Pay Chasey

Invoice app for tradies: what it should do for one person

If you are the person who does the work, quotes the job, sends the invoice and then chases it, the software has one job: take the admin off your hands without adding a second job. Here is what that means in practice, and where this app does and does not fit.

Updated 3 October 2026

The short answer

The features that matter are numbering and ABN details that are always correct, GST worked out when you are registered, a way for the client to pay by card or bank transfer, and reminders that go out without you remembering them. Everything else is optional. Check what the free plan actually allows, whether the money goes into your own account, and whether the app takes a cut of each payment before you commit to one.

What a one-person trade business actually needs

Most invoicing software is built for someone who sits at a desk and sends a hundred invoices a month. A trade business sends a handful, from the driveway, usually at the end of a long day. That changes what matters.

  • The paperwork has to be quick on a phone, because that is the computer you have with you. Anything that needs a laptop waits until the weekend, and invoices that wait get sent late.
  • Your business name and ABN have to be right on every document without you thinking about it, and the GST has to be worked out the same way every time when you are registered.
  • The client needs one obvious way to pay, in the message you send them, not in a chasing phone call three weeks later.
  • The reminders have to go without you deciding each one. The job where you mean to follow up and then do not is the one that costs you the money.
  • The money has to arrive in your own account. An app that holds your customer payments and pays you later is in the middle of your cash flow, and that is a much bigger decision than a subscription.

One thing worth checking before you pay anything: how much of the invoice detail the app fills in for you. A tax invoice has to carry specific things, and the cheapest reason to use software rather than a printed pad is that the software never forgets them. The list is on our invoice template guide, and it is short.

Invoice from the ute, before you leave the job

This app is a website, so there is nothing to install and nothing to update. Sign in on the phone you already carry and put it on your home screen once: after that it opens like an app, with its own icon. You can write the invoice on the spot while the job is still fresh, get a PDF and a payment link, and text it to the client before you have turned out of the street.

Be honest about the limits of a phone. Creating an invoice needs a connection, so on a job with no signal, write the line items on your phone notes and put it through when you are back in range. What the app does offline is show you the pages you have already visited, which is for reading rather than writing.

Four reminders, sent for you

An invoice that gets paid on time is the exception rather than the rule, and the difference between the businesses that get paid and the ones that do not is usually follow-up rather than persuasion. This app sends four reminders after the due date: day 3, day 10, day 21 and day 35. They are written for you, they go out on their own, and they stop the moment the invoice is paid. After the fourth, the invoice moves to a phone list: no more email goes to the client, and you have a short list of the people to ring.

You can edit the chasing settings or switch them off per client, and a client who asks you to stop getting reminders is marked as opted out rather than ignored.

The money goes into your own account

You connect your own Stripe account, and card payments go straight into it. This app never holds your money, does not settle to us and takes no percentage of what your customers pay. Your bank details print on the invoice as an alternative for the client who prefers a transfer, and the app records what has come in so an invoice marked paid is actually paid.

That also means the card fees are between you and your payment provider, at the rate you agreed with them, which is the way it should be.

What it costs, plainly

  • Three invoices a month, free, forever. No card to start, which suits the odd job for a mate or a business still deciding.
  • $29 a month for up to 1,000 invoices a month, which is more than a one-person operation will ever send. Cancel any time.
  • No cut of the payments, no per-invoice charge, and clients and reminder emails have no cap of their own.

It is not the cheapest way to do nothing, and there are free spreadsheet templates that cost nothing at all. The honest comparison is against your own time: an hour spent on invoicing and chasing on a Sunday evening is the thing you are buying back. If a spreadsheet is working for you and nothing is going unpaid, keep the spreadsheet.

Where this app is the wrong answer

  • It is not accounting software. There is no general ledger, no bank feed reconciliation, no payroll and no BAS lodgment. Your accountant still needs the file, and the reports are built to be handed over rather than to replace them.
  • It does not do quotes or job scheduling. It starts where the job ends.
  • It is built for one person or a very small team. If you are running a crew of ten with job costing per site, you are past what this is for.
  • It will not make an unpaid client pay. It sends the reminders and keeps the record; the phone call is still yours to make.

How to invoice when you have an ABN

Your ABN goes on the invoice along with your business name. If you are registered for GST, the invoice is a tax invoice, it carries the words "tax invoice", and the GST is shown as its own line at 10 per cent of your price before GST. If you are not registered, you send a plain invoice, you do not show GST, and you must not use the words "tax invoice" on it.

The app fills all of that in from the business details you save once, which is most of the reason the ABN field is worth getting right on day one rather than on your tenth invoice.

Try it on a real job

The invoice app at paychasey.com.au does the parts above: a numbered tax invoice with your ABN and the GST worked out, a PDF and a payment link to the client, card payments into your own Stripe account, and four reminders at 3, 10, 21 and 35 days after the due date that stop when the invoice is paid. Three invoices a month are free with no card, and $29 a month covers up to 1,000 invoices a month.

Raise your next invoice on it, free, and see whether the chasing side earns its keep.

Start free

Questions people ask

What should I look for in an invoice app for a trade business?
Four things. That it is quick on a phone, that your ABN and GST are filled in correctly without you checking, that the client gets an easy way to pay in the same message as the invoice, and that reminders go out without you having to remember them. Price matters, but a free app you do not use is worth less than a paid one you do.
Is there a free invoice app for tradies?
This one has a free plan that allows three invoices a month with no card required, and it stays free rather than running for a trial period. It is enough for the odd job and for trying the app on real work. Higher volume is $29 a month.
Does the app take a cut of my customer payments?
No. Card payments go into your own Stripe account, the app never holds the money and takes no percentage. Your card processing rate is the one you agreed with your payment provider, and the app does not add to it. Bank transfer details print on the invoice as well, for clients who prefer that.
Can I use it on my phone while I am on site?
Yes. It is a website, so there is nothing to install: sign in on your phone and add it to your home screen so it opens like an app. Creating an invoice needs a connection, so with no signal write the line items down and put the invoice through when you are back in range.
Do I need to be registered for GST to use it?
No. If you are registered, the app treats your invoice as a tax invoice and works the GST out at 10 per cent. If you are not registered, it sends a plain invoice with no GST and no tax invoice wording. The setting is on your business details and it is the one that decides which of the two documents you send.
What happens after the four reminders?
No more email goes to the client, and the invoice moves to a phone list so you have a short list of people to call rather than an inbox of things you have already said. The record of everything that was sent stays on the invoice, which is what you need if the job ends up in small claims.

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