Invoicing for air-conditioning and solar installers in Mauritius
AC and solar installers in Mauritius: quotes, deposits, install photos, servicing contracts and receipts in one record. 14-day Envoice.mu trial, no card.
Imagine the first proper heatwave of December. Your phone hasn't stopped since Monday: a family in Grand Baie wants two split units before the grandchildren arrive, a small office in Moka wants its old units serviced, and a homeowner in Saint-Pierre has been comparing solar quotes for three weeks and finally wants to talk. Your two teams are out all day. In the evening you sit down to work out which deposits came in, and you realise the Grand Baie client sent theirs to your personal Juice number while the solar deposit went by bank transfer to the company account, with a reference that says only "deposit".
Where the money goes missing
Invoice Blindness is the gap between work done and money you can actually see. The installs are finished and the invoices went out, yet tonight you can't say with confidence who has paid in full, who paid a deposit, and who still owes the balance.
Installers get it worse than most trades because one client can owe you money in three shapes at once. There's the deposit before you order the units, the balance after the install, and a servicing fee every few months for years afterwards. Solar adds bigger amounts and longer timelines, so a single missed stage payment hurts. None of this is the client's fault. The record is scattered across WhatsApp, bank SMS alerts, a spreadsheet one of the technicians started in 2024, and your memory.
The installer's flow in Envoice
Every job in Envoice is one record that follows the money: quote, job, invoice, paid, proof. How you bill depends on the kind of work, so here's how each common job maps onto it.
| Kind of job | How you bill it in Envoice |
|---|---|
| One or two split units | Quote, online acceptance, deposit recorded as a part payment, work order on install day, invoice for the balance, numbered receipt |
| Office or multi-unit fit-out | Quote, then a contractor project with a deposit and stage invoices as each floor or zone is done |
| Solar PV installation | Contractor project with the deposit, stage invoices tied to milestones you agree, and retention if your contract holds some back |
| Servicing contract | A recurring invoice that goes out on the schedule you set, with payment reminders on any that stay open |
| Repair call-out | Work order straight from the call, invoice when the technician closes the job |
On site, the technician app records photos, time, materials and the client's signature. For an installer that means a photo of the unit as installed and a signature on the day, which settles most arguments about what was fitted and when. Back at the office, the job becomes an invoice without anyone retyping the model numbers, and once issued the invoice is locked. Corrections go through a credit note.
Payments are recorded rather than collected online: you note the Juice transfer, the cheque or the bank payment against the invoice, and the client gets a receipt showing what they've paid and what's left. Stock and low-stock alerts help you keep an eye on brackets, piping and gas, and purchase orders and supplier records keep track of what you've ordered from your distributor.
What to look for in any software for installers
Most invoicing apps were built for a shop selling one thing once. An installer's business runs on deposits and repeat visits, so test any option against these questions:
- Can one client owe you a deposit, a balance and a servicing fee without you keeping a side spreadsheet?
- Can you bill a bigger job in stages, and hold retention when a contract says so?
- Does the technician on site have something that works on a phone, with photos and a signature?
- Do recurring invoices go out on their own, and can reminders follow up on the ones that stay unpaid?
- Can it prepare your VAT worksheet? Envoice's VAT Manager prepares the monthly worksheet and the VT03 annex; you still file on the MRA portal yourself.
Getting started this week
- Start the free trial and add your company details and logo.
- Save your standard items: a 12,000 BTU install, a service visit, a callout, the panel and inverter lines you quote most often.
- Enter every servicing client you have as a recurring invoice, with the right interval.
- Take one open solar or fit-out job and set it up as a contractor project, with the deposit you've already received recorded against it.
- Give each technician their own login with the technician role.
- On Friday, open the list of who owes you and compare it with what you thought was outstanding.
Start before the next heatwave
The free trial is on the Business plan and needs no card, so you can run real installs through it before deciding. Sign up at www.envoice.mu, or WhatsApp +230 5881 9999 and we'll help you set up your first servicing contract.
Know who owes you. Keep the proof.