Quoting guides for running your business
94 guides on pricing running your business work in Australia — what to measure, what it costs in 2026, and what to put in the quote so the job stays profitable.
- Running your businessChoosing a Tradie Job Management App in AustraliaA job management app pulls quoting, scheduling, job tracking and invoicing into one system. Here's what these apps actually do, what they cost, and how to pick one your crew will use.
- Running your businessA Job Scheduling App for Tradies: Ditch the WhiteboardA whiteboard works right up until you leave the office. A scheduling app keeps your crew, jobs and travel time in one view everyone can see — here's what to look for and how to make it stick.
- Running your businessHow to Track Tradie Jobs From Quote to PaidJobs don't lose money on site — they lose it in unwritten variations and late invoices. Here's a system for tracking a job from quote to paid so every hour turns into money in the bank.
- Running your businessGoogle Calendar for Tradies: A Simple Way to Run Your WeekYou don't need fancy software to get your week under control — you already have Google Calendar on your phone. Here's how to make it earn its keep, and where a free calendar stops being enough.
- Running your businessHow Much Should You Charge for Callout Fees in Australia?A callout fee stops quick jobs and look-sees quietly running at a loss. Here are typical Australian rates for standard, after-hours and emergency calls, and how to quote them without surprises.
- Running your businessWhat Is Job Management Software? A Tradie's GuideJob management software is one system for the admin side of a trade business — enquiry, quote, schedule, job, invoice, payment. Here's what it actually does, what it replaces, and when it's worth paying for.
- Running your businessSimpro Alternatives for Australian TradiesSimpro is built for big contractors, and that's exactly why smaller trade businesses go looking. Here's who Simpro genuinely suits, why tradies shop around, and what the alternatives are.
- Running your businessCan Xero Do Job Costing? What Tradies Need to KnowAlmost every Australian tradie runs Xero, and sooner or later asks it to tell them what a job actually made. Here's what Xero can and can't do on job costing, and how to get the number you're after.
- Running your businessIs There Free Job Management Software for Tradies?There are genuinely free options, and for some tradies they're the right call. Here's what free actually gets you, where the catches are, and how to tell when you've outgrown it.
- Running your businessHow to Work Out Your Charge-Out RateMost tradies set their hourly rate by asking a mate what they charge. Here's how to work it out properly — from the income you want, the hours you can actually bill, and the overheads nobody counts.
- Running your businessQuote vs Estimate: Which One Should You Send?A quote is a price you're committing to. An estimate is your best read on a job you can't fully see. Sending the wrong one is how tradies end up doing work for free.
- Running your businessAccounting Software for Tradies: What It Won't DoXero, MYOB and QuickBooks all do the books well. None of them was built to run your jobs — and knowing exactly where the line falls saves you buying the wrong thing twice.
- Running your businessHow to Chase an Overdue InvoiceChasing money is the worst part of running a trade business, and most of it is preventable. Here's how to set terms that get paid, escalate properly when they don't, and know when to stop.
- Running your businessHow to Write a Tradie Invoice That Gets PaidAn invoice is a payment instruction, not a receipt. Here's what has to be on one, what makes it get paid faster, and the details that turn a simple invoice into a three-week argument.
- Running your businessHow to Build a Price List for Your TradeA price list turns quoting from an evening's work into ten minutes on site. Here's how to build one from the jobs you actually do, keep it current, and stop pricing the same work from scratch every time.
- Running your businessFlat Rate vs Hourly: What Should You Charge?Hourly protects you when a job is unpredictable. Flat rate rewards you for being fast. Here's when each one makes you more money, and why most established trade businesses end up running both.
- Running your businessHow to Improve Cash Flow in a Trade BusinessProfitable businesses go under all the time, because profit and cash aren't the same thing. Here's where the gap opens up in a trade business, and the levers that close it.
- Running your businessWhat Is a Job Sheet? And What Belongs on OneA job sheet is the record of what actually happened on a job — hours, materials, variations and sign-off. It's also the difference between an invoice you can defend and one you can only hope about.
