How to use Raul, one task at a time. Button and tab names are in bold, exactly as they appear on screen.
Getting started
Start a free trial
On the sign-in screen, press Start a free trial. Type your Company Name, Your Name, Email and a Password (at least 6 characters, typed twice), then press Create My Company Account. The trial is 14 days and needs no card. You become the company Owner.
Or press Start with Google and choose your Google account. Raul then asks only for your Company Name and Your Name. There is no password to set, because you sign in with Google from then on.
Get Raul ready, and the sample job
Owners and Management see Get Raul ready on the Dashboard: five steps with a progress bar. Add your company details, add your logo, invite a colleague, create your first project and file your first site diary. Each step ticks itself when it is done, and each has a button that takes you there. Press Hide to put the list away for good. It also goes away by itself when all five are done.
A new free trial starts with one Sample job, so there is something to look around in before you add your own. It is marked Sample on the Dashboard. Press Open it to look inside, or Delete the sample to remove it in one click. The sample never counts as your first project.
Sign in, and the three apps
Sign in with your email and password. Forgot it? Press Forgot password? under the sign-in button and a reset link is emailed to you.
The link opens in Raul, on a Set a new password page. Type the new password twice (at least 6 characters) and press Save new password. A link lasts about an hour and works once. If you press Forgot password? again, the newest email is the one to use. If the link has expired or was already used, Raul says so and offers Send me a new link.
Or press Continue with Google (on Project Management, the Quotation Calculator and the Site Diary) and choose the Google account with the same email your company added you under. If that email already has a Raul password, Raul asks you to sign in with the password once. After that, Google is connected to the same account and you can sign in either way. If the Google account's email is not in any company yet, Raul offers a free trial instead. If your company already uses Raul, ask Management to add that email.
The front page has three apps:
- Project Management - your jobs, costs, claims, invoices, documents and photos.
- Quotation Calculator - price quotations and client BQ tenders.
- Site Diary - the phone page your site team uses to file each day's report.
Inside Project Management or the Quotation Calculator, the Switch app list near the bottom of the sidebar takes you straight to the other apps, including the Site Diary app.
Search everything
Press Search at the top of any Project Management page (or press Ctrl K, or Cmd K on a Mac) and type a project, client, document no., invoice no., supplier or a word from the site diary.
Results are grouped into Projects, Clients, Documents, Invoices, Variations, Quotes to approve and Site diary. Every word you type must match. Click a result, or use the arrow keys and Enter:
- a project or a variation opens the job;
- a document or an invoice opens its page, filtered to that record;
- a site diary entry opens the job's Site tab.
Search shows only what you can already see in Raul. Invoices, quotes and amounts appear only for people who see income and profit. The site diary search covers the last 180 days.
Hide the sidebar, and light or dark
On a computer, press « at the top of the sidebar to slide it away and give the page the full width. A small blue tab stays at the left edge of the window: press it to bring the sidebar back. On a phone, the menu opens from ☰.
Under Look at the bottom of the sidebar, choose Auto (follows your device's light or dark setting), Light or Dark.
When you save a change, a small burst of colour marks it. It does not show if your device is set to reduce motion.
Send feedback
Found something wrong, or have an idea? Press Send feedback at the bottom of the sidebar (or in ⋯ More) in Project Management or the Quotation Calculator, or Feedback at the top of the Site Diary.
- Choose Something is wrong or I have an idea.
- Write what happened and what you expected, or what would help you.
- Add a screenshot if you like, then press Send.
You get a report number, for example FB-0012. With your message Raul also sends the page you are on, your browser and any error the app showed, so we can find the problem faster. No figures from your records are sent.
Open Your feedback in the same window to see each report and what we did about it: Received, Looking at it, Fixed, Already reported, Closed or Thanks, noted, with our reply.
If an Ask Raul answer was wrong, press tell us here under the answer. The question and the answer are sent with your report.
Invite a colleague
Only Management and the Owner can do this.
- Go to Settings, then the Users tab.
- Under Add a User, type their Full name, Position and email address.
- Pick a role: QS / Engineer, Management, or Site staff - Site Diary only (free).
- Press + Add User.
Raul emails them a link to set their own password. You never choose or send a password.
If someone did not get the email, or their link has expired, press Send password link on their row in Settings, Users. Raul emails them a new link and shows you the same link, so you can copy it or send it on WhatsApp yourself. The link works for about an hour; if it expires, send a new one. Only Management and the Owner see this button, and only for people in your own company.
Who sees what
| Role | What they can do |
|---|
| Owner | Everything, including changing who is Owner |
| Management | Everything: approves variation orders and quotes, issues invoices and sets access for others |
| QS / Engineer | Prices quotations in the Calculator and sees every figure there. In Project Management, sees every cost (Job Costs in the sidebar); the pages with income and profit stay faded until Management switches money on for them |
| Site staff | The Site Diary only. Free on every plan, in any number |
For each QS, Management sets three switches on the Users table:
- Sees income & profit - quote value, contract sum, revenue, invoices to clients, payments received, profit and margin, plus Dashboard, Books (with its Costs and Branches tabs), Quotes to Approve and Invoices. Off by default. Costs are open to everyone in the office: what each job has spent, its cost budget, cost by category or section, and what is owed to suppliers. A QS without it has Job Costs in the sidebar instead of Books (see Job Costs).
- Site diary - lets them file the daily diary on a phone. Off by default.
- Tabs - press a tab's name to switch it on (filled green, with a tick) or off. Photos is on by default; Site Diary and Recycle Bin are off.
