Jua Kali Business Management App — Track Jobs, Payments, and Profit From Your Phone
Jua kali artisans — welders, carpenters, mechanics, tailors — can use AskBiz to track job payments, record material costs, flag customers who have not paid, and see their true monthly profit. Works on any phone, no accounting knowledge needed.
- The Jua Kali Cash Flow Problem
- Track Every Job and Every Payment
- Customers Who Owe — Never Forget Again
- See Real Profit — Not Just Cash in Pocket
- Setting Up Your First Job in AskBiz
The Jua Kali Cash Flow Problem#
Most jua kali artisans in Kenya — welders in Kamukunji, carpenters in Githurai, mechanics in Kirinyaga Road, tailors in Gikomba — have the same problem. Customers pay in instalments. Materials are paid for upfront. Some jobs take two weeks. By the time the month ends, you cannot tell whether you made money or just stayed busy. The cash feels like it is there some days and gone others. AskBiz gives jua kali operators a simple way to track every job from quote to final payment, see which customers still owe, and get a real profit number at end of month.
Track Every Job and Every Payment#
When a customer brings in a gate to weld or orders a sofa, you create a job in AskBiz with the agreed price and any deposit received. As the job progresses, you record material costs — steel, fabric, paint, whatever the job needs. When the customer pays the balance, you mark it received. The system shows you at any time: how many jobs are in progress, how much money is owed to you, and how much you have already collected. For mechanics running a garage in Industrial Area, this replaces the scraps of paper and the mental notes that get lost when you are busy with three vehicles at once.
Customers Who Owe — Never Forget Again#
In jua kali work, credit is normal. A customer picks up their furniture and says they will send the balance via M-Pesa next week. Sometimes they do. Sometimes you have to chase. AskBiz flags every outstanding balance and shows you the oldest ones first. You can see in one screen: this customer owes KSh 3,500 from three weeks ago, this one owes KSh 800 from last month. The system does not send them reminders automatically but it means you never forget to chase. For artisans losing KSh 5,000 to KSh 20,000 per month in uncollected payments, this alone pays for the subscription many times over.
See Real Profit — Not Just Cash in Pocket#
The hardest thing in jua kali is knowing whether you are actually making money. You might have collected KSh 40,000 this month but spent KSh 28,000 on materials and KSh 8,000 on casual labour. That leaves KSh 4,000 — but your rent for the yard is also due. AskBiz tracks all of this and gives you a monthly profit figure after costs. The Business Health Score shows whether your business is improving month by month or whether costs are creeping up. This is the same visibility that big companies pay accountants for — available to a fundi in Ziwani for KSh 500 a month.
Setting Up Your First Job in AskBiz#
Step 1: create a free account at pos.askbiz.co on your Android phone. Step 2: when a customer brings work — say a gate to weld — create a new job entry with the customer's name, the agreed price, and any deposit paid on the spot. Step 3: as you buy materials for that specific job, log the cost against it, so you can see exactly what margin the job leaves once it is finished, not just a guess based on the final price. Step 4: when the customer pays the balance, mark the job as settled. Step 5: at any point, check your dashboard to see jobs in progress, money owed to you across all customers, and your running profit for the month. For a welder or carpenter juggling three or four jobs at once, this replaces the mental math and scraps of paper that usually get lost between one job and the next.
A Worked Example: Discovering a Job Was Actually a Loss#
A carpenter in Githurai quoted a customer KSh 15,000 for a wardrobe, based on a rough estimate of timber and hardware costs he carried in his head. He logged the job in AskBiz and recorded material costs as he bought them: KSh 6,500 in timber (more than expected, due to a supplier price increase he had not accounted for), KSh 2,200 in hinges and handles, and KSh 1,800 in varnish and glue — a total of KSh 10,500 in materials against a KSh 15,000 price. That left KSh 4,500 for his own labour on a job that took four full days, working out to just over KSh 1,100 a day — far below what he needed to cover his workshop rent and living costs. Without the job-level tracking, he would have simply banked the KSh 15,000 and felt like the job went fine. With the breakdown in front of him, he realised his pricing had not kept pace with rising timber costs, and he raised his quotes on the next three wardrobe orders by 20%, restoring a workable margin.
People also ask
What app can jua kali workers use to track jobs and payments in Kenya?
AskBiz lets jua kali artisans create jobs, record deposits and final payments, track material costs, and flag customers who owe money. It shows real monthly profit after costs — all from an Android phone.
How do I track customers who owe me money for jua kali work?
AskBiz shows all outstanding customer balances in one screen, sorted by age. You can see which customers owe, how much, and for how long — making it easy to follow up and collect.
Is there a simple business app for informal workers in Kenya?
AskBiz is designed for informal and small businesses in Kenya. It requires no accounting knowledge, works on basic Android phones, integrates with M-Pesa, and shows your profit in plain numbers.
Our team combines expertise in data analytics, SME strategy, and AI tools to produce practical guides that help founders and operators make better business decisions.
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AskBiz tracks every job, every payment, and every shilling owed to you. See your real monthly profit — not just what's in your pocket. Start free today.
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