ballyclare Road, Doagh, Ballyclare BT39 0PE · Production is hosted in the UK.
Ready to stop chasing deposits and timber deliveries?
Join the waiting list for early access. Or book a demo and see the made-to-measure quoting and deposit payment workflow in action.