Service & Job Templates

What Are Service Templates

Service templates are reusable line items you define once and apply to any estimate with a single tap. Instead of typing out your service name, description, and rate every time you create a quote, you select a template and Stintly fills in the details automatically.

Templates work especially well for services you offer repeatedly at consistent rates — things like a standard hourly rate for labor, a flat-rate service package, or a common materials bundle. Once a template is saved, it is available across every estimate you create.

Each service template line item has a type, which helps with reporting and tax categorization:

• Labor — Time-based work billed at an hourly or flat rate.
• Materials — Physical supplies or products included in the job.
• Other — Any service or charge that does not fit the above categories, such as travel fees, equipment rental, or permit costs.

Creating a Service Template

Go to Settings → Service Templates and tap the add button. Fill in the following fields:

• Name — A short, recognizable label like "Lawn Mowing - Standard" or "Hourly Consulting."
• Description — Optional detail that will appear on estimates and invoices. This is what your client sees, so write it from their perspective.
• Rate — The price per unit. This can be an hourly rate, a flat project price, or a per-unit cost for materials.
• Item Type — Select Labor, Materials, or Other.

Save the template and it becomes immediately available when creating or editing estimates.

Tip: Use descriptive names that include the tier or scope, such as "Pressure Washing - Driveway" and "Pressure Washing - Full Exterior." This makes it easy to pick the right template quickly, especially when you are quoting on the spot.

Using Templates When Creating Estimates

When you create a new estimate or add a line item to an existing one, tap Add from Template. A list of your saved service templates appears. Select one and Stintly pre-fills the name, description, rate, and item type.

You can still edit any field after applying a template — adjusting the quantity, tweaking the description for this specific job, or changing the rate if this client has a different pricing arrangement. The template is a starting point, not a lock.

You can apply multiple templates to a single estimate. A typical estimate might include one labor template and one materials template, each filling in the appropriate line items automatically.

Job Templates

Job templates let you save an entire job configuration — not just individual line items, but the full structure of a recurring type of work. This includes the job name, associated services, typical scope, and any notes that apply to this category of work.

When you set up a new job that matches a type you have done before, select a job template instead of building the job from scratch. Stintly populates the job fields based on the template, and you make any client-specific adjustments before saving.

Job templates are particularly useful for businesses with a defined service menu — landscapers, cleaners, handymen, and tradespeople who do the same types of jobs repeatedly for different clients.

Recurring Jobs from Templates

For work that repeats on a fixed schedule — weekly lawn care, monthly bookkeeping, quarterly inspections — you can configure a job template to automatically create new jobs on your behalf.

When setting up a recurring job, link it to a job template and define the schedule: weekly, biweekly, monthly, or a custom interval. Stintly creates the job automatically when the next occurrence is due, pre-filled from the template. The job appears in your calendar and client record, ready for you to log time against and invoice when the work is complete.

Recurring job instances are linked to the originating template, so you can update the template and apply the changes to future jobs without editing each one individually.

Tip: Start by creating templates for your top three to five services. These are the jobs you quote most often, so they will give you the biggest time savings immediately. Once those are set up, add templates for less common services over time as you encounter them.

Keeping Templates Up to Date

Templates with outdated rates create problems — you either under-charge clients or have to manually correct every estimate. Build a habit of reviewing your service templates at the start of each year, or any time your costs change significantly.

To update a template, go to Settings → Service Templates, select the template, and edit the rate or description. The change applies to any new estimate that uses the template. Existing estimates and invoices are not affected, which protects quotes you have already sent.

If your pricing varies by client, you can keep a base template at your standard rate and adjust the rate when applying the template to a specific estimate. The template stores your default; the estimate stores the actual agreed price.