I run sales at Specifi, and a fair share of my week is spent on calls with UK shops. The questions UK integrators ask are not the same as the ones US shops ask. The distributor list is different. The currency is different. The tax stack is different. The vocabulary on the install (first fix, snag list, RAMS) is different. The shortlist a UK owner should walk into a software search with reflects all of that.
This is a fair, practical guide. I will name WeQuote honestly because it is the brand most UK owners on this hunt already have on the list, and I will tell you what we do well and what they do well. Treat this as the version I would give you at a UK trade show after the third coffee.
The UK list looks different from the US list
On a US shortlist you typically see D-Tools, Portal.io, Jetbuilt, iPoint, ProjX360, and Specifi. On a UK shortlist the same names come up, but the order is different and a UK-native option (WeQuote) appears at the top of most lists. There are three reasons:
- Distributor depth. UK AV runs through a specific set of distributors (Habitech, AWE, Genesis, Pulse Cinemas, RGB and a long tail). A platform that integrates with those directly takes friction off every quote. A platform that does not asks you to type in part numbers and prices yourself.
- Tax and accounting tooling. VAT is a different problem from US sales tax. The platform needs to handle ex-VAT pricing, the reverse-charge edge cases, and a clean two-way sync to Xero, which is the UK accounting tool of choice.
- Vocabulary and field workflow. "First fix" and "second fix" instead of "rough-in" and "trim". "Snag list" instead of "punch list". "Subbie" instead of "sub". A platform with a US-only field app misses small things that add up.
Distributor integration: what to actually look for
Distributor integration is the headline feature most UK proposal tools lead with, and it is a real feature. There are three depths to it, and they are not equivalent:
- Level 1: SKU import. The platform has the distributor's product file loaded. You search a part number, you get a name and a price. Better than typing, but the data is only as fresh as the last import.
- Level 2: Nightly price sync. The platform refreshes prices from the distributor on a nightly schedule. Your proposal reflects yesterday's price, which is usually current enough for a quote you are sending today.
- Level 3: Live stock and pricing. The platform pulls stock availability and current price from the distributor at quote time. You see what is in their warehouse and what it costs as you build the proposal.
WeQuote is the strongest in the UK on Level 2 and Level 3 across more than a hundred distributors, and that is a fair credit to them. Specifi runs distributor integrations at the same level, but our list is currently smaller, focused on the distributors our UK customer base uses most. If your shop quotes through six or seven distributors and they all need live sync, run both tools through a real quote on your highest-volume distributor before deciding.
Currency, tax, and Xero
A UK platform needs three specific things on the financial side, and not all platforms ship them:
- GBP pricing across the platform. Sticker prices, dashboards, reporting and exports all in GBP, with the option to bill clients in EUR or USD where the job calls for it.
- VAT handled as a first-class concept. Ex-VAT line items by default, ex-VAT subtotals, inc-VAT totals where required, the reverse-charge mechanism for B2B work that needs it.
- Two-way Xero sync. Invoices generated in the platform appear in Xero. Payments received in Xero reflect back in the platform. No CSV exports, no monthly upload ritual.
Specifi handles all three. Our pricing page renders in GBP for UK visitors by default, our invoicing module treats VAT natively, and our Xero sync is two-way. WeQuote handles the first two and ships an accounting bridge. iPoint and ProjX360 are weaker on the Xero side. D-Tools, Portal.io and Jetbuilt are US-native; check the UK setup carefully before signing.
Field-app and snagging workflow
The UK field workflow has a few specifics that matter on a Wednesday morning:
- A field app that works offline at a site with no signal. Most decent platforms cover this; check that yours does.
- Snagging as a first-class workflow. Snag list creation, photo attachment per item, assignment to a subbie, sign-off on completion. Both WeQuote (SNAGG) and Specifi handle this directly; some US-built platforms slot it under a generic punch-list label that does not have the polish UK integrators expect.
- RAMS and method-statement attachments. Less of a software feature and more of a document-management one, but the platform should let you attach the RAMS to the job record without sending it as a separate email.
- Time tracking and labour costing on the install. Per-job time recorded in the field, not transcribed from a notebook.
A short, fair comparison
I am going to say what each tool is genuinely good at, which is the version I give on a sales call when I cannot win the deal:
[WeQuote](/compare/specifi-vs-wequote). Strongest UK distributor integration depth, the strongest field app for snagging (SNAGG), and a culture that is very embedded in the UK trade. The trade-offs are the modular pricing (project management, procurement and inventory sit behind premium-only add-ons) and the quote-cap pricing model that scales the bill as your deal volume grows. If your business is quoting-heavy and the workflow after the quote is happy where it lives, WeQuote is a fair tool for the job.
Specifi. Built end-to-end across the lifecycle (lead, quote, project, invoice, marketing, portal) on one flat per-tier price with no add-ons. UK-native on currency, VAT, and Xero. Smaller distributor list than WeQuote today and growing. If your problem is the duplicate-entry tax of running five tools, Specifi retires it. If your problem is purely "I need the deepest live UK distributor catalogue", WeQuote is the stronger fit at the moment.
Shortlisting in a week
A short process I recommend to UK owners who want to make a real decision instead of looping on demos for a quarter:
- Day 1. Pull the last three jobs you actually closed. List the distributors involved on each.
- Day 2 to 3. Demo two platforms with one of those jobs in front of you. Not a demo job, your job. Ask each vendor to build the proposal from scratch on the call.
- Day 4. Compare the proposal output side by side. The professional polish, the accuracy of the price, the time it took.
- Day 5. Ask each vendor to walk you through what happens after the proposal. The project, the invoice, the Xero sync, the field app. The platform that runs the lifecycle cleanly is the one that retires the most spreadsheet work.
If you want the deeper side-by-side feature breakdown, the WeQuote comparison page lays both products feature by feature. If you would rather see Specifi run on a real job from your pipeline, book a demo and we will walk through one of yours. If after the call WeQuote is the better fit for your shop, I will tell you on the call. That is the policy and I plan to keep it.