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FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Getting Started

How long does setup take?

Most businesses are up and running in under 5 minutes. Sign up, add your technicians, configure line items and commission rates, and start recording sales immediately.

How do I create my account?

Request a demo to get started. After purchasing, your account will be provisioned and you’ll receive login credentials. You can also sign in using Google, Apple, or Microsoft SSO.

What happens after I sign up?

After registration you land on the admin dashboard. We recommend completing setup in this order:

  1. Organization profile — enter your company name, trade type, and contact information under Settings.
  2. Branding — upload your logo and set colors under Settings > Branding.
  3. Add technicians — create accounts for your field team under Technicians.
  4. Configure line items — set up your products and services under Line Items.
  5. Set commission rates — configure per-technician rates under Commission Config.
  6. Connect integrations — link your payment processors under Integrations.

How do I add my first technician?

Navigate to Technicians in the admin sidebar and click Add Technician. Enter their name, pay type (hourly or salary), and base pay rate. Each technician gets their own login credentials and dashboard.

Can I import data from spreadsheets?

Yes. The admin dashboard supports CSV import for technicians, line items, and historical sales data. Navigate to the relevant section and look for the Import button. CSV files should follow the provided template format.

Which trades does TradeKitt support?

TradeKitt is built for field service trades including HVAC, plumbing, electrical, mold remediation, roofing, pest control, and general contracting. The platform includes trade-specific seasonal analytics and projection models for each trade type.

Can I customize TradeKitt for my brand?

Yes. Under Settings > Branding you can upload your company logo, favicon, set primary/secondary/accent colors, customize the welcome text, and adjust sidebar styling. Your branding appears on technician dashboards, customer-facing pages, and the login screen.

Commission Tracking

How are commissions calculated?

Commissions are calculated using precise integer arithmetic — all monetary values are stored as integer cents (not floating-point dollars) and rates are stored as basis points (100 bps = 1%). This eliminates rounding errors. When rounding is necessary, TradeKitt uses banker’s rounding (round half to even).

What commission structures are available?

TradeKitt supports four structures:

  • Flat rate — a fixed dollar amount per sale regardless of price.
  • Percentage rate — a percentage of the sale price (stored as basis points).
  • Tiered rates — different percentages at different sale amount thresholds.
  • Discount-based sliding scale — commission rates that vary based on the discount given, incentivizing selling at or near list price.

How does the rate hierarchy work?

When a sale is recorded, TradeKitt resolves the commission rate in this order:

  1. Per-item rate — specific rate for this technician and this line item.
  2. Per-category rate — rate for this technician and the line item’s category.
  3. Default rate — fallback if no specific configuration exists.

Resolved rates are cached in Redis for 15 minutes for performance.

What happens when I change a commission rate?

Rate changes only affect future sales. Every sale snapshots the commission rates at the moment it is recorded. Past commissions are never retroactively altered, ensuring transparency and trust.

Can different technicians have different rates?

Yes. Rates are configured per-technician and per-line-item. You can set completely different rate structures for each technician, including different rate types (flat vs. percentage) for different items.

What are commission adjustments?

Commission adjustments are manual corrections to a technician’s commission total. Use them for bonuses, chargeback reversals, or corrections. A positive amount is a bonus; a negative amount is a reversal. The reconciliation engine can auto-create chargeback adjustments.

How do pay periods work?

Pay periods define the date range for commission calculations. Create a pay period with start and end dates, then close it to freeze commission snapshots for all technicians. Closed pay periods can be exported as CSV or PDF reports. You can reopen a pay period if corrections are needed.

Can I set up commission templates?

Yes. Commission templates let you define a rate structure once and apply it to multiple technicians. When you update the template, you can push changes to all assigned technicians. Templates support all four rate structures including tiered rates.

Dispatch

How does smart dispatch work?

Smart dispatch uses three factors to suggest the best technician for a job:

  1. Skills — matches required job skills against technician skill levels (Beginner through Expert).
  2. Service zones — ensures the technician serves the geographic area where the job is located.
  3. Location — considers the technician’s current GPS location for proximity-based assignment.

What is the dispatch job lifecycle?

Jobs follow this status progression:

Pending -> Dispatched -> Acknowledged -> En Route -> On Site -> In Progress -> Completed

Jobs can also be cancelled at most stages. Each status change is logged in the dispatch status log for a complete audit trail.

Can I auto-assign jobs?

Yes. Auto-assignment rules can be configured to automatically assign incoming jobs based on service zones, technician skills, and availability. Navigate to Settings > Auto-Assignment to configure rules.

