Handyman software for scheduling, quotes and GST invoicing

ServiceM8 and Jobber are both capable field-service apps. ServiceM8 has the longer Australian track record and Jobber has the deeper marketplace, and both are strong on the job card and the dispatch board. What neither does is your accounting or your website, so you end up paying for Xero or MYOB and a booking tool alongside them, and ServiceM8 meters its plans by job volume. OneBookPlus combines handyman quotes, a week-view schedule, before-and-after photos, GST/BAS-ready invoicing and a free booking page in a single platform from $0/month with no per-job metering. When you compare, add up the all-in monthly cost rather than the job-app price alone, and choose on how many jobs you run a month and whether you want the books in the same place.

Yes. OneBookPlus is a genuine ServiceM8 and Jobber alternative for Australian handymen. ServiceM8 and Jobber are well-established field-service apps, but they meter job allowances and still need Xero for accounting and a separate tool for your website and marketing. OneBookPlus bundles job management, GST invoicing, accounting, CRM, a booking page and photo evidence together, with a free plan to start on. We're upfront that ServiceM8 has a longer Australian track record and Jobber has a deeper US marketplace; our advantage is one all-in-one subscription with no per-job metering.

Yes, our free plan includes invoices, quotes, a booking page and a small number of clients, which is ideal for a sole-trader handyman just getting started. Upgrade to a paid plan only when your volume justifies it; there's no credit card required to begin.

Every invoice automatically calculates 10% GST (when you're registered for GST) and displays your ABN, meeting ATO tax-invoice requirements. At BAS time, export a GST summary in one click. If you're not yet registered for GST, you can issue invoices without GST until your turnover requires registration, the platform handles both.

Yes. Snap photos directly into the job record, the gutter before you cleared it, the rotten board you replaced, the finished result. Photos attach to both the job and the invoice, so there's a clear record of the condition on arrival and the work completed, which heads off disputes and chargebacks.

OneBookPlus doesn't require any licence to use, it's business-management software. Whether you personally need a trade licence depends on the work, not the software: general odd jobs and maintenance are typically unlicensed, but regulated work such as electrical, plumbing and gasfitting must be done by a licensed tradesperson, and most states require a builder/trade licence once a single building job crosses a state-set dollar threshold. Always check your state or territory regulator before taking on regulated or higher-value work.

Absolutely. Set up recurring jobs for monthly strata maintenance, fortnightly garden tidy-ups, or quarterly property inspections. Each visit is raised from the schedule into your week view, so you never rebuild the same job twice. For the billing you have two paths: put the contract on a monthly recurring invoice that goes out on its own date, or mark the visits complete and invoice them together in one action.

The difference between twenty quotes a week and twenty evenings is where the line items come from. Build the quote from your saved catalogue, searchable by name or SKU, so a call-out, an hour of labour and three fence palings are taps rather than typing, with 10% GST calculated per line. Send it from the driveway as a PDF; from Starter that PDF carries your own logo and branding. The customer accepts on a secure link with no login to create, you see when they opened it, an SMS tells you the moment they say yes, and acceptance drafts the job. Anything still unanswered after three days appears on the follow-up dashboard with one-tap email and SMS nudges.

Yes, and the mechanism is an ordinary invoice rather than a separate deposit module. Raise an invoice against the job for the deposit amount, 10% GST per line with your ABN on the document, and send it with a Stripe Pay Now link (online card payments start on Starter, $29/mo) so the customer can pay before you order materials. When the work is finished, the balance invoice goes out the same way, and both sit against the same job so the total you charged is never in doubt. Taking the deposit in person is not an option yet: Tap to Pay on iPhone is built but stays switched off in the public app until Apple grants the distribution entitlement, so plan on the payment link.

It happens constantly: you go to hang a light fitting and find the wiring needs replacing, or a leaking tap turns into a burst pipe behind the wall. Electrical, plumbing and gasfitting work must be done by a licensed tradesperson regardless of how small the job looks, and every state and territory also sets a dollar threshold above which a single building job needs a builder or trade licence. The practical answer is to split the job rather than the difference. Quote only the part you can lawfully do, note on the job what you found and why you stopped, and either refer the customer directly or subcontract the licensed portion and keep that tradesperson's licence number and invoice on the same job record. That way the customer sees one clear scope, and you have a written trail showing where your work ended. Check your own state or territory regulator before taking on anything regulated, this is general information, not legal advice.

As its own line, not folded into the labour rate. A call-out that is visible on the quote and repeated on the invoice is far easier to defend than one buried in an hourly figure, and it lets you waive it as a gesture on a repeat job without rewriting your rates. Set it up once in your saved catalogue so it is a tap rather than a typed line, and it carries its own 10% GST like any other taxable line when you are registered. If you charge a minimum first hour, or a different fee outside your normal service area, make those separate lines too, so the customer can see what they agreed to before you arrive rather than after. Whether you charge one at all is your commercial decision, not a rule.

Longer than you think you need to. The ATO requires business records that explain your transactions to be kept for a set period after they are prepared or the transaction is complete, and your accountant will tell you the period that applies to your structure. Separately from tax, before-and-after photos and the accepted quote are the two documents that settle almost every argument about what was agreed and what condition something was in when you arrived, and those arguments can surface long after a job is paid. Because photos, quotes, invoices and messages all attach to the same job record in OneBookPlus, keeping them is the default rather than a filing job, and you can export your data at any time. Treat this as general information rather than tax advice and confirm the record-keeping period with your accountant or the ATO.