- Running your businessHow to Write a Scope of WorkThe scope is the line between the job you priced and the job you end up doing. Written properly it prevents most disputes; written vaguely it invites them.
- Running your businessTradie Hourly Rates: How to Benchmark YoursRates vary more by state, trade and job type than most tradies realise. Here's what actually moves them, and how to find the real number for your patch rather than guessing off a national average.
- Running your businessWhat Your First Employee Actually CostsThe wage is the part everyone budgets for and it's rarely more than three-quarters of the bill. Here's the full cost of putting someone on, and the chargeable hours they need to cover it.
- Running your businessWriting a Trade Business PlanA trade business plan isn't a document for a drawer — it's the arithmetic that tells you whether the business works. Here's what to put in one, and the mistakes that make them useless.
- Running your businessSetting Up Your Trade Business BankingOne account for everything is the most common banking setup in the trades and the worst one. Here's the account structure that stops you spending money you already owe.
- Running your businessNaming Your Trade BusinessYour business name has three jobs: be findable, be sayable, and still fit in ten years. Here's how to pick one that does all three — and how to check it's actually available.
- Running your businessHow to Get More Work as a TradieQuiet weeks are rarely a marketing problem. Here's how to find out where your work actually comes from, plug the leaks losing you jobs you already won, and add channels in the order that pays.
- Running your businessGoogle Business Profile for TradiesYour Google Business Profile is what shows up when someone searches your trade and their suburb. It's free, it takes an afternoon, and for most trade businesses it out-performs everything else they pay for.
- Running your businessHow to Get More ReviewsMost happy clients will leave you a review and almost none of them will think of it on their own. Here's how to build asking into the job, what to do when a bad one lands, and how to use the good ones.
- Running your businessA Website for Your Trade BusinessA trade website isn't where people find you — it's where they check you out after someone gave them your name. Here's the small number of things it has to do, and how to get one built without spending months on it.
- Running your businessDomains and Getting OnlinePicking a domain name, choosing between .com.au and .au, and the ownership traps that catch tradies out years later — the boring half of getting online, done once and done properly.
- Running your businessSocial Media for TradiesSocial media rarely brings a tradie work directly — but it's very good at proving you're real to someone who's already been given your name. Here's how to get that value without it eating your evenings.
- Running your businessFacebook, Instagram or TikTok for Tradies?You can't run five accounts and stay on the tools. Here's what each platform is genuinely good at for a trade business, what it costs you in effort, and how to pick the one to commit to.
- Running your businessGoogle Ads for Trade BusinessesSearch ads are the fastest way to turn on enquiries and the fastest way to waste money. Here's how to work out what you can afford, how to set a campaign up so it doesn't leak, and when not to bother.
- Running your businessEmail and SMS That Win Repeat WorkYour past clients are the cheapest work in the business and most tradies never contact them again. Here's what to send, which channel to send it on, and the rules you need to know before you do.
- Running your businessBuilding a Trade BrandA trade brand isn't a logo — it's what people expect before you turn up. Here's how to decide what you want to be known for, and the practical things that make it visible on every job.
- Running your businessVehicle Signage That Pays for ItselfA signed ute is the only advertising you buy once and then run for years. Here's how to decide how far to go, what to put on it, and how to work out whether it's paid for itself.
- Running your businessJob Photos That Win WorkYour phone is good enough. What separates a photo that wins work from one that costs you work is light, tidiness and taking more than one. Here's the whole method in five minutes a job.
- Running your businessTrade Contract Basics: What Belongs in YoursA quote says what you're doing and what it costs. A contract says what happens when the job doesn't go to plan — who pays for what, when you get paid, and how either side gets out.
- Running your businessHow to Write a WarrantyA written warranty tells a client exactly what you'll come back for and what you won't. Done properly it wins work and closes off arguments; done vaguely it's an open-ended promise you never meant to make.