How does route optimization work?

Route optimization calculates the most efficient order for a technician to visit all their assigned jobs on a given day. Navigate to Dispatch > Optimize Routes, select a date, and the system will calculate optimized routes for all technicians.

Can technicians reject assigned jobs?

Yes. Technicians can reject a dispatched job with an optional reason. The job returns to pending status so it can be reassigned.

How does real-time tracking work?

The dispatch board receives real-time updates via Server-Sent Events (SSE). Technician GPS locations are reported via the mobile app and updated on the dispatch map in real time. Admins can view current locations and location history for all technicians.

Can customers track their service visit?

Yes. Admins can generate a tracking link for any dispatch job. The customer receives a link that shows the technician’s estimated arrival and real-time status without requiring a login.

Integrations

Which payment processors does TradeKitt support?

TradeKitt integrates with Stripe, Square, PayPal, and QuickBooks for payment reconciliation.

How does reconciliation work?

The three-pass reconciliation engine matches your recorded sales against payment processor transactions:

  1. Exact match — matches by reference ID.
  2. Fuzzy match — matches by amount and date within a configurable tolerance.
  3. Manual review — unmatched transactions are flagged for human review.

View results under Reports > Reconciliation.

How do I connect RazorSync?

RazorSync is the most fully implemented field service integration. It syncs customers, work orders, and invoices bidirectionally. Navigate to Settings > Integrations > Add Provider > RazorSync, enter your API key and company identifier, test the connection, and enable it. Sync runs every 15 minutes by default.

What happens if a provider’s API goes down?

The sync engine wraps each provider adapter with a circuit breaker. After consecutive failures, the circuit opens to prevent repeated failed calls. It automatically transitions to half-open after a cooldown period and resumes normal operation when the API recovers.

Are my API credentials secure?

Yes. All integration credentials are encrypted at rest using AES-256-GCM with a platform-level encryption key. API responses only display the last 4 characters of stored credentials. Encryption key rotation is supported with automatic re-encryption.

Can I use webhooks to integrate with other systems?

Yes. Under Settings > Webhooks, you can register HTTP endpoints to receive real-time event notifications (sale created, dispatch completed, inventory low, etc.). Each delivery is logged and failed deliveries are automatically retried.

Mobile App

Which platforms does the mobile app support?

The TradeKitt mobile app is available for iOS and Android, built with React Native (Expo). Desktop apps for Windows and macOS are also available via Tauri.

Does the app work offline?

Yes. The mobile app caches data locally using SQLite and MMKV storage. When offline, technicians can:

  • View their commission dashboard and schedule
  • Record sales (queued in an outbox with idempotency keys)
  • View the parts catalog and customer information

When connectivity is restored, queued sales sync automatically. Admins can configure offline settings (window days, cache hours) under Settings > Offline Config.

How does GPS tracking work in the app?

The app periodically reports the technician’s GPS coordinates to the server. Location data includes latitude, longitude, heading, speed, and accuracy. Admins can view real-time locations on the dispatch board and historical location trails for each technician.

Can technicians take photos in the app?

Yes. The mobile app supports photo capture for form submissions (work orders, inspections, checklists). Photos are uploaded as media files and linked to the relevant form submission or dispatch job.

How do push notifications work?

The app uses Expo Push Notifications. Technicians register their device token on login, and the server sends push notifications for new job assignments, schedule changes, and other events.

Billing

How does pricing work?

TradeKitt uses a base fee plus per-technician pricing. The Pro plan is $49/month plus $12 per technician per month. Annual billing saves 20%.

What happens when my free trial ends?

Your account automatically moves to the Free plan (up to 2 technicians). No data is lost. You can upgrade to Pro at any time to unlock all features.

Can I change plans at any time?

Yes. Upgrades take effect immediately. Downgrades take effect at the end of your current billing cycle.

What payment methods do you accept?

We accept all major credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express) processed securely through Stripe.

How does the billing cycle work?

TradeKitt uses anniversary billing. Your billing cycle starts on the day you activate your paid plan, and payment is due every 30 days from that date. The next payment due date always advances from the previous anchor date, not the payment date.

What happens if I miss a payment?

If a payment is missed, your account enters a grace period (configurable, default 7 days). During the grace period you have full access. If payment is still not received:

  1. Past due — grace period has started. Full access continues.
  2. Suspended — grace period expired. Access is restricted.
  3. Pending deletion — data deletion is scheduled.
  4. Deleted — tenant data is wiped (account record preserved for audit).

