Banksman vs spreadsheets & WhatsApp
Most small firms run their sites on a spreadsheet in the office and a handful of group chats. It's free and everyone knows how to use it. Here's where it starts to cost you.
| The job | Spreadsheets | WhatsApp groups | Banksman |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who’s doing what | A job list on the office computer. Out of date by dinner. | Messages scrolling past. Nobody’s sure what was agreed. | Tasks set for each site, ticked off on the phone with a photo. |
| Photos as proof | Kept somewhere else, if they’re kept at all. | Mixed in with everything else, and stuck on whoever’s phone took them. | A photo library stamped with the upload time from our server, the site, the task and who took it. |
| Drawings | Email attachments and a printed copy in the van. | Sent as a picture. Easy to work off an old one. | On every phone, sorted by site and labelled by version. |
| Hours and price work | Typed up at the end of the week from texts and bits of paper. | “Did 9 hrs today” messages to add up on a Friday. | Logged per site or plot. Approved, or queried with a reason. Grouped by week ending, with a CSV export. |
| Materials | An order list someone has to remember to update. | “Can you order…” and hope someone did. | Requested, approved, ordered, dispatched, delivered. Supplier, order ref and a delivery photo. |
| Site chat | None. | Quick and easy, but job talk sits next to family chats. | A group chat for every site, plus direct messages, kept with the job. |
| On the phone | Fiddly on a small screen with cold hands. | Already on everyone’s phone. | Installs on the phone like an app, with push notifications and a guided tour. |
| Your name on it | Your logo in the header, if someone sets it up. | Not yours. | Your company’s logo and colours. |
| Who’s on site | A paper signing-in book in the cabin. | “Who’s in today?” | Sign in and out with a QR poster, and a fire roll call. |
| No signal | Not much use on site anyway. | Messages send when you’re back in range. | Offline mode: saves without signal, syncs later. Coming soon |
Anything marked "Coming soon" isn't in the app yet.
When a group chat is enough
If it's you and one lad on one job, a group chat probably does the job. It starts to fall apart with more sites, more people and more money riding on who said what. That's when you want the tasks, hours, orders and photos kept against the site, not against someone's phone.
Banksman helps you keep records, so when there's a question about the work, the answer's already written down.
Want to see it for your trade? Have a look at the pages for builders, subcontractors and groundworkers, or try the live demo.
Straight answers.
Is WhatsApp good enough to run a building site?
For one small job with a couple of people, often yes. With more sites, more people and more money riding on who said what, things get buried: task sign-offs, photo evidence, hours and orders. A site management app keeps those against the site so you can find them later.
Why not just use a spreadsheet?
Spreadsheets live in the office and go out of date by dinner. The work happens on site, on phones. Banksman lets the team log tasks, photos, hours and material requests on site, and the office approves them, with CSV export when you still need a spreadsheet.
Can Banksman replace our WhatsApp groups?
Yes. Every site gets its own group chat plus direct messages, kept with the job and away from personal chats, alongside the tasks, photos, hours and orders for that site.
How much does it cost to switch from WhatsApp to Banksman?
From £79 a month inc. VAT for up to 10 users, with every feature, no contract and no set-up fee. You can try the live demo first with no card.
Keep reading.
- Site management · 2 min readWhy WhatsApp Groups Are a Liability on a Construction SiteWhatsApp is fine for a quick message, but it's a poor way to run a construction site. Here's why, and what to use instead.Read the guide →
- Site management · 4 min readHow to get your building site off WhatsApp (without losing the lads)WhatsApp groups work until they don't. A bricklayer's guide to moving your site's tasks, photos, hours and drawings somewhere you can actually find them.Read the guide →
- Site management · 2 min readWhat Is a Construction Site Diary App?A construction site diary app records daily site activity (tasks, hours, materials and photos) digitally instead of on paper. Here's how it works.Read the guide →
Banksman for your trade
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The live demo is the actual app on realistic sample data. Four fields and your logins are on the next page. No card.
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Dom: 07508 300353 · Matt: 07964 660071