Clothing alterations software: turn every alteration into a tracked job

An alteration is a small job with a large risk. The fee may be modest, but the garment belongs to someone else and it may be the jacket they need for Friday. One alterations training school puts it well: customers hand over "pieces that often can't be easily replaced".

Plenty of shops still look for a basic answer. A question on one retail forum asks: "Is there an app or flow to generate a printable ticket for tailoring/ alteration services?" Whether you use a ticket book or software, the method is the same. Here it is, step by step.

Log the job before the customer leaves

Most lost time in alterations starts with a vague note at the counter. "Take up trousers" leaves the tailor guessing. Before the customer goes, write down:

• Name and a phone number that will be answered.
• The garment, in words someone else will recognise: "navy wool trousers, turn-ups".
• The exact work, with the amount. "Hem 1 inch, keep the turn-up" says what "shorten" cannot.
• The price, and any deposit paid.
• The date and time promised.
• Anything already wrong with it, such as a mark, a pulled thread or a missing button.

That last line saves arguments. Point the fault out, write it down and take a photo if you can. A record of the state it arrived in protects both sides.

Pin and record while the customer is wearing it

If the job depends on fit, pin it on the customer and have them look in the mirror. Then write the measurement down as well. Pins fall out on the way to the machine, and a note saying "sleeve up 3/4 inch" survives that. A photo of the pinned area helps the person at the machine, especially if another person did the fitting.

Put one number on the garment and the record

The garment and its record are separated from the moment you hang it up, so one number has to link them. Fix a tag to the garment itself, not to the hanger, because hangers swap. Use the same number on the job. When a customer arrives with a lost ticket, you should be able to find the trousers by name or phone in under a minute.

Keep a fixed order on the rail too, such as by promised date. A tailor who picks from the front of the rail will pick what is easy, and the awkward zip stays at the back until the day it is due.

Promise dates from your capacity

A date is a promise, so work it out from what the shop can sew. Example only: one tailor gives 6 hours a day to sewing, and tomorrow already holds 8 hems at 30 minutes and 2 zips at 1 hour.

Already booked (example)	Sum	Hours
Hems	8 × 0.5	4
Zips	2 × 1	2
Total		6

Tomorrow is full. A new hem goes to the day after, unless you are willing to charge for rush work and move something. Staff at the counter need that picture before they say "tomorrow" out of habit. If you have a price list for rush jobs, our guide to building a tailor price list shows how to set one.

Keep the stages few

A wedding gown can need ten stages. A hem needs far fewer, and too many steps on small work means nobody updates them. Something like Received, Pinning, Altering, Pressing, Ready is plenty. Each one answers a question that comes up in the shop: has it been looked at, is it on a machine, is it waiting for the iron, can the customer have it?

Name one person for each job at each stage. If a job belongs to everybody, it tends to wait. At the start of the day, look at what is due that day and work back from there.

Check it before you call the customer

Before a job goes to Ready, try it against the ticket. Measure the hem. Run the zip. Check that the other leg matches. A garment that comes back costs you the fitting, the sewing and the customer's patience.

Then tell the customer. Decide how you do this, whether by phone or message, and note that you did. Keeping records of this kind is part of what lets you contact clients when the job is done. Mark the date, because uncollected garments build up. Put your holding period on the ticket, and check any legal rules on unclaimed goods with a local adviser before you dispose of anything.

Close the job properly

At collection, have the customer try it on if the work affects fit, collect the balance and get a signature or note that it left. Keep the record. A customer who returns next year for the same trousers will expect you to remember how you took them up, and you can.

What software should do for an alterations shop

Once you pass a few dozen jobs a week, a ticket book starts to struggle. Paper records are "Easy to lose or damage", and they cannot tell you what is due today. Look for a system that gives each job its own record with a due date, a named person and a stage, and that lets you find a job by customer. Photos at drop-off matter more here than in most trades. So does a view of what is due today.

Check small costs as well. A zip job that takes three times as long as you priced it is a loss you will not see on a ticket.

Tailoq gives every hem and zip a job of its own, with drop-off and handover proof by photo and signature. It has a preset for alterations shops, and a tracking page shows the customer the stages, promised date and balance. Tailoq does not send messages for you, so telling the customer the job is ready stays with the shop.