SideWRK is a fence invoice app for installers who build fence on the side.
This fence invoice app bills the run by the linear foot and the posts, concrete and gate by the piece, the way the fence goes in the ground. Five jobs a year are free; after that it’s $19 a month.
Eighty feet of cedar privacy fence with one walk gate. The lines that add up to it are just below.
One line by the foot, the rest by the piece
On a fence, the main line runs by length. When you set SideWRK up as a fence builder, the work form asks for linear feet and a rate per linear foot, and that rate starts at $35. That’s the fence row of our 2026 Side-Work Rate Report, which lists $35/ln ft and figures about half of a typical fence ticket pays for your time. You change the default in Shop.
The rest of a fence doesn’t come by the foot. Posts are counted, concrete is bought by the bag, and a gate is its own piece of work with its own hardware. Each of those goes on as a line with what the customer pays and a private cost only you see, so the profit under the total is what’s left after the lumber yard.
A new fence account opens with three go-to jobs on the Jobs board: New fence install at $3,200, Fence repair at $450 and Gate install / repair at $400. They’re starting prices. Tap one to begin an estimate, and change any of them to what you charge.
Fence Builder
The string line, the auger, the post going in plumb.
Feet, posts, concrete, a gate.
The customer sees each line and approves the total before the first hole is dug.
An 80-foot privacy fence, invoiced at $3,200
Eighty feet of 6-foot cedar privacy fence along a back property line, with one walk gate by the side of the house.
| Build fence (ft) | 80 × $20 | $1,600 |
| Fence posts | 11 × $22 | $242 |
| Post concrete (bags) | 22 × $6 | $132 |
| Cedar pickets & rails (ft) | 80 × $13 | $1,040 |
| Walk gate & hardware | $186 | |
| Total the customer approves | $3,200 | |
| Materials cost (you), private | −$960 | |
| Est. profit | $2,240 |
Tap New fence install on a new account’s Jobs board and SideWRK writes an estimate with these amounts for a sample customer. Labor is $1,600, half the total. The materials bill at $1,600 and cost you $960. Written as one line at $35 a foot, the same $3,200 would cover about 91 feet.
Trace the line, then count the posts
Inside an estimate, Build it with the takeoff calculator opens our fence calculator with a Measure button. Pull the property up on the satellite, trace where the fence will run, and the length comes back into the calculator.
From that length it works out the material: posts 8 feet on center, two rails a section under 5 feet tall and three up to 7, a picket count from the board width and the gap, two bags of concrete for each line post and three for each gate post, and a hinge-and-latch kit and frame lumber for every gate. Add to this estimate puts the labor and the materials on the job. On the job, Materials list turns them into a shopping list you can check off, copy or print.
The calculator below is the same one, free to use here without an account. To measure a property on the satellite without signing up, use the free measuring tool and pick Fence.
An old fence out, invoiced at $800
A hundred feet of leaning wood fence, thirteen posts set in concrete, coming out so a new one can go in.
| Pull pickets and rails (ft) | 100 × $3.50 | $350 |
| Pull posts and break out the footings (posts) | 13 × $15 | $195 |
| Load and haul to the transfer station | $105 | |
| Dump fee | $120 | |
| Backfill the old post holes | $30 | |
| Total the customer approves | $800 | |
| Materials cost (you), private | −$105 | |
| Est. profit | $695 |
Almost all of this one is your back. The only money you put out is the dump fee and a little fill dirt, $105 between them, so $695 of the $800 stays with you. As its own job, the tear-out gets approved and paid on its own, whoever builds the new fence.
Seven fence jobs and how each one bills
These are the fence numbers SideWRK’s demo and rate report are built on. The install is priced by the foot; the others are a flat price or a count of something.
| Job | How it bills | Typical total |
|---|---|---|
| New fence install | By the linear foot, $35 default | $3,200 |
| Fence repair | One flat line | $450 |
| Gate install / repair | One flat line | $400 |
| Post replacement | By the post, 5 at $50 | $250 |
| Fence stain / seal | 180 × $5 | $900 |
| Deck stain / seal | One flat line | $800 |
| Tear-out & haul | One flat line | $800 |
On a new build, the stain can ride on the same estimate as an optional add-on. Tick Optional add-on when you add it, and the customer gets a checkbox on the approval page to take it or leave it, with the total moving as they decide.
What gets written down before you dig
- The job site record asks about the 811 locate. It has a field for the 811 locate status, Not yet, Ticket requested or Marked / cleared, so the status is on the job before a post hole goes in.
- It asks how the property line was found. Owner-pointed, survey on file, survey recommended or not sure. The work note’s example for fence is “Line set per customer markings — not a surveyed property line,” and that note prints under the work on the estimate, the approval page and the invoice.
- Fence type and height go on the site too. Wood, vinyl, chain link, ornamental, composite or pool barrier, and the height in feet.
- Permit jobs have a card of their own. Track the permit from needed to closed, enter the permit number and issuing authority, and the number prints on the estimate and the invoice. The permit fee goes on the bill at what you paid for it.
- The printed estimate and invoice carry fence notices on the utility locate, property lines and setbacks, and pool barriers. They also say SideWRK doesn’t place locate tickets or find property lines, and doesn’t decide whether a job complies with licensing, permit, zoning or pool-safety rules.
- When a total gets big enough that a license may be required and your profile has no license number, the job screen shows a caution before you send it. It never blocks you.
$19 a month, or $190 a year. Five jobs a rolling year are free and need no card. SideWRK takes no cut of what the customer pays you.
Start freeAsked at the fence line
Can I bill by the linear foot and still charge for posts and a gate?
Yes. The fence line takes linear feet times your rate, and posts, concrete and the gate go on as lines of their own. The sample $3,200 install has five lines that way.
Can it measure the fence line for me?
Inside an estimate, the fence takeoff calculator has a Measure button. Trace the run on the satellite and the length comes back into the calculator, which counts the posts, rails, pickets and concrete from it.
The customer bought their own pickets. How do I show that?
Set that material line’s condition to customer-supplied and enter $0 for the price. It prints as Cust-supplied next to the line on the estimate, the approval page and the invoice.
Can I ask for a deposit before I order lumber?
Yes. On the estimate, pick a deposit of 10, 25, 33 or 50 percent, or waive it. If you’ve set up card payments, the approval page asks the customer for that deposit as soon as they approve.
What does the customer see when they approve?
Each line, the total and the note under the work, on their phone. Your private cost and your profit never show.