Builder software for residential and renovation work

What a builder needs from job-management software

A builder's software has to do four things well: produce quotes that protect margin across a long materials-and-labour list; coordinate the subbies and your own crew across a job that changes weekly; keep the client informed without a dozen phone calls a day; and keep the money — quotes, variations, supplier costs, invoices — joined up so you know where the job's really at. The trap for builders is fragmentation: quotes in one place, subbie schedules in a group chat, supplier dockets in the ute, invoices in the accountant's software. My Apprentice's value is pulling those into one connected job.

• Quotes that show the cost behind every line across a long list
• Subbie and crew coordination on a job that changes weekly
• A client kept informed without a dozen calls a day
• Quotes, variations, supplier costs and invoices joined up on one job

Shape the app to your building business

A renovation builder works differently from a new-home builder or a sole-trader builder doing insurance work. My Apprentice lets you switch whole features on and off from settings — materials, inventory, supplier invoices, scheduling, timesheets, the client portal, messaging, enquiries, evidence photos — so the app fits how you build. Every feature is available to every business; nothing's locked behind a higher plan. Switch on the full kit for managed renovation projects, or keep it lean for smaller jobs.

Quoting: protect the margin across a long list

Builder quotes are long — trades, materials, allowances, prime cost items, labour — and margin hides or disappears in the detail. My Apprentice builds quotes from your line items and materials with the catalogue cost behind each line visible as you go, so a big quote is priced to profit rather than hope. The client gets a professional quote and a portal link to accept it; acceptance becomes a job in one click, and the sent quote is stored as an immutable record — which matters on a long job where memories of "what was included" diverge. As the job runs, variations are captured against the live job so they end up on the invoice, not in the "should have charged for that" pile.

Honest scope note: My Apprentice does not have a dedicated progress-claim / staged-billing engine with retention, and its Projects grouping is currently switched off product-wide. So for a builder running long jobs billed in formal progress claims with retention, that's a genuine gap — a construction-specific platform (or Simpro-class software) will do more there. My Apprentice suits builders who invoice by job and milestone in a simpler way, which covers a lot of renovation and small-residential work.

Coordinating subbies and crew

The builder's daily reality is subbie coordination. My Apprentice lets you assign shifts to your crew and subbies, run recurring shifts for ongoing site presence, and keep unassigned and upcoming work visible so a trade isn't left waiting or double-booked. Everyone sees only their assigned jobs and shifts, and role permissions keep your cost prices and margins hidden from field staff — so people see what they need to do the work, not your numbers. A subbie gets a tradie login and sees only the jobs and shifts they're assigned to (note each person you add is a seat). (Honest note: no GPS vehicle tracking.)

• Assign shifts to your own crew and to subbies
• Recurring shifts for ongoing site presence
• Unassigned and upcoming work stays visible, so no one's left waiting or double-booked
• Cost prices and margins stripped out for subbies and field staff

Materials and supplier costs

Builders move a lot of materials and rack up a lot of supplier accounts. My Apprentice keeps a materials library, tracks stock as a ledger where relevant, and writes materials used back to stock on job completion. The real time-saver for builders is the supplier bills: built-in AI supplier-invoice scanning reads each supplier account, matches lines to your suppliers and materials, flags uncertainties, and updates stock or costs the job — learning your suppliers over time. Across a job with a dozen supplier accounts, that's a serious dent in the paperwork, included at every seat. (No purchase-order generation or supplier-catalogue feeds — a gap for procurement-heavy commercial building.)

Keeping the client informed

On a renovation, the client is living in the job and anxious about it. My Apprentice's no-login client portal gives them a secure link to follow progress, approve quotes, view invoices, message you and — once you've connected Stripe — pay by card. Where a variation needs sign-off, you send it as a second quote for the extra scope and they accept it the same way — which replaces a lot of daily phone calls and awkward "where's my money going" conversations with a clear, shared view. Photos and notes attached to the job build the story; a full audit trail and immutable quote/invoice snapshots keep it defensible.

Timesheets and getting paid

Crew and subbie hours flow into weekly timesheets via clock in/out, ready for approval and payroll or subcontractor reconciliation. Invoices are built from the job — materials, labour, variations attached — so billing reflects what actually happened, with card payment through the portal and Xero push (paid/outstanding syncing back) closing the loop.

Where My Apprentice fits a building business — and where it doesn't

It fits the sole-trader builder and small-to-mid residential or renovation builder (up to around 25 staff) who wants quoting with real margin, subbie coordination, supplier-cost control and a client portal in one configurable, mobile-first app — without an enterprise construction system.

It's less of a fit if you run large or commercial construction needing formal progress claims with retention, Gantt-based project management, formal procurement and POs, or MYOB — those point to a dedicated construction platform such as Simpro. We'd rather tell you where that line is than oversell. For builders whose jobs are managed and invoiced in a straightforward way, My Apprentice is a strong, affordable fit.

• Formal progress claims with retention
• Gantt-based project management
• Formal procurement and purchase orders
• Offline site access
• MYOB

If your work sits closer to fit-outs, framing and second-fix than to managed renovation projects, our carpentry software page covers the same toolbox from a chippie's point of view.

A real-world example

A renovation builder takes on a full bathroom-and-kitchen reno. He quotes it from the materials-and-trades list with margin visible, and the homeowner approves it through the portal — it becomes a job. Over six weeks he schedules his chippie and coordinates a plumber, electrician and tiler as subbies, each seeing only their jobs and shifts, none seeing his margins. Two variations come up (extra waterproofing, a change of tile); both are captured against the live job. Supplier accounts from the timber yard, tile shop and plumbing wholesaler are scanned by AI and reconciled to the job. Progress photos keep the homeowner reassured through the portal, cutting the daily calls. At completion the invoice — including the variations — goes out from the job, and the homeowner pays by card. Everyone's hours flowed to the timesheet, and the builder knows the job's real margin because the costs were captured as they landed.

Pricing for building businesses

My Apprentice is per seat in Australian dollars, dropping as you grow: $39 per seat per month for a sole trader, dropping to $27 per seat for larger teams, with 20% off annual billing. Your first 2 months are free, there's no setup fee and no lock-in contract. Every feature is included — switch on what you use — so a sole-trader builder and a growing building business get the same toolbox at a price that falls per head as you hire. See the full pricing for your team size.

FAQ

→ Start a free trial, or see pricing for your building business — every feature included at every seat, no implementation fee and no lock-in.