- Running your businessWhat Is a Maintenance Agreement? And What to ChargeA maintenance agreement turns one-off customers into scheduled, recurring work. Here's what goes in one, how to price it off your own costs, and how to fill the quiet weeks with it.
- Running your businessWhat Is a Work Order? And Why Yours Gets RejectedA work order is the authority to do the work — who approved it, up to what value, against which reference. Get the number wrong on a commercial job and the invoice comes straight back.
- Running your businessHow to Write a Bid or TenderA tender isn't a quote with a cover page. It's a submission that has to be compliant, comparable and convincing — and most trade businesses lose on the first of those before anyone reads the price.
- Running your businessHow to Write an Incident ReportWhen something goes wrong on site, the report you write in the next few hours is the record everyone relies on months later — the insurer, the regulator, and whoever's arguing about what happened.
- Running your businessHiring Paperwork for a Trade BusinessTwo documents do most of the work when you take someone on: a job description that filters applicants before you waste a week, and a checklist that gets them set up before day one.
- Running your businessHow to Run a Toolbox MeetingTen minutes on the tailgate, once a week, about the risks in this week's work. Done properly it changes what happens on site; done as a signature sheet it changes nothing at all.
- Running your businessQuality Control Checklists for Trade JobsThe last fifteen minutes on site decide whether a job is finished or nearly finished. A checklist is what stops "nearly" turning into a return trip you don't get paid for.
- Running your businessPreventative Maintenance Schedules for Your Own GearYour ute, your test gear, your plant and your PPE are the assets that stop the business when they fail. A maintenance schedule is the cheapest insurance you'll buy against a day lost on site.
- Running your businessHow to Fill Out a SWMSA Safe Work Method Statement is the document that says how you'll do high-risk construction work without hurting anyone. Here's what goes in each field, how to assess the risk properly, and why a generic one is worse than none.
- Running your businessHow to Fill Out a JSAA Job Safety Analysis takes a task, splits it into steps, and works out what could go wrong at each one. Here's how to fill one out so it's useful on site rather than paperwork for the sake of it.
- Running your businessHealth and Safety for Trade BusinessesWork health and safety law puts the duty on the business, not the worker. Here's what that duty actually asks of a small trade business, how the rules are structured, and how to build a system that fits a crew of four rather than a crew of four hundred.
- Running your businessAsbestos: What Tradies Need to KnowAnything built before the ban can contain asbestos, and disturbing it is the risk — not finding it. Here's how to identify the likelihood before you quote, what to do the moment you suspect it, and why removal is a licensed job.
- Running your businessInsurance for Australian Trade BusinessesSome cover you're required to hold, some your licence depends on, some your clients demand and some just stops a bad month ending the business. Here's what each policy actually does and how to work out which ones you need.
- Running your businessWhite Cards and Site InductionsThe white card gets you onto construction sites. The site induction is what gets you onto that site. Here's the difference, what else your crew needs in the wallet, and how to stop a missing ticket costing you a day.
- Running your businessSite Risk, and What to Do When Someone's HurtMost site injuries come from a short list of the same things. Here's how to run an inspection that actually catches them, and exactly what you do — in order — in the hour after someone gets hurt.
- Running your businessHow to Reduce Material CostsMaterials are usually the biggest single line in a trade business, and a few per cent off the bill drops straight to the bottom line. Here's where the money actually is — trade pricing, buying habits, and the waste between the supplier and the job.
- Running your businessFinding Your Break-Even PointYour charge-out rate tells you what an hour has to earn. Break-even tells you how many jobs a month you need before the business makes anything at all — and it's the number that makes hiring, buying and quiet months make sense.
- Running your businessHow to Raise Your Rates Without Losing ClientsAlmost every tradie who's overdue for a rate rise is worried about the same thing: who walks. Here's how to work out the increase, who needs telling, what to say, and what to do with the handful who push back.
- Running your businessTracking Business ExpensesA shoebox of dockets tells you what you spent. It doesn't tell you which jobs made money. Here's the difference between a job cost and an overhead, and the habit that keeps both of them straight without an evening of admin.