Making a payment at any stage before deletion reactivates your account immediately.

Can I cancel my account?

Yes. Contact support or use the admin dashboard. Your data remains accessible until the end of the current billing period. After that, the account follows the standard lifecycle.

Security

How is my data protected?

TradeKitt employs multiple layers of security:

  • Row-Level Security (RLS) — PostgreSQL RLS ensures complete data isolation between tenants at the database level. One tenant can never access another tenant’s data.
  • Encryption at rest — sensitive fields (API credentials, encryption keys) are encrypted with AES-256-GCM using a platform-level encryption key.
  • Encryption in transit — all external connections use TLS. Cloudflare Origin CA certificates are used for HTTPS.
  • Password hashing — Argon2id with recommended parameters (t=3, m=65536, p=4).

Do you support Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)?

Yes. TradeKitt supports multiple MFA methods:

  • TOTP authenticator apps (Google Authenticator, Authy, etc.)
  • Email OTP — one-time codes sent to your registered email
  • Hardware security keys — WebAuthn/FIDO2 support (YubiKeys, etc.) for owner accounts
  • Backup codes — one-time recovery codes generated during MFA setup

Admins can enforce MFA policies for all users with configurable grace periods.

Do you support Single Sign-On (SSO)?

Yes. TradeKitt supports SSO via Google, Apple, and Microsoft for both admin/technician accounts and owner accounts. SSO users can link multiple providers to a single account.

How are API credentials stored?

Integration credentials (Stripe keys, QuickBooks tokens, etc.) are encrypted with AES-256-GCM before storage. Only the last 4 characters are shown in the admin UI. Encryption key rotation is supported — set ENCRYPTION_KEY_PREVIOUS during rotation and the system automatically re-encrypts with the new key.

What rate limiting is in place?

  • Global limit: 300 requests per 60 seconds per IP address.
  • Per-tenant limit: 200 requests per 60 seconds per tenant (Redis-backed).
  • Auth endpoints: 5 requests per 60 seconds to prevent brute force.

Exceeding limits returns 429 Too Many Requests with a Retry-After header.

Is there an audit log?

Yes. All significant administrative actions (user creation, commission changes, sale approvals, etc.) are recorded in the audit log with old and new values, timestamp, and the acting user. View the audit log under Admin > Audit Log.

Technical

How do I access the API?

TradeKitt provides a REST API at https://api.tradekitt.com/api/v1. Generate API keys under Settings > API Keys with scoped permissions. See the API Reference for full documentation.

What webhook events are available?

TradeKitt can send real-time event notifications to your HTTP endpoints. Available events include:

  • sale.created, sale.approved, sale.rejected
  • dispatch.created, dispatch.assigned, dispatch.completed
  • commission.calculated
  • payment.reconciled
  • agreement.renewed, agreement.expired
  • inventory.low-stock

Can I export data as CSV?

Yes. CSV export is available for commission reports, pay period summaries, and sales data. Navigate to the relevant section and click Export CSV, or use the API endpoints at /admin/csv-export/*.

Can I export PDF reports?

Yes. Commission statements and pay period reports can be exported as PDF documents. Available via the admin dashboard or the API endpoints at /export/*/pdf.

How does the report builder work?

The report builder lets you create custom report templates with dynamic data sources (sales, commissions, time entries, expenses, jobs, inventory). Reports can be run on-demand or scheduled for automated delivery. Output is available in JSON or CSV format.

What is the form builder?

The form builder lets you create custom forms for work orders, inspections, checklists, and other purposes. Forms support text, number, boolean, select, photo, and signature field types. You can require specific forms for specific job types.

How does the customer portal work?

Customers have their own login system (separate from the main user system). Through the portal, customers can:

  • Submit service requests (which admins can convert to dispatch jobs)
  • View their invoices and payment history
  • Leave reviews (1-5 star rating with optional text)
  • View their service history

See the Customer Portal Guide for details.

What browsers are supported?

The web application supports all modern browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge (latest two versions). The admin dashboard and technician portal are fully responsive for tablet use.

Support

How do I get help?

  • Free plan: Documentation and community support
  • Pro plan: Priority email support with 24-hour response time
  • Enterprise: Phone support with 4-hour SLA and dedicated account manager

Where do I report bugs?

Email [email protected] with a description of the issue. Include screenshots if possible. You can also submit a support ticket directly from the admin dashboard under Support > New Ticket.

Is there a status page?

System status and any ongoing incidents are communicated via the admin dashboard and email notifications.

Still have questions?

Contact us — we are happy to help.