The problem
In silage and harvest season, a contractor's job details live in a diary in the cab, on the back of fuel receipts and in text messages: which fields, how many acres, how many bales. Invoices go out weeks later from memory, and some work never gets billed. If a contractor does 60 jobs a month in season and 1 in 30 is never invoiced, at an average of $532£400€476A$768C$752 that's $1,064£800€952A$1,536C$1,504 a month, plus 6 hours a month writing invoices at the kitchen table.
What the AI does
Tradify is job management software. Its UK pricing page lists job management, notes and tracking, scheduling with Google Calendar sync, quoting and invoicing, online and card payments, and accounting software sync with Xero, Sage and QuickBooks Online on the Lite plan. Book each job for each farm customer, have whoever does it add the acres, hours or bales to the job that day, and turn finished jobs into invoices at your agreed rates at the end of the week. Invoices sync to Xero so the books match the work done.
A worked example
A two-person contractor in Carmarthenshire does mowing, baling, wrapping and hedge cutting for about 40 farms. In summer it does about 60 jobs a month averaging $532£400€476A$768C$752 and the owner and one operator both use Tradify on their phones.
Before
Invoices written from a cab diary weeks later: about 2 jobs a month never billed ($1,064£800€952A$1,536C$1,504), and 6 hours a month on invoicing
After
Each job recorded on the day and invoiced that week: every job billed, with about 2 hours a month checking invoices
What it's worth
About $1,197£900€1,071A$1,728C$1,692 a month in the busy season, against $90£68€81A$131C$128 for Tradify Lite. That is $1,064£800€952A$1,536C$1,504 from 2 jobs a month at $532£400€476A$768C$752 that now get billed, counted in full because the fuel, wear and wages were already spent on the work, plus 4 hours of invoicing saved (6 down to 2) at an assumed $33£25€30A$48C$47 an hour, $133£100€119A$192C$188. Lite is $45£34€40A$65C$64 per user a month: 2 users × $45£34€40A$65C$64 = $90£68€81A$131C$128 and the page doesn't say whether VAT is included. Xero is assumed already paid.
How to set it up
- Start the 14-day free trial and add your farm customers with their holdings and the fields you usually work.
- Agree your rates per acre, hour, bale or meter of hedge, and put them on every quote and invoice.
- Book each job in the scheduler, and have whoever does it note the acres, hours or bales on the job the same day.
- Each Friday, turn finished jobs into invoices, check them, send them and let them sync to Xero.
- At the end of the season, compare jobs done with invoices sent to catch anything missed.
What goes wrong
- Tradify is priced per user; each operator who records jobs adds $45£34€40A$65C$64 a month on Lite.
- Lite doesn't include timesheets, job photos or quote and invoice reminders; those need Pro at $49£37€44A$71C$70 per user.
- Signal in the field is patchy. Test how the app copes in your worst fields before relying on operators logging jobs in the cab.
- Acres recorded from memory at night bring the old errors back. Log them before leaving each farm.