Documents is open to everyone in the office. Anyone except site staff can see and file cost paperwork (receipts, supplier invoices, supplier quotations, purchase orders, delivery orders, payment vouchers) and scan receipts. Paperwork that shows what the company earns (quotations to clients, client POs, invoices to clients, progress claims and variation orders) is seen only by Management and by people with Sees income & profit on. Sharing a file and deleting it stay with Management.
To remove someone, press Remove on their row. The last Management user cannot be removed.
Your company details
Go to Settings, then the Company tab. The list on the left jumps to each part; every card ends with its own Save changes.
- Company profile - your logo (press the logo tile to add or change it), company name, registration no., address, phone and email. They print at the top of every quotation, invoice and document.
- Payment details - bank, account no. and account holder, printed on invoices and quotations. The line under the card shows exactly how it will print. Company profile and payment details are saved together.
- Documents - your document prefix and next invoice number, and how your documents look (see Choose how your documents look).
- Quotations - how the Quotation Calculator is laid out for everyone: by cost categories or by work sections, and whether customer lines start grouped or as every item.
- Branches - type a name and press Add branch. Make main marks your main branch; Retire hides a branch from new pickers without touching saved jobs. Click a name to rename it. Branches are unlimited on every plan.
- Cost categories - rename any of the seven built-in categories by clicking its name, or turn its switch off to hide it from the menus. A category that already has costs on a job keeps showing there.
- Data & backup - your projects are backed up every day and each copy is kept for 30 days. Restore brings back the latest; All backups lists the rest.
Recycle Bin and Your Plan are also tabs here, next to Clients, Users and Company.
Choose how your documents look
In Settings > Company > Documents, pick one of five styles: Classic (the standard look), Modern, Minimal, Bold or Corporate. Choose an Accent colour or press Use the style’s colour, and put the logo on the Left or in the Centre (Classic keeps its logo on the left). Press Print a sample to see it before you save, then Save changes.
The style is used on every document Raul prints: quotations (in Project Management and the Quotation Calculator), invoices, purchase orders, delivery orders, receipts, statements, VO forms, handover forms, retention release requests, and credit and debit notes.
Clients
Go to Settings, then the Clients tab, and press + Add Client. The address you type here prints on invoices. QS / Engineers can open this tab too, because they need client details to quote.
Projects
Create a project
- Press + New Project (top right, on any page).
- Under Project Information, fill in Project Name, Client (pick a saved client or type any name) and Branch. Project No. is optional.
- Set Status: Quoted, In Progress, Completed or Cancelled.
- Add Start Date and Planned End Date. Without a planned end date, Raul cannot tell you when a job is late.
- Fill in the Quoted / Budgeted Cost (RM) boxes and Markup %. Raul adds up the Final Quotation Price (RM) for you.
- Press Save Project.
While you type a large figure into a money box, the figure with its commas (for example RM 1,250,000.00) shows just under the box, so you can check it before you save.
A quote priced in the Quotation Calculator does not need retyping: submit it to Management there, then use Convert to Project in Quotes to Approve (see Tenders). Every saved quote is kept in the Quotes Library.
Open a project
On All Projects, press ⋯ at the end of the job's row and choose View. The same menu has Edit, Print quotation and, for Management, Delete. The job opens in a side panel with five tabs: Overview, Contract & Payments, Documents, Photos and Site. At the top are Quotation PDF and Edit.
The Overview tab opens with the job's cover: the newest photo from its Photos tab (a line drawing until there is one), and a ring showing how far along the job is, worked out from the Site Diary progress the same way as the Site tab.
Edit a project, its dates and status
Press ⋯ on the job's row and choose Edit, or press Edit inside the open job. Change what you need and press Save Project. Revert all changes puts every field back to how it was when you opened the form.
- When the job finishes, set Actual Completion and change Status to Completed. A job with an actual completion date is never counted as late.
- Invoice Amount (RM) under Revenue / Invoice is the job's revenue, and the profit is worked out from it. You type it by hand. Issuing invoices in Raul does not change it, so it works even if you invoice from your own accounting system.
When someone else is editing
Only one person can edit a job at a time. If a colleague has it open, you see a banner with their name and the job is read-only for you. Management can press Take over on that banner.
See who changed what
Inside the job, press Show history to see every change, who made it and when.
Delete and restore a project
Management only. Press ⋯ on the job's row and choose Delete. The job moves to the Recycle Bin (in Settings, next to Company) and stays there for 30 days: press Restore to bring it back, or Delete Forever to remove it now. Empty Recycle Bin clears everything in it.
Costs and paperwork
Add a document (receipts, invoices, quotations, POs, DOs, claims)
Everyone in the office (Owner, Management, QS / Engineer) can add documents. Paperwork that shows what the company earns (quotations to clients, client POs, invoices to clients, progress claims and variation orders) can only be added by Management and by people with Sees income & profit on.
Press + Add document at the top of any page, or on the Documents page, or in a job's Documents tab. Choose how to file it (Raul remembers your choice for next time):
- Read it for me - choose photos or PDFs. Raul reads the type of document, the company, document no., date and amount, plus a suggested Purpose and Description, and the item lines it can read. You check it and type in whatever is missing. One file can hold several documents (up to 10), for example a scanned PDF with one receipt per page: Raul lists them: press Review on each one, or Save all to inbox to file them later. If a document cannot be read clearly, the form opens anyway for you to type in, with Upload a clearer copy.
- I'll type the details - choose one file (a photo, PDF, Word or Excel file). The same form opens empty and nothing is read.
- Just keep a copy - choose up to 20 files, pick the job (or leave it for later) and press Save. They are kept as they are, each marked Backup copy. Later, press Read now on a backup copy in Documents and Raul fills in its details on the same record.
On the form:
- Check the Document type, Supplier (or Client / party), Document no. and Date.