- Running your businessFinancing Tools and VehiclesBuy, finance, lease or hire — the right answer depends on how much the asset earns and how long it stays useful, not on which option feels cheapest. Here's how to work through it before you sign anything.
- Running your businessA Financial Plan for Your Trade BusinessNot the document you wrote for the bank — the twelve-month money plan for a business that already trades. What it has to earn, month by month, and how you check whether it's on track.
- Running your businessSelling Your Trade BusinessA buyer isn't paying for your tools — they're paying for earnings that keep arriving after you've gone. Here's what makes a trade business saleable, what you'll be asked for, and why the work starts about two years before the sale.
- Running your businessTool Tracking and TheftTools don't usually get stolen — they get borrowed, left on site and never chased. Here's how to know what you own, who's got it, and how to make the gear that does attract thieves harder to take and easier to recover.
- Running your businessHiring Your First AdminAn admin doesn't bill a single hour, which is why the decision feels harder than hiring another tradie. Here's what actually comes off your plate, how the hire pays for itself, and what to hand over first.
- Running your businessTaking On an ApprenticeAn apprentice is the cheapest hourly rate in the business and the most expensive use of your time. Here's what you're signing up for as the employer — the obligations, the incentives worth chasing, and what the four years actually cost you.
- Running your businessKeeping Good TradiesLosing a good tradesperson means paying the whole first-year cost again, and most of the reasons they leave are operational rather than financial. Here's what actually drives them out and what to do about it.
- Running your businessManaging a Difficult EmployeeMost owners leave it six months too long, then act too fast. Here's how to work out what the actual problem is, run the first conversation properly, and where you need advice before you go further.
- Running your businessPerformance Reviews in a Trade BusinessTwenty minutes, twice a year, built on what the job records already show. Here's what to review in a trade business, where the evidence comes from, and how to run it without turning into a corporation.
- Running your businessSubcontractor or Employee?Whether the person working for you is a contractor or an employee is a legal characterisation, not a label you get to choose. Here's what the question turns on, what it costs to get wrong, and who to ask.
- Running your businessManaging SubcontractorsWhen you put a subbie on your job, their work is your reputation and their gaps are your cost. Here's what to check before they start, what belongs in the agreement, and how to run the job so the scope doesn't leak.
- Running your businessWinning Subcontract WorkSubcontracting to builders and larger trade businesses is a work channel with almost no sales cost and its own set of risks. Here's who's actually hiring, how to get on their list, and what it should be worth to you.
- Running your businessRunning a CrewThe best tradie on site rarely makes the best boss without changing what they do all day. Here's the shift, the communication habits that hold a crew together, and the ones that quietly wreck it.
- Running your businessMYOB and QuickBooks Job Sync: How It Actually WorksMost job software talks to Xero. Plenty of Australian tradies are on MYOB or QuickBooks instead — here's what a sync moves, what it never touches, and how to set one up so it doesn't make a mess.
- Running your businessJob Software vs a SpreadsheetNearly every trade business starts on a spreadsheet, and for a while that's the right call. Here's what a spreadsheet is genuinely good at, the four places it breaks, and how to tell you've hit them.
- Running your businessService Reminders and Recurring WorkMost trade businesses are sitting on a year's worth of work they've already earned and will never book, because nothing remembers when it's due. Here's how to build the system that does.
- Running your businessDispatch Software for Trades: Do You Need It?Dispatch and scheduling get used interchangeably and they're not the same job. Here's what dispatching actually means, the test for whether your business does it, and what to fix before you buy anything.
- Running your businessAI and Cloud in the TradesMost writing about AI and the cloud in construction is about billion-dollar projects and has nothing to do with a three-van business. Here's what both actually mean for your week, and what to check before you trust either.
- Running your businessManaging Client Relationships as a TradieMost client blow-ups aren't caused by bad work. They're caused by a difference in expectations that nobody wrote down. Here's how to set the terms early, communicate through the job, and finish in a way that gets you called back.
