Trades often fall into the same category as accountants where they can lag behind other industries in terms of adopting tech. We work with tradies who are hugely successful in their fields and a commonality that links them all together is the fact that they’ve used tech to bring their business into 2019.
Here are some of our favourite apps and programs for trades:
Job Management
Tradify .This app is very much an all-rounder. It tracks a job from quote to invoices, it allows you to schedule your team to jobs, create the invoices and quotes in-app, has a timesheet recorder, and links to Xero to make bookkeeping easy. The scheduling feature is the stand out as it allows you to have a real-time view of where your team are and who is closest to a new job. If you would like to speak to a Xero accountant, get in touch with us.
Service Mate and Aroflo are very similar in nature. The main differences between these two are that Service Mate is a phone app whereas Aroflo also has a computer app. Service Mate is also more specialised within the trades industry however Aroflo includes other service-based industries such as cleaning and security into their offering.
Creditor watch
Unpaid invoices are a common problem within trades businesses and it can wreak havoc on your cashflow. Creditor watch allows you to do a credit check on a new client who might feel a bit dodgy, or manage debt collection with various tools for when those people don’t pay.
Payment Gateway
Being able to accept payment on the go in a huge key to controlling cash flow. Imagine being able to invoice for jobs using your management app above, and then charging upon completion on the spot, rather than having to manually invoice and then wait for payment to (maybe) come through weeks later.
Stripe and PayPal are our go-to recommendations here. If you’re looking for something flexible with a larger overall service offering, Stripe is one to look at. PayPal is more user-friendly, particularly for those who aren’t as tech-savvy. Another key difference is that Stripe offers recurring payments whereas PayPal doesn’t.
Document & Receipt Management
Keeping track of paperwork and receipts is a nightmare for any business owner but it seems to be even more of an issue for those in trades. HubDoc auto-saves attachments from your emails into the right folders and allows for easy organisation of your files. Similarly, Receipt Bank means you can automate data entry, manage your expenses and automate other bookkeeping activities.
Staying ahead of the pack is crucial to business success and longevity and using tech as a trade is an obvious and easy was to do so. As always, get in touch with us for any specific tech advice. We’re happy to help.
