How to choose job software for a trade business
This guide is written by Core Docket, so the questions in it are the ones our own software was built to answer, and we name no other products. It is for trade businesses whose crew go out and do the work while the office invoices the customer. It covers what to check, the questions to ask any vendor, and how to test the software with your own dockets before you commit.
Free for a month, no credit card. Every feature included: no tiers, no add-ons, free updates.
Start with how you charge
Most job software can book a job and send an invoice. Where trade businesses come unstuck is the step in between: turning what the crew did on site into the right lines at the right price. If you charge by the hour, the item, the metre, the depth or the hole, the software has to price the work that way, or someone in the office does it by hand after every job.
So judge software on the docket first. Ask whether the crew can pick the work and enter what they measured, and have the price worked out on the spot from your own rate card. Ask whether your minimum charges, callout fees, set-up fees and after-hours minimums are applied without anyone remembering them. A price list that only holds parts and labour rates leaves the hard part to you. Our guide to minimum charges and after-hours covers the charges that most often go missing.
Then look at what happens after the docket is signed. The customer should sign on the crew's phone and get their copy straight away, on your letterhead. The signed docket should become the invoice in your accounting suite without anyone retyping it. Every step that needs a person to copy numbers from one place to another is a step where a line gets missed.
What to check before you choose
Take a real week of your dockets into every trial and check each of these against them.
- Pricing on the docket. The work is priced the way you charge (by the hour, item, metre, depth or hole) while the crew are on site, rather than worked out in the office afterwards.
- Charges applied for you. Minimum charges, callout and set-up fees, and after-hours or weekend minimums are added automatically from the job and its times.
- A signed copy on site. The customer signs on the phone and gets a copy straight away, on your letterhead, with your terms and only the fields you want them to see.
- Connects to your accounting software. The signed docket becomes a draft invoice in your accounting suite, with the right account and tax codes and nothing retyped. If the software you use is not connected yet, ask whether the vendor will build the connection.
- Unbilled time. The software compares time on site with the work recorded and shows a gap before the crew leave, while they can still add standby, travel or clean-up.
- Safety. SWMS, Take 5 and pre-starts are included, or priced as an extra or left to a second system.
- How the bill grows. Check for tiers, per-feature add-ons, job limits or docket limits that push the price up as you get busier.
- Crew size. Check for a limit on how many people you can add, or a minimum team size before the plan makes sense.
- Setup. Find out who loads your price list and rebuilds your docket, whether that is charged, and how long it takes.
- Poor reception. Ask exactly what still works in a basement or a new slab with no signal, and what happens to a finished docket.
- Your data. Ask where it is stored and whether you can export all of it at any time.
Questions to ask any vendor
Put these to every company you talk to, and ask them to show you rather than tell you.
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Can the crew price a job on the docket from what they measured? | If pricing happens in the office afterwards, someone is looking up rates and typing totals for every job. |
| Are minimums, callout and set-up fees and after-hours minimums applied automatically? | Charges that rely on someone remembering them are the ones that get left off. |
| Does the customer sign on site and get a copy on our letterhead straight away? | A signed copy in their inbox before the crew leave settles most disputes before they start. |
| Does the signed docket become the invoice in our accounting software, and if it is not connected, will you build the connection? | Retyping a docket into your books takes time and is where lines go missing. |
| Does it flag time on site that has not been billed? | Standby and extra work are easiest to add while the crew are still on site. |
| Is safety (SWMS, pre-starts) included, or is it extra? | A second safety system means a second login, a second bill and records in two places. |
| Are there tiers, add-ons or job limits? | A low starting price can rise quickly once you need the next feature or do more jobs. |
| Is there a crew limit or a minimum team size? | You should be able to add one person or ten without changing plans. |
| Who loads our price list and rebuilds our docket, and is that charged? | Setup is where most new software stalls. Someone has to do it, and it should be clear who. |
| What works with poor reception? | Crews work in basements, plant rooms and on new slabs where signal drops out. |
| Where is our data stored, and can we export it? | Your dockets and customers are your records. You should know where they are and be able to take them with you. |
How to run a fair trial
Give every product the same test, using your own paperwork.
