Guides for Australian trade businesses.
Long-form advice on pricing, retention, cash flow and subbies, written for people running a trade business in Australia. No gated downloads, no sign-up wall, and no pitch dressed up as a guide.
How to price a job properly and actually recover your overheads
Most trade businesses price a job off materials plus a labour rate they picked years ago and have nudged twice since. Nothing in that rate pays for the shed, the utes, the insurances or the four hours you spend quoting after tea. So you win the work, stay flat out, and go backwards.
How retention works in Australian construction and how to stop losing money on it
Retention is your money. It just sits in someone else's bank account for a year or more while you carry the cost of it. Here's how it works on an Australian job, what it really costs you, and the habits that get every dollar of it back.
Why your jobs look profitable on paper but there's no cash in the bank
Your accountant says you made money. The bank says you can't cover Thursday's wages. Both are right, and the gap between them is timing, not a bad bookkeeper and usually not bad pricing.
How to manage subcontractors without losing track of compliance and payments
Putting work out to subbies is how most builders take on more without carrying a bigger wages bill. It is also where the risk quietly stacks up: the wrong working relationship, a certificate of currency that lapsed in March, super you did not know you owed. Here is what to hold, what to check and how to pay.