- Running your businessGetting Through the Christmas RushEvery client wants it done before Christmas, every supplier shuts for a fortnight, and the invoices you send in December don't get paid until February. Here's how to plan the run-in so the break is an actual break.
- Running your businessTime Management for TradiesThe problem usually isn't discipline. It's that quoting, ordering, invoicing and chasing have no slot in the day, so they all end up in the evening. Here's how to find where the time actually goes and give the admin somewhere to live.
- Running your businessLooking After Yourself as a Trade Business OwnerIn a one-ute business you are the plant, the labour and the management. Here's a practical look at fatigue, the injuries that arrive slowly, working alone, and the load that comes with owning the thing.
- Running your businessRolling Out Job Management Software to Your CrewBuying the software is the easy part. Here's how to set it up, roll it out in stages, train three very different audiences, and handle the crew who quietly keep using dockets.
- Running your businessSwitching Job Management SoftwareMoving from one job management system to another is mostly a data problem. Here's what to export before you cancel, what actually migrates, how to reconnect your accounting, and when to switch.
- Running your businessManaging Enquiries So Leads Don't Go ColdMost lost work isn't lost on price. It's lost in the hours between someone getting in touch and anyone getting back to them. Here's how to handle an enquiry you can't stop for, and a system that doesn't rely on memory.
- Running your businessFollowing Up a QuoteSending the quote is where most tradies stop, and it's where a good share of the work is lost. Here's the follow-up sequence, what to actually say, and how to get a straight answer instead of silence.
- Running your businessWhy Jobs Blow Out, and How to Catch It EarlyA blown job is rarely one bad day — it's four small leaks nobody watched. Here's where the hours and materials actually go, the signals that show up while you can still act, and what to do the moment you spot one.
- Running your businessNegotiating on Price Without Discounting"Can you do better on that?" turns up on half the quotes you send. Here's what the question actually means, what to trade instead of your margin, and how to hold a price without losing the job.
- Running your businessUpselling Without Being PushyThe cheapest sale you'll ever make is the one you're already on site for. Here's how to spot the genuine add-on, price it, and mention it in a way that doesn't make you the bloke who wouldn't stop talking.
- Running your businessCard Surcharges and Payment Fees: Should You Pass Them On?Every card payment you take costs you a percentage. You can absorb it, surcharge it, or price it into your rates — and each one does something different to your margin and to the conversation at the end of a job.
- Running your businessWhich Jobs to Say No ToMost trade businesses that are flat out and still short of money have a filtering problem, not a pricing problem. Here are the signals that a job will lose money before you've even quoted it.
- Running your businessThe Mistakes That Sink Trade BusinessesTrade businesses rarely go under for lack of work. They go under from a short list of habits that all look survivable one job at a time. Here's the list, what each one feels like from the inside, and where to go to fix it.
- Running your businessShould You Actually Grow?Everyone assumes the next step is a second van. But a bigger trade business is more overhead, more supervision and more exposure to a quiet month — and plenty of tradies earn more, and enjoy it more, staying small. Here's how to make the decision honestly.
- Running your businessTrading Through a DownturnWhen money gets tight, work doesn't stop — it changes shape, and it gets slower to pay. Here's which work holds up, what to cut, what you must never cut, and how to tighten the money side before you need to.
- Running your businessSEO for Trade BusinessesSEO for a tradie isn't a dark art — it's having a page for each thing you do, in each area you cover, written in the words your customers actually use. Here's what's worth your time, what isn't, and how to tell whether it's working.
- Running your businessKeeping Your Trade Business Secure OnlineThe scam that costs trade businesses real money isn't sophisticated: someone intercepts an emailed invoice and changes the bank details. Here's how it works, the handful of habits that stop it, and what to do in the first hour if it happens.
- Running your businessTrade Shows and Industry EventsA day at an expo costs you a day's billing before you've paid for parking. Here's what these events are genuinely good for — which isn't customers — and how to come back with something worth the day.