- 01
Pick five real dockets
Choose a simple job, a job with several kinds of work on it, a job that hit a minimum charge, an after-hours job and a job that ran over more than one day.
- 02
Price them the way the crew would
Enter each one on a phone as the crew would on site, and compare the total with what you actually invoiced. Note every line someone had to type by hand.
- 03
Test it where you work
Fill in a docket somewhere with poor signal, have someone sign it, and see what reaches the office and when.
- 04
Send one through to your books
Push a test invoice to your accounting software and check the account codes, the GST and what the customer receives.
- 05
Ask for the whole bill
Find out what you would pay with your full crew, safety included, a year from now when you are doing more jobs, and who does the setup.
How Core Docket answers them
Core Docket started with concrete cutting, where pricing is as involved as it gets, and it prices hourly, per item and per metre work the same way.
Priced on the docket
The crew pick the work and enter what they measured, and the price comes from your rate card, with minimums, set-up fees and after-hours minimums applied from the job's times. The customer signs and gets a PDF on your letterhead, and the docket becomes a draft invoice for the office to check.
Connects to your accounting software
See which accounting suites connect today. Invoices carry your account codes and GST tax codes on every line. If you use other accounting software, we will build the connection where it is possible.
One plan, every feature
There are no tiers, no add-ons and no job limits. Safety, pre-starts, timesheets, quotes, stock, the asset register and equipment hire are included at no extra cost, and it works for one person or a crew of any size. Every new feature is yours as soon as it is available, and updates are free.
We set you up
We load your price list, rebuild your docket and add your letterhead at no charge, and you get a free month with no card. Your data is stored in Australia and you can export it at any time.
Questions
What should a trade business look for in job software?
Check that it prices the work the way you charge while the crew are on site, applies your minimums and fees automatically, gets a signed copy to the customer straight away, and turns the docket into an invoice in your accounting suite without retyping. Then check what it costs as you grow, who sets it up, and where your data is kept.
Why does pricing on the docket matter?
When the price is worked out on the docket from what the crew measured, the office checks an invoice instead of building one. When pricing happens afterwards, someone looks up rates and types totals for every job, and charges such as minimums and after-hours are easy to miss.
Should safety be part of our job software?
Keeping SWMS sign-on and pre-starts in the same app as the docket means one login for the crew and one set of records for the office. Check whether safety is included in the price or sold as an extra. Our SWMS checklist covers what a SWMS needs.
What hidden costs should we watch for?
Look for tiers that hold back features, add-ons charged per feature, limits on jobs or dockets, a minimum number of users, and setup or training fees. Ask for a price for your full crew a year from now, with everything you need included.
How does Core Docket handle plans and setup?
Core Docket has one plan with every feature included, no tiers and no add-ons, and updates are free. We load your price list and rebuild your docket at no charge, and you can try it free for a month with no card.
Read next
- Rate card and pricingThe Core Docket rate card for trade businesses: work priced the way it is measured, by the hour, item, metre, hole or load, with minimums, callout fees, after-hours loadings and customer price groups.
- Accounting integrationHow Core Docket turns a finished docket into a draft invoice and sends it to your accounting suite with your account and GST codes, after the office has checked it.
- Minimum charges and after-hoursHow concrete cutting businesses set minimum charges per visit, per hole and per section, set-up fees and after-hours loadings, how they stack, and how to word them so they get paid.
- Paper dockets to digitalA practical plan for moving a concrete cutting or drilling business from carbon docket books to digital dockets: what to keep, how to switch over and what to check in any app.
Try it free. We'll help you roll it out.
Send us your price list and logo. We set up your rate card, build your docket and letterhead, and get your first crew running. Free for a month, no credit card.