- For a receipt, supplier invoice or other cost, check the Purpose, Description and lines. If only the total could be read, one line carries the total. Tax, service charge and rounding printed on the receipt become one extra line, so the amount posted is the amount paid.
- Choose Filed under: a job, or one of the company places that belong to no job - Office & admin (rent, utilities, stationery, printing), Business expenses (petrol, toll, travel) or Client entertainment (meals and gifts with clients). When no job is chosen, Raul suggests a company place from the receipt's purpose; change it if it is wrong.
- Under a job: under Post the cost to, choose where the cost belongs (the kind of cost or, on a job priced by section, the section and the kind of cost). Press File it and post RM ... to add the cost to the job, or File it only to keep the document without touching the cost (a delivery order, or a cost already in).
- Under a company place: press File it. It is filed and kept, and no job's cost changes.
- For a quotation, client PO, invoice to a client, progress claim or VO, type the Amount (RM) and Description, choose the Job and, if it belongs to one, the Billing stage, then press Save. These are never posted as a cost.
Not sure where it belongs yet? Press Save, file later. It shows in Documents tagged To file (filter Filed under: To file to see them all). Open the ... menu on it and press Edit to choose where it belongs, or Review & post the cost to bring back what Raul read (it is not read again) and post it to a job.
Raul warns you if the lines do not add up to the printed total, or if a document with the same number from the same supplier is already filed. If you scan an invoice to a client without Sees income & profit, Raul says so and sets it to Other.
If someone else has the job open for editing when a QS posts, the receipt is still filed but the cost waits, and Raul says who has the job open. Post it again once they close it. Every posted receipt shows in the job's Show history as "posted a receipt" with who posted it, and Management can correct the amount in Edit.
Record costs by hand
Open the job and press Edit. Under Actual Cost Incurred (RM):
- Materials, Consumables and Others: press + Add Row and type Description, Qty, Unit and Unit Rate (RM).
- Machineries & Transport: press + Add Row, type the Description, pick its Type (Transport or Crane & machinery), then type Qty, Unit and Unit Rate (RM). The card's total shows how much is transport and how much is crane.
- Manhours: press + Add Row and type the Position / Role, Pax, RM/hr and the normal, OT and Sunday/PH hours and days.
- Subcontractors: press + Add Row and type the Subcon Name and Lumpsum Amount (RM).
Press Save Project. Jobs priced by work section show their costs per section on the Overview tab instead: type them there and press Save changes.
Some cost cards show a row called Earlier total, not itemised. It is a cost already recorded on the job without a breakdown, such as an amount typed as one figure before these cards existed, or a receipt posted from Documents. It keeps the card's total equal to the cost on record. If you break that amount down into your own rows, reduce this row by the amount you added.
Your documents
Documents lists everything filed: the date, the document number (or file name), the supplier or client, the type, where it is Filed under (a job, Office & admin, Business expenses, Client entertainment, or To file), the amount and View. Filter by Filed under and by type, or search by party, document number, file name or remark. Export CSV includes Filed under and remarks. Supplier invoices and payment vouchers count towards what the job owes its suppliers. A Backup tag means a copy kept as it is: press ... then Read now to have Raul fill in its details.
Every row has a ... menu:
- Edit - anyone in the office can edit a document they can see: its type, Filed under, supplier or client, document no., date, amount and a Remark. Raul records who edited it. If Raul posted the document's cost to a job and you move the document to another job, choose where on the new job the cost belongs: Raul takes the cost off the old job and posts it to the new one. Moving it to a company place takes its cost off the job. A posted amount is changed on the job itself, not here. Moving a document filed under the company to a job lets you post its cost there too.
- Share a link (Management) - choose how long the link works for (24 hours, 7 days, 30 days or no end date) and press Create link & copy. Only the link stops working when it runs out; the document always stays filed in Raul. Copy share link and Stop sharing appear while a link is active.
- Delete (Management) - the only way a document leaves Raul.
The same ... menu is on each document in a job's Documents tab.
Site photos
Anyone in the office can add photos to a job: open it, go to the Photos tab and press + Add Photos. On a phone this opens the camera. Photos your site team attaches to the Site Diary show up with each diary entry. Only Management can share or delete a photo. Site staff add theirs through the Site Diary.
Create a document: delivery order, purchase order, VO form, handover
Management only. On the Documents page or in a job's Documents tab, press + Create document and choose one:
- Delivery Order - goods going to the client, with no prices. Fill in Deliver to, Address / site, Your PO / ref and Vehicle no., add the lines (Description, Qty, Unit, Remarks) and press Issue DO & print.
- Purchase Order - an order to a supplier or subcontractor. Fill in Supplier / subcontractor, Their address, Their quotation no., PO date, Delivery / start date and Deliver to / site, add the lines and press Issue PO & print. The address is remembered for your next PO to them.
- Variation Order form - a variation from the job, printed for the client to sign. Pick the Variation order, add who it was Instructed by, the Reason for the change and, if you like, a priced breakdown (with rates, the lines must add up to the VO amount), then press Save & print. Each variation row on Contract & Payments also has a VO form button.
- Work completion / handover - fill in the Scope of works completed, the Checklist (with a Status for each item) and any Outstanding items / defects, then press Issue form & print.
To order from a supplier quotation you have already filed, open the ... menu on it in Documents and press Issue PO. The supplier, job, their quotation no. and amount are filled in for you.
Delivery orders, purchase orders and handover forms each have their own number sequence, and a VO form carries its variation's number. Every document is saved in Documents and printed in your document style.
Getting paid
Everything about a job's money is on its Contract & Payments tab, in three parts from the top: the money on the job with the + Issue invoice button, the Billing record of every invoice, and Variations. Issuing invoices, recording payments and approving variations are Management only.
