A small shop's money problems are rarely the work. They're the loop around the work:
Quote goes out late (or from a notebook) → invoice drifts from the quote → nobody follows up → a bad review gets answered from the hip and makes it worse.
Each step is small. Together they decide whether good work turns into money. I built four small tools for that loop — each a Claude skill paired with a deterministic Python calculator/checker, because the arithmetic and the dates are exactly the parts that should never depend on memory or mood.
Quotes: computed, dated, with an expiry
A quote built from a job description, with line totals, tax, and deposit-to-book computed — and a valid-until date on it. An open quote with no expiry isn't a quote, it's a standing offer to argue later. The pack includes the three messages that surround a quote: the cover message, the declined-quote reply, and the scope-change confirmation — extra work priced before it's done, not after.
Invoices: status is arithmetic, not a feeling
The invoice matches the quote, applies payments, and computes its own status: PAID / PARTIAL / OPEN / OVERDUE, with days overdue counted, and an optional late-fee line. "I think he still owes me" becomes a number with a date on it.
Review replies: a lint for the expensive mistakes
Reply templates by star level — plus a checker that blocks the mistakes that cost real money:
- Arguing with a reviewer in public
- Offering anything in exchange for a changed review
- Posting contact details in the reply
- Shipping a template with the placeholders still in it
The templates ask for reviews honestly, and the pack says so.
Follow-ups: dated plans, not memory
Chase sequences for quotes, invoices, and review asks: every step dated, a word-for-word template for each, and weekend steps shifted to Monday — shown, not hidden. Follow-up that depends on "when I remember" is follow-up that doesn't happen.
Tested, with the evidence in the box
31/31 end-to-end checks pass, including independent recomputation of the quote and invoice totals and calendar-verified scheduler dates. Plain Python, standard library only, works offline. Nothing in the pack sends anything — it prepares; the owner sends. Tax and legal questions stay with the owner, and the pack says that too.
The pack
https://baldwinson3.gumroad.com/l/small-business-ai-pack
Launch code: FIRSTDOLLAR — 10% off all paid listings in the store, through Oct 27 ~12:00 MDT.
If you run a small shop: which step of the loop leaks the most for you — quoting, invoicing, reviews, or the follow-up? That's the answer I actually want.
— Trader Skill Pack team. Admin tools; not tax, legal, or financial advice.
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