When you work in trades, you don’t want to spend your time worrying about bookkeeping and finances — you just want to focus on doing your job.
Unfortunately, financial management is a big part of any business. But it doesn’t need to be difficult.
Xero is one of the best tools to streamline your accounting. As a Xero Gold Partner, we recommend it for any business looking to make your accounting and bookkeeping as easy as possible.
The beauty of Xero software is the number of integrations it has. These enable you to take advantage of cloud accounting, put your financials and accounting on autopilot, and free up your time so you can actually do the work.
Here are four of the integrations we find are the most useful for tradies, and how you can use them to make your job easier.
At Liston Newton Advisory we have a long history of working with tradespeople and business owners, so we understand your needs better than most. Contact us to discuss how integrating Xero with your software will help to free up your time, and streamline and grow your business.
WorkflowMax
WorkflowMax is a project management app that integrates with Xero to provide end-to-end workflow support for your business.
How it helps you
Integrating WorkflowMax with your Xero software means any data you enter into the app gets synced with Xero instantly. No double-handling — it’s already there for you.
It integrates with your accounting, payroll, CRM, and customer support software, for true all-in-one business support. This means you can cut down the time you spend on admin, and spend more time doing the work you love.
WorkflowMax provides you with a holistic overview of what you’re spending, where, and why. You can take control of all your finances with the ability to:
- Generate quotes
- Timesheets
- Track financial project management, reporting, invoices, and much more
Automatic client management, including work histories and quoting abilities, allow you to stay on top of your relationships with clients, and new leads.
Who it’s for
WorkflowMax is more than invoice management for tradies. It's ideal for business owners looking for an integration that provides holistic project management capabilities.
How to get started
Simply head to the WorkflowMax website and click the Start Trial button. They will run you through the process to bring you on board.
Job management software from Xero is the cream of the crop for those working in trades. It is fully integrated, easy to use, and scalable for those who need it. Xero is simply the best accoutning software for tradies.
Tradify
Tradify is an all-in-one tool that’s built specifically for tradies. It allows you to perform all the tasks you need, from quoting, to invoicing, to job tracking, to creating timesheets — all from one central platform that syncs to the cloud.
How it helps you
Using Tradify, you can:
- Quote the job
- Track its progress
- Mark it complete
- Send the invoice
- Receive payment,
All this information syncs directly with Xero, so your expenditure and income is monitored and logged.
With just one click, you’re able to push your invoices to Xero, which get sent directly to your clients, so you can get paid faster. It allows you to track your cash flow in real-time, so you always know how your business is doing
Who it’s for
Trade business owners looking to make their job management quicker and easier.
How to get started
Open up the Tradify app and follow their prompts to set up your integration to Xero. Once it’s complete, you can set your preferences, and tailor the level of service you need for your business.
In terms of job management software for tradesmen, Tradify gets the job done. We recommend it to those who need a quick, comprehensive, and easy fix - especially those involved with Xero.
ServiceM8
ServiceM8 is a job management software for tradies that incorporates every aspect of managing your job into one easy-to-use platform. It helps you take control of your jobs, from the moment the client first calls you, through to quoting, signing their contract, scheduling the work, and invoicing once the job’s done. ServiceM8 integrates with Xero to create a holistic field service package.
How it helps you
ServiceM8 makes it easier to manage your jobs from the field. Integrating with Xero means that everything you capture using ServiceM8 is transferred directly through — each item only needs to be captured once. You'll get tighter control of your cash flow, and gain more accurate costing for your jobs because you’re actually there, in the field, looking at the work.
In summary, ServiceM8 enables you to:
- Manage jobs and staff
- Quote and invoice while you're in the field
- Capture signatures
- Record relevant notes, photos, and videos
- Complete forms
- Accept credit card payments
- Sync with your Xero account
This means you can manage your invoicing easily, too. Clients, payments, and approved invoices in ServiceM8 sync with Xero for automatic reconciliation, so you don’t have to do the accounting afterwards.
Who it’s for
Field service business owners who want the ability to manage their staff and jobs out in the field, from start to finish.
How to get started
Getting started is easy and only takes minutes. Head to the ServiceM8 online dashboard, then go through your Settings > ServiceM8 Add-ons> Xero Integration, where the integration wizard will take you through the process step-by-step.
Trade job management software from ServiceM8 is fairly useful for business owners. However, it may not be so handy for sole traders, or smaller teams. Take a look at some of our other invoicing software suggestions if this is you.
simPro
simPRO cuts down your admin time and enables you and your staff to gain tighter control of your finances, so you can stay up-to-date on how your business is tracking.
All your customer, contractor, and supplier information syncs flawlessly between simPRO and Xero, allowing you to check and authorise your invoices and reconciliations with ease, and cut down on the tiresome data entry.
How it helps you
simPRO makes it easy to get oversight of your assets and projects with its asset and project management tool. This tool tracks everything, and provides alerts that enable you to improve proactive and reactive maintenance.
simPRO keeps track of:
- Stock management
- Invoicing
- Payment processing
- Job scheduling
- Asset maintenance requests
- Quotes and estimates
The real-time data feed means you always know what’s going on. With notifications pushed directly to your phone, you can stay on top of service alerts, your cash flow, emails, staff movements, from one central app
Who it’s for
Business managers for trade and maintenance services, and project contractors, who have more complexity and want greater oversight and flexible control over their operations.
How to get started
Head to simPRO’s website and request a demo. They will be in touch to run you through the system, and show you how to sync with Xero.