The four boxes at the top are Contract value (your quote plus approved variations), Collected (money in the bank), Pending (billed but not paid yet, with how many are overdue) and Balance to claim (the contract not billed yet).
Issue an invoice
- Open the job, go to Contract & Payments and press + Issue invoice.
- If a variation is waiting to be billed, the form first asks What are you billing?: choose the main contract or that variation.
- Under How much?, choose % of contract or RM amount and type the figure. Quick pick fills 10%, 20%, 30% or 50%, and The balance fills whatever is left to claim.
- If the job has retention (see Retention), Hold back retention is ticked, so the invoice is the claim less the retention. Untick it to invoice the full claim.
- Under What the client reads, check the description. Raul writes it for you from the job, for example "Progress claim 2 - work done to 80% (site diary)". Tap one of the Suggestions or change any word.
- Under Number and dates, the Invoice no. (next in your sequence), Date (today) and Payment due in (14, 30, 60 or 90 days) are filled in. The client and address come from the job.
- Press Issue invoice.
Before you press it, the box under the amount shows this claim, any retention held back, the invoice amount and what is left to claim afterwards. You never have to set up stages first: Raul works out the remaining value from the invoices already issued. A percentage is of the main contract; each variation is billed on its own.
The invoice appears in the Billing record and on the Invoices page. An invoice you add on the Invoices page for this job also appears in the Billing record. Press Print on a row to print it. When the job has retention, the printed invoice shows the claim, Less retention and a Claim summary.
Retention
Retention is money the client holds back from each invoice until the job is finished and the defects period is over. Most small jobs have none. Setting and releasing retention is for Management.
- On Contract & Payments, press Set retention.
- Type Held back on each invoice (%) and, if the contract has one, the Limit (% of the contract). Press Save.
Invoices already issued are not changed; every new invoice holds the retention back. To remove it, press No retention in the same form.
To release it, press Release retention. The form shows what is Held back so far, Released before and Still held. Quick pick offers First half, on completion and The rest, end of defects period (or All of it). Check Number and dates and press Issue invoice. The release is an invoice of its own, not a new claim. With Also print the retention release request letter ticked, Raul also prints the request letter and saves it in Documents, with your bank details.
The Billing record
Every invoice on the job, newest first, with its number, date, description, amount and status: PAID, UNPAID, PART PAID (with what is still owed) or OVERDUE with the number of days. Under the list are the totals billed, paid and unpaid, and what is Still to claim.
Record a payment
On an invoice in the Billing record press Record payment. Type Amount received (RM), Date received, How was it paid? and a reference if you have one, attach the transfer slip if you like, and press Save payment. If you received less than what is owed, it is saved as PART PAID and the row shows what is still owed. When the payments reach the full amount, the invoice turns PAID, here and on the Invoices page.
With Issue an official receipt and print it ticked (it is ticked by default), Raul numbers an official receipt for the payment, with the amount in words, saves it in Documents and opens it to print.
Send a chase letter for an overdue invoice
Management only. An overdue invoice has a Chase letter button on its row in the Billing record. Raul writes a reminder to the client with the invoice number, the amount still owed, the due date and how many days it is late, plus your bank details if they are filled in under Settings.
Raul picks the tone from how late the invoice is: Friendly reminder up to 14 days, Second reminder up to 44 days, then Final notice (pay within 7 days, or work may be suspended). Press another tone to change it. Change any word you like, then press Copy, WhatsApp or Print / PDF. Raul does not save or send the letter itself.
Make a dispute pack
Management only. On Contract & Payments, press Make the pack under Dispute pack. Raul gathers the job's site diary, photos, variation orders, claims and payments into one record in date order, adds the hours lost that the diary recorded, and opens it ready to print or save as a PDF. Voided diary entries are left out, and every figure is exactly as recorded on the job.
Invoices on the Invoices page
On the Invoices page press + Add Invoice. Press Auto for the next invoice number, pick the Project and client, and type Amount (RM), Issue Date and Due Date. Press Save Invoice. Each invoice row has Mark Paid, Edit, Print, Credit / debit, WhatsApp and Delete. An invoice saved here for a job shows in that job's Billing record.
An invoice with some payment recorded but not the full amount shows PART PAID, with how much is still owed and, once it is past due, how many days late. The totals at the top count money actually received: Paid includes part payments, Outstanding is everything still owed, and Overdue is the part of it that is past its due date. Paid plus Outstanding always equals Total. If the page is empty, issue your first invoice from a job's Contract & Payments tab.
Share a quotation or an invoice on WhatsApp
Press WhatsApp on an invoice (in a job's Billing record or on the Invoices page), or Share on WhatsApp in the quotation window next to Generate & Print. Raul makes a link to the same document you would print, and shows the message it will send. Press Open WhatsApp: if the client has a phone number in Clients, the chat with them opens with the message ready; if not, you pick the chat. You can also press Copy link or View.
Anyone with the link can open the document for 30 days. Sharing the same invoice or quotation again updates it and starts the 30 days again; the link stays the same. The shared copy is filed in Documents (as an invoice or a quotation, marked shared link), where you can turn the link off at any time. Only people who see income and profit can share.
Send a statement of account
On the Invoices page, press Statement of Account. Pick the client (the list shows what each one owes) and the As at date, and tick Also list invoices already paid in full if you want them. Press Print statement.
The statement lists each invoice with its due date, days overdue, amount, money received and balance, then the aging (not yet due, 1-30, 31-60, 61-90 and over 90 days), the total due and your bank details.
