The problem
Decorating quotes are often priced by eye, and the extra mist coat on new plaster, the filler and the extra day on a stairwell don't show until the job's done. If 2 jobs a month overrun by a day of labor at $239£180€214A$346C$338 that's $479£360€428A$691C$677 a month that never gets priced into the next quote.
What the AI does
Tradify's Pro plan lets you record bills and track job costs for invoicing, alongside timesheets. Hours on site and bills for paint and materials add up against each job as it runs. When a stairwell is a day over by Wednesday, you see it while there's still time to agree extra work the customer asked for, and you price the next stairwell properly.
A worked example
A two-person decorating firm in Exeter, the owner and one employed decorator, does about 8 jobs a month. Both use Tradify Pro ($49£37€44A$71C$70 per user a month, $98£74€88A$142C$139 in total), log their hours to each job and enter merchant bills against the job the same day.
Before
2 jobs a month a day over, about $479£360€428A$691C$677 of labor nobody priced
After
Overruns spotted mid-job, and about $239£180€214A$346C$338 a month recovered through agreed extras or better pricing on the next job
What it's worth
About $239£180€214A$346C$338 a month recovered, from half of the $479£360€428A$691C$677 of monthly overruns being charged as agreed extras or priced into later quotes. It is labor the firm pays for either way, so recovering it goes almost straight to profit; that is against $98£74€88A$142C$139 for two Tradify Pro users.
How to set it up
- Choose Tradify Pro, the plan with job costing, and add a login for everyone who works on site.
- Break your quotes into labor days and materials, so there's something to compare against.
- Log hours to the job each day, and enter paint and material bills against the job as they come in.
- Check any job longer than two days against its quote at the halfway point.
- At month end, list the jobs that ran over and change your rates for that kind of work, such as stairwells, new plaster or lining paper.
What goes wrong
- Tradify charges per user, so two people on Pro is $98£74€88A$142C$139 a month, not $49£37€44A$71C$70. The page doesn't say whether VAT is included.
- Costing only works if hours and bills go in on the day. A week of catch-up from memory gives the wrong answer.
- Extra work is only chargeable if the customer agreed to it. Agree it in writing before you do it, not after.
- Paint bought for several jobs on one bill needs splitting, or one job looks expensive and the next looks free.