Electrical Certificates Without the Double Entry: Work Flow Trade Now Connects to CertMate

The job is in one app, the certificate is in another

If you're a sparky in New Zealand, every job that touches the fixed wiring ends with a certificate. A CoC, an ESC, a test sheet, sometimes all three. The job itself lives in your job management app: the customer, the site address, the quote, the hours, the invoice.

So far the two have never talked to each other. You finish the job, open your certificate app, and type the customer's name and the site address in again. Then the finished certificate sits in the certificate app, or in a PDF on someone's phone, and six months later when the customer rings about the switchboard nobody can find it.

That's the double entry this post is about, and it's gone.

What the connection does

CertMate is compliance software built in New Zealand for New Zealand electricians. Their line is "Every certificate. Every test sheet. Done in minutes." It covers CoCs, ESCs, CoVs, ROIs, emergency lighting and HVAC installation and service test sheets.

Connected to Work Flow Trade, it works like this:

1. Pick the job. A technician starting a certificate in CertMate searches for the Work Flow Trade job by its job number.
2. The details fill in. The customer, the site address and the site contact come across from the job. Nothing is retyped.
3. The certificate lands on the job. When the certificate is issued, the PDF is filed in the job's Documents in Work Flow Trade, marked as uploaded via CertMate. It's there on the job and on the site record the next time anyone is called back.

Every job in Work Flow Trade now has a number for exactly this reason. It shows on the job page and on the quotes and invoices made from the job, and you can search the Jobs list by it.

Switching it on

The owner does it once, in about a minute:

1. Open Account Settings in Work Flow Trade and scroll to Integrations.
2. Click Create key, label it "CertMate", and copy the key. It's shown once.
3. Paste it into CertMate under its Work Flow Trade connection.

That's it. Every technician on the CertMate account can then pick Work Flow Trade jobs.

What CertMate can and can't see

Connecting a key shares your jobs, customers and sites with CertMate, so it's worth knowing the edges. With the key, CertMate can read the jobs in your account (title, number, status, customer, site and who's assigned) and add PDF documents to them. It cannot read your invoices, payments or bills, and it cannot change anything. Revoke the key from the same screen and the connection stops immediately.

Under the Privacy Act you're the one disclosing that data, so the help centre spells out exactly what crosses over.

HVAC and refrigeration too

CertMate's HVAC installation and service test sheets use the same connection. A tech installing a heat pump picks the job, fills the sheet, and the record sits with the job and with the unit in the site's equipment list.

What it costs

Nothing extra from us. The connection is part of Work Flow Trade's flat $50+GST a month, unlimited users. CertMate is its own subscription, on their terms.

If you're a CertMate customer, ask them to switch it on for you. If you're not using Work Flow Trade yet, start a free trial and connect it in the first week. There's more on how electrical jobs run in the app on the electricians page, and the HVAC page covers servicing and equipment records.