Issue a credit note or debit note
Management only. Press Credit / debit on an invoice's row in the Billing record or on the Invoices page, and choose:
- Credit note - takes money off that invoice, for example for work not done. It cannot be more than the invoice. The invoice's amount comes down everywhere in Raul, and the credit note is listed on it.
- Debit note - an extra charge, owed as a new note against that invoice. It is owed and paid like any other invoice.
Under How much, and why, type the Amount and the Reason (printed on the note), check the Date and Payment due in, then press Issue & print.
Record a variation
A variation is a change to the job the client agreed to: extra work, or work taken out. Anyone in the office can record one. It changes no money until Management approves it.
- On Contract & Payments, under Variations, press + Record a variation.
- Fill in What changed? (in words the client would recognise), Adds or takes away?, How much (RM) and When was it agreed?. The Number is filled in for you.
- Management presses Save it. Anyone else presses Send for approval.
Each variation shows where it is: Recorded, Waiting for approval, Approved, Billed (with the invoice number) and Paid.
Draft a variation from a site photo
In the same form, under Draft it from a site photo, add the photo, type one line about what changed and press Draft it. Raul fills in What changed? and Adds or takes away? for you. The amount is filled in only if you typed it in your line with RM (for example "client agreed RM 1,200"); otherwise it is left blank for you to type. Nothing is saved until you press the button at the bottom.
Approve a variation, and bill it
A variation waiting for Management shows Approve and Decline on its row under Variations. An approved variation adds to the contract value (or takes away from it, for work taken out). To bill extra work, press Bill it on the variation. The Issue invoice form opens with that variation chosen and its amount and description filled in. When a variation is waiting to be billed, the form also asks What are you billing? so you can choose the main contract or that variation.
Quotations
Quotes are priced in the Quotation Calculator. QS / Engineers see every figure here, because they are the ones pricing.
Price a quotation
- Fill in Project Name, Client, Project No., Prepared By and Branch at the top. A quote with no project name is not saved.
- Pick the Quotation format: Cost Categories (materials, consumables, transport, crane, manhours, others, subcontractor) or Work Sections (one section per trade, for example Electrical or Roofing). Your company default is set in Project Management under Settings > Company > Quotations.
- Add the costs:
- Press + Add Row in each category and type the description, quantity, unit and rate. Press 📦 Materials DB to pick a saved material; its rate fills in.
- Manhours rows take the position, people, rate per hour and normal, OT and Sunday/PH hours. The multipliers sit under Manhour Assumptions.
- In Work Sections, press + Add Section for each trade and set its margin, or leave the margin blank to use the default.
- Under COST SUMMARY, set Markup / Profit (%) and any Discount off the quotation.
- Press Save Quote in the sidebar. It goes to your Quotes Library.
Start from Similar copies the closest past quote as a starting point. Clear All empties the quote.
Duplicate a quote for a revision
Open the Quotes Library and press Duplicate beside the quote. Raul saves a copy as the next revision ("Warehouse Extension" becomes "Warehouse Extension Rev 2", and "Rev 2" becomes "Rev 3") and opens it, with every line, section, markup, discount and tag already in. Change what the client asked for and press Save Quote. The original quote is never touched, so both versions stay in the library. A BQ tender duplicates the same way and opens in the BQ workspace.
Print the quotation for the client
Press Quotation PDF. Choose the Pricing Display, write the Scope of Work, set Validity (days), and add a Deposit (%) and Payment Terms if you want them. Press Generate & Print. The client sees your letterhead and the selling price, never your costs or markup.
To control the lines the client sees for a trade, press ✎ List the items for the customer. You can edit, move, fold or remove every line; the total always stays the price you quoted.
Send a quote to Management
Press Submit Quote. It appears in Project Management under Quotes to Approve, where Management can View Details, Convert to Project or Dismiss it.
Your materials price list
Press Materials DB in the sidebar.
- + Add Material: fill in Category, Name, Size, Supplier, Unit Rate (RM) and Price By (per metre, per tonne, per piece and so on). For steel, kg/m lets Raul price by weight. Press 💾 Save Material.
- Change prices: type over a rate in the list and press 💾 Save changes when you are done; you can change many rows and save once. More opens the full form for one material.
- Find what still needs a price: the button beside the search box shows only materials with no price yet.
- Load starter list adds 62 common steel sections with their kg/m and no prices.
Load a supplier price list (or a supplier invoice)
In Materials DB, press 📷 Import photo / PDF (a photo, a WhatsApp screenshot, a price list or a supplier invoice) or 📄 Import Excel / CSV.
One table opens with every item split into Category, Material, Type (SS304, SS316, MS, GI...), Size, Thickness, Length, kg/m, Unit and Unit rate. From an invoice Raul takes the unit price and the UOM, never the line total, and skips the totals and terms.
- Yellow cells were not on the file: type them in the table.
- Grey kg/m was not on the file either, so Raul worked it out from the shape, size and thickness (stainless at 7.93, mild steel at 7.85). Type over it if you have the mill figure. A stainless or aluminium channel with one thickness is worked out too (the larger size is taken as the web). A mild steel or GI channel, or a channel with two thicknesses, stays yellow, because its web and flanges differ.
- Supplier, Price date and Branch sit above the table and apply to every row.
- Each row says New, or Update with the price it had before. If a row looks like one of your materials, press Update it to update that one instead of adding a duplicate.
- Untick a row to leave it out, then press Save. Everything is saved straight away.
- For an Excel file whose columns were guessed wrong, press Columns and say which column is which.
In the Materials list, Type and Length are columns you can edit like the rest.
Tenders (the BQ workspace)
Use the BQ workspace when a client sends their own Bill of Quantities to price. It lives inside the Quotation Calculator: press BQ Workspace in the sidebar. Back to Calculator returns you.
