The Challenge
Australian tradies are drowning in admin. Between quoting jobs, chasing invoices, scheduling crews, and managing payroll, most builders spend more time on paperwork than on the tools. The existing options — Xero, MYOB, ServiceM8 — each solve one piece but nothing ties it all together. And none of them understand how a tradie’s day actually works.
The brief was ambitious: build an all-in-one business management platform designed specifically for Australian trade businesses, with AI at the core.
What I Built
Trade AI is a full SaaS platform that handles the entire business lifecycle for tradies:
- Smart Quoting — AI-assisted quoting that learns from your past jobs. Enter the job type and location, and it suggests pricing based on your history and local market rates.
- Invoicing & Payments — Generate invoices from completed quotes with one click. Integrated payment processing so clients can pay on the spot.
- Crew Scheduling — Visual calendar for managing multiple crews across job sites. AI-optimised route planning to minimise drive time between jobs.
- Payroll Integration — Direct integration with KeyPay for Australian payroll compliance, including super, tax, and award rates.
- Client Management — CRM built for trades — track repeat customers, upcoming maintenance schedules, and referral sources.
The stack: React frontend, Node.js backend, PostgreSQL database, with AI models for the smart quoting and route optimisation features.
The Result
Trade AI is a complete, functional SaaS platform ready for market. The AI quoting engine reduces quote preparation time from 30+ minutes to under 5 minutes. Route optimisation saves crews an average of 40 minutes per day in windshield time. The integrated approach means tradies have one place for everything instead of juggling four different apps.
This project demonstrates what happens when you build software that actually understands the user’s workflow — not just digitising paper processes, but rethinking how the work gets done.