Import a client's BQ
- Press Import client BQ.
- Choose the file: a PDF, a photo of a printed BQ, or their Excel or CSV.
- Raul reads it into the client's own structure: their bills, item references, descriptions, quantities and units. Check the review and correct anything misread. Quantities Raul could not read are flagged for you to type from the client's copy.
- Type a name under Name this tender and press Create tender.
The tender is saved as a quote, so it shows in your Quotes Library with your other quotes, tagged as a tender. The name, Client, Their ref and Closes date at the top can all be corrected.
Create a BQ yourself
When there is no client BQ, build your own. In the BQ workspace press Create BQ, type the Project title (and the Location, Client and Reference if you have them) and a Default markup %, and press OK.
You start with BILL 1, Section 1 and one empty line. For each line type the Description, Unit, Qty and your Cost rate: Raul works out the cost amount, adds the markup to give the Rate, and the Amount (Qty x Rate). Give a line its own Markup %, or type a rate yourself and it stays yours. + Add item, + Add section (heading) and + Add bill build the rest; subtotals per bill and the grand total update as you type.
Cost rate, cost amount and markup are for you only. They never leave Raul: Excel (client) and Export carry the description, unit, quantity, rate and amount, nothing else.
Price the tender
The bar at the top shows how many rows are priced, the tender total and how many rows are still unpriced. Do not send a tender that still has unpriced rows.
- Rate by group gathers similar items so you type one rate once. Open a group to rate its rows one by one.
- BQ order shows the rows exactly as the client's BQ lists them.
- Trade summary totals the tender by trade.
- The trade buttons (roofing, steel, civil and so on) filter the list. Hide priced rows shows only what is left.
- Fill from previous tenders fills every unpriced group with the rate you last quoted for that work. Each group also shows that previous rate: click it to use it.
- Type your own cost in a row's cost box to see your margin beside the amount. Your cost is never printed or sent to the client.
- exclude takes a row out of the total; include puts it back. + Add a row adds a line to a bill.
Put your markup on your costs
Set Markup on cost % at the top of the tender. Every row with a cost is priced at that cost plus your markup, to the sen. Change the markup at any time and those rates move with it.
- To give one row its own markup, open its group in Rate by group and type it in the small box beside cost. Leave the box empty to use the tender's markup.
- A rate you type yourself is never moved by a markup change. When costed rows carry a typed rate, a link at the top offers to price them at the tender markup too.
- Clearing the markup keeps every rate as it is. Rows priced from a markup are tagged at markup.
- The margin beside an amount is profit as a share of the price, so a 20% markup shows as 17%.
Additional works
Press + Additional works to price work the client's BQ does not have, such as a change you are proposing. It opens a bill of its own after theirs, in BQ order. Fill in the description, quantity and rate like any other row; + Add a row under it adds more.
Additional works count in the tender total (the top bar shows their share), in Export and in Submit to Management. They are left off Fill client's BOQ PDF because the client's form has no line for them, so send them with your Export.
Send the tender to the client
- Fill client's BOQ PDF: choose the client's own blank BOQ PDF and Raul writes your rates and amounts onto it, so you submit on their form.
- Excel (client) downloads an Excel file for the client: project, location, client, reference and date at the top, then every item with its unit, quantity, rate and amount. Every amount is a live formula (Qty x Rate), each bill has its total, and the summary and grand total add up by formula, so the client can check them. Your costs and markup are not in the file.
- Export downloads the priced tender as a CSV file.
Won it? Turn the tender into a project
- In the BQ workspace press Submit to Management.
- Check Project name, Client, Project no., Prepared by and Branch.
- Choose How should it land in the PMS?: One section per bill (each bill keeps its own contract value, so claims and profit are per bill) or Whole job, one value.
- Press Submit to Management.
In Project Management, open Quotes to Approve and press Convert to Project on it. The new project form opens already filled in; check it and press Save Project. The tender's costs become the job's budget, and the tender stays unchanged in your Quotes Library.
Site Diary
The Site Diary is a phone page for supervisors and foremen. Site staff accounts are free on every plan. Management can also let a QS / Engineer file it (the Site diary switch on the Users table).
Open it on a phone
Open Site Diary from the front page, or Site Diary app under Switch app in the Project Management sidebar. Sign in with your email and password; Forgot password? emails a reset link. If you see No site access yet, ask Management to switch the Site diary on for you.
File the day
It takes about a minute. Only the project and the photos are required.
- Today: pick the Project and check the Date.
- Weather: Fine, Cloudy, Light rain, Heavy rain, or Stopped by rain.
- Manpower on site: tap the trades or the people who were there. Add a position or a name adds your own, and Raul remembers them for next time.
- Progress: if the office has listed the job's work items, type how many were done today for each one (for example 6 sets of handrail). Use + and − or type the number. Raul adds every entry up and shows the total so far, so nobody has to guess a percentage. For work that cannot be counted, tap a stage: Not started, Started, Half, Nearly or Done. A job with no work items shows one bar per section with the same stage words. The slider is a reference: it shows the last figure recorded and cannot go back below it.
- Anything blocked?: tap what held the work up: Material, Instruction, Weather, Client decision, Site access, Manpower, Equipment, or Other. A box opens for a short description and the hours lost (for Other, the description is required). Those hours are what an extension-of-time claim is built on later. Tap it again if you picked it by mistake.
- Anything else today? (all optional): Plant on site, Delivered today, Inspected or signed off, Safety.
- Photos: press + Take photo, or 📷 Choose from library for a photo taken earlier or sent on WhatsApp. Up to 12. Add a line under any photo that needs explaining.
- Notes (optional), then Submit entry.
No signal? The entry is saved on the phone and sends itself when signal comes back. Do not file it twice.
Set up the work items the site counts
Management only. Open the job, go to its Site tab and press Set up work items (or Edit items).
- Add one row per piece of work: a name (for example *Staircase handrail*), and for a job with sections, the section it belongs to.
- Record by: Count when the work can be counted, with its Total and Unit (sets, nos, m, m2, t...). Stage words when it cannot.
- Weight: how much of the job the item is. Raul uses the weights as proportions, so 60, 30 and 10 work, and so do 6, 3 and 1. Leave it at 1 to count every item the same.
- Press Save items. The Site Diary picks them up the next time someone opens the project.
The Site tab then shows how much of each item is done so far, its % and the last update. The job progress (and Ready to bill on the Dashboard) comes from the counts. A count that would go past an item's total is refused on the phone, so if the total was wrong, correct it here.
Fix an entry you already filed
Open the same project and date again. Within 24 hours of filing you can press Amend that entry to correct it, or File a separate one. After 24 hours the entry is locked as a record. If it is wrong, Management can strike it through on the Project Management side.
Today, Entries and Board
The bar at the bottom of the Site Diary has three tabs. Today is the form for filing the day. Entries lists the entries you have filed on the chosen project; each stays open for 24 hours, then locks. Board appears for Management and the Owner only, and opens the Site Diary page in Project Management with every site for the day.
Read the diary in Project Management
- Site Diary page (sidebar): every site for one day. Sites that filed show in full, and sites that did not file are named in a strip underneath. Move between days with the arrows, Yesterday and Today. PDF — whole day prints the day sheet. Write it up turns the site notes into a tidy written report.
- A job's Site tab: that job's diary over time, with manpower per day, working days, progress rolling into an overall %, blockers and hours lost, plant, deliveries, inspections and safety. Switch between Days, Weeks and Months.
- Void entry (Management): strikes a wrong entry through with a reason. It stays readable but stops counting. Restore entry brings it back.
Reports
Dashboard, Books (Overview, Costs and Branches), Quotes to Approve and Invoices show money, so they open for Management, the Owner, and anyone given Sees income & profit. A QS / Engineer without it sees Job Costs instead (see below).
Notifications
The bell at the top right of Project Management shows a red count of what needs chasing (on a phone it sits at the right of the title). Press it to open Notifications, urgent first: jobs past their planned end date, running jobs with no end date, finished jobs still marked in progress, sites with no diary entry for a week, overdue invoices, completed jobs not fully billed, costs over the quoted price, variation orders waiting for a decision, and contracts with no payment stages. Click a row to open the job. People who cannot see money get the jobs and schedule alerts only. An open job's Overview tab still shows that job's own alerts.
To choose what you are alerted to, press Choose alerts in the panel. Switch notifications off altogether, or one kind at a time under Jobs and schedule and Money, then press Done. Every alert is on until you change it. Your choices apply to you only, and a switched-off alert is hidden, never deleted.
Under each alert a short line suggests the next step, for example "Time for a reminder to City Square Retail." or "Check before you claim again."
Your daily briefing
The top of the Dashboard greets you and sums up the day in one line: how many jobs are running, how many things are urgent, and how many of those are invoices past due. Press See what needs you to open the same list as the bell.
Underneath, green cards show good news from the last two weeks: an invoice or deposit paid in full, or a job finished on or before its planned end date. Click a card to open the job.
Latest from your team, at the bottom of the Dashboard, shows the newest site diaries, claims raised, variation orders raised or decided, receipts posted and new jobs, with who did each one. Click a line to open the job.
Every figure here is worked out by Raul from your own records. Nothing is written by AI.
Dashboard
The Dashboard shows what needs you today. Pick a Branch if you have more than one.
- Three numbers at the top: Net profit this month (profit on jobs less overhead, from Books), Overdue (what clients owe you past the due date, split by how late it is) and Ready to bill (work done on site that is not invoiced yet).
- Where your money is - one bar from quote to bank: quoted out, still to bill on running jobs, billed and not paid yet, and collected this year. Point at a part to pick it out.
- Needs you - the things waiting on you, most urgent first: overdue invoices to chase, jobs heading for a loss, quotes to approve, jobs past their end date, work to bill, variation orders waiting, jobs with no diary progress. Click a line to go straight to it. A line stays until the thing behind it is dealt with.
- Money in - invoiced and collected for the last 7 months, with your best month. Point at a month to see its figures.
- Running jobs - each job as two rings: orange is the work done on site, teal is how much is billed. When the teal ring is behind the orange one, there is work to bill. Click a job to open it.
Money has one colour everywhere in Raul: teal is money in (collected, paid, profit), amber is owed or not due yet, red is overdue or a loss, and orange is work ready to bill. The Invoices page and Contract & Payments use the same colours.
Profit for the year, everything owed to you, finished jobs and the cost of each job are in Books.
Books
Books (in the sidebar, under All Projects) is one page for the business, for Management and anyone who sees money. It has three tabs: Overview, Costs and Branches.
Overview - choose a Month, Quarter or year:
- Net profit for the period: profit on jobs less overhead.
- Work claimed - your invoices dated in the period, before retention. Profit on that work - those claims less the cost booked in the same period.
- Job costing - every job's contract, what is claimed, invoiced and received, its cost and its margin.
- Who owes you and who you owe (supplier invoices filed in Documents, less the payment vouchers).
- Overhead - rent, office salaries, vehicles and the rest, as a monthly list. A month you have not saved yet carries the last saved list. Attach a receipt to any line.
- Export for accountant - one Excel file with the summary, sales invoices, money received, supplier invoices, payments out, overhead, job costing and credit notes for the period.
How costs land in a month. Every change to a job's cost is dated with the month it happened, with nothing to type: a cost you add in October counts in October. A receipt posted to a job is dated the day it is posted. Cost that was on a job before costs were dated (before 21 October 2026) has no month, so it is spread over the job's claims the way it always was. A job with costs in a month and no claim in that month shows as a loss for that month.
Costs answers one question: is each running job spending in line with the work done? It shows what is spent so far, the budget for the work done (the quoted cost of the job times the % done from the Site Diary), whether you are over or under, and the expected final cost (spent so far divided by the % done, once at least 10% is done). Below are spend by category, supplier bills not paid yet and a table by job. Finished this year puts each finished job's quoted margin next to its final margin. Quoted jobs are left out, so a job that has not started never shows as under budget.
Branches shows revenue, cost, profit and project count side by side for each branch.
Job Costs
A QS / Engineer who does not have Sees income & profit sees Job Costs in the sidebar where Management sees Books. It is the cost side of Books, and nothing else: no prices, contract sums, billing, profit or margin.
- Running jobs: what is spent so far, the budget for the work done (the job's cost budget times the % done from the Site Diary), whether you are over or under, and the expected final cost. Below are spend by category, supplier bills not paid yet and a table by job.
- Finished this year: each finished job's cost budget next to its final cost.
Work done comes from the Site Diary, so the budget for the work done fills in only for someone who has the Site diary switch on. Without it, Job Costs says so and still shows what is spent against the full cost budget.
Ask Raul
The Ask Raul bubble sits at the bottom right of every Project Management page; Ask Raul at the top of the sidebar opens it too. Type a question in plain words, for example:
- "Which jobs are losing money?"
- "Who still owes me money?"
- "Which completed job was fastest, with the best margin?"
- "What work is not billed yet?" or "Which jobs are late?"
You can follow up ("and which of those are overdue?"), and with a job open, "is this job late?" means that job. Every figure is worked out by Raul from your own records, the same way the job pages do it; the AI only works out which question you asked. If part of your question is something Raul does not record, it says so instead of guessing. Click a job in an answer to open it.
A QS / Engineer without Sees income & profit can ask about costs: "Which jobs are over budget?", "Where did the money go?" or "What do we still owe suppliers?". A question about income or profit is politely declined.
You can also ask how to do something in Raul, for example "How do I issue an invoice?" or "Macam mana nak tambah pengguna?". The answer comes from this guide, in the language you asked in. Help questions have their own daily allowance (30 a day on Starter, 60 on Growth, 120 on Pro), so they never use up your AI reads.
Export and backup
Under ⋯ More (top right): Export to Excel, Backup JSON, Restore Backup, Backup History and Print.
Your plan, users and AI limits
Every feature is on every plan. You pay for office users and for how many client tenders Raul reads.
| Starter | Growth | Pro |
|---|
| Monthly | RM 199 | RM 349 | RM 749 |
| Yearly (2 months free) | RM 1,990 | RM 3,490 | RM 7,490 |
| Office users (Owner, Management, QS) | 3 | 10 | Unlimited |
| Site staff | Free, unlimited | Free, unlimited | Free, unlimited |
| Tender BQs read a month | 5 | 30 | 100 |
| Receipts, DOs, price lists, diary write-ups, VO drafts, Ask Raul | No monthly limit | No monthly limit | No monthly limit |
| AI safety limit a day | 25 | 60 | 150 |
The daily safety limit counts every AI read across the company. How-to questions to Ask Raul are counted separately: 30 a day on Starter, 60 on Growth, 120 on Pro. The safety limit stops a fault from running up a bill; normal use stays well under it. Pro is not on the pay screen yet: message us to arrange it.
Founding price: the first 20 companies pay RM 149 a month (RM 1,490 a year) for Starter, locked for 12 months. If your company has it, the Your Plan screen shows founding price on Starter and asks for that amount.
See how much AI you have used
Go to Settings and press Your Plan. The AI usage card shows:
- AI reads today, against your daily safety limit. Receipts, DOs, price lists, write-ups, variations, job questions and tender BQs all count here.
- Client tender BQs this month, against your plan's monthly number.
- How-to questions today, counted apart from the AI reads.
The daily counts start again at 8:00 am, and the tender count on the 1st of each month. Press Refresh to update the card. If a limit is reached, that kind of AI read stops until it starts again; everything else in Raul keeps working.
Pay or renew
- Go to Settings and press Your Plan.
- Choose Monthly or Yearly — 2 months free, then pick the plan.
- Pay by DuitNow QR (it shows RAULTECH) or bank transfer to AFFIN BANK 102200000562, WAWAS TRADING. Both go to the same account.
- Key in the exact amount shown. The QR does not fill in the amount for you, so type it and check it before you press pay.
- Put the reference shown into the transfer's reference box (press Copy). If your bank app has no reference box, that is fine.
- Back on Your Plan, under Step 2, type the amount you paid, the date and how you paid, attach the receipt (a screenshot or PDF from your banking app) and press Send for checking.
Your payment shows Under review until we see the money in our account, usually the same day. Then it shows Confirmed and your plan is switched on. If the amount was short, it shows Short paid with the balance: press Pay the balance, pay that amount and send its receipt the same way. If we cannot find the payment, it shows Not accepted with the reason. Changed your mind? While a payment is Under review or Short paid, press Cancel — refund me: we transfer the money back to you and it shows Cancelled with the amount refunded. Your plan does not change. Only the Owner or Management can send or cancel a payment. Nothing is charged automatically and no card is kept on file.
Nothing in the guide matches that. Message us on WhatsApp and we will help.