From Calendar Chaos to a Clear Solution for D+K Provincial Plumbing

In Year 12, Dave Wyatt didn’t exactly envision a future in plumbing. However, a labouring job quickly turned into an apprenticeship, and before long, a career in plumbing was born. Now, with 14 years in the trade and over a decade of qualifications under his belt, Dave is the proud owner of D+K Provincial Plumbing, providing services across Brisbane.  

Starting his own business had always been in the back of his mind. But when a motorbike accident left him with a hip injury, he finally took the leap. Now he can shuffle jobs around and keep things moving without overdoing it.

“My wife and I wanted to build something together,”  Dave recalls. “Going out on your own is scary, but she was my rock, always reassuring me that we could do it.”

For now, it’s just Dave on the tools, with the idea of bringing on an apprentice someday. He’s not thinking too much about growth — yet.

“I have no ambition to take over the world,”  he admits. “But if things keep trending the way they are, we might have to.”

Three calendars, countless headaches – but still missing jobs

Running a plumbing business single-handedly is no easy feat. The workflow involved a Xero account for their accounting, and for scheduling — Google Calendar, a diary and a giant A1 calendar pinned to the wall. 

“We had three different places where bookings were recorded,”  Dave explains. 

The inefficiency was intense — customers would send bookings via phone, email or text, and when the job was done, Dave would piece together the invoice in Xero. But it wasn’t always clear if everything, especially the small stuff, had been billed. 

Dave used to struggle to keep track of job numbers and materials used. On top of that, price updates were easy to miss, and he often found himself underquoting his hours. Over time, those missed charges started to add up, impacting the business’s bottom line.

“I’m too nice,”  Dave confesses. “If I run over, I don’t always add it. It’s only little stuff, but it adds up.”

From sceptic to believer

Dave’s wife Kelly saw how stressed he was juggling different systems, and kept urging him to try Tradify. At first, Dave admits he didn’t understand the full power of the software. But one day, with three new clients trying to book, the chaos became overwhelming. Nearly in tears, Dave turned to Kelly. 

“I told her, ‘I need help — maybe we should give Tradify a proper go.’” 

He started with the scheduling tool, and as that became easy, Dave added invoicing and quoting. 

Scheduling without the stress

As you can imagine, relying on Google Calendar, a diary and a wall-sized planner led to a lot of double-booking, double-handling and missed appointments. Tradify’s scheduling tool changed all that. Now, instead of juggling different systems, Dave can see his entire schedule at a glance. 

“I can drag and drop jobs, reschedule with a click, and keep track of unscheduled work all in one place,”  Dave says.

This flexibility not only reduced stress but also maximised productivity — every hour is now accounted for, and no job slips through the cracks. 

“We had a tear-down ceremony to get rid of the massive calendar on the wall,” Dave recalls. “It felt necessary; it was a constant reminder of the chaos we had before Tradify.”

Quoting made quick and painless

Creating quotes used to mean manually inputting figures and double-checking calculations — a time-consuming process prone to errors. But with the Tradify quoting tool, everything Dave needs is at his fingertips. 

Now, he can quickly generate quotes by simply typing in items, with the tool auto-completing common entries. It syncs with his suppliers’ price files, so prices are always up to date. Dave can also adjust margins on the fly and organise quotes and materials lists so they’re easy to find later. 

“When I start typing something like ‘100 ml,’ the product pops up instantly — it’s all synced with my supplier’s price files. Adjusting margins is also easier, and customers don’t see the breakdown,” says Dave.

This newfound efficiency lets him focus on making his business more profitable, rather than getting bogged down in admin tasks. 

Accurate invoices every time

With Tradify, Dave’s invoicing has become much smoother. Converting quotes to invoices is just two clicks, with job numbers and descriptions easily adjustable. He also uses monthly prompts for price updates and automatic payment reminders. But his favourite feature is tracking his hours in real-time. 

“I use the timer on each job to make sure I haven’t underquoted by an hour or so. At the end of the day, I adjust the time as needed, switch the status from ‘in progress’ to ‘invoice,’ and send out the invoice,” explains Dave. 

Less paperwork, more family time

Since Dave started using Tradify, his biggest win has been better time management. Before, he was juggling a bunch of scheduling tools, which was a real hassle and led to a lot of stress. But now, with Tradify’s easy-to-use system, he’s way more productive.

“I’ve quite literally found more hours in the day — hours to get home and be with my kids,” says Dave. 

His experience has been so positive that he now brings it up in conversations with other tradies. 

“I was talking to an electrician I use, and when he found out I was using Tradify too, his eyes lit p. It’s just that good,” says Dave. 

Ready to get organised?

Tradify is a job management app used by thousands of tradespeople building better lives and businesses all over the world. It gives you all the features needed to manage and grow a successful trade business, including:

• Enquiries
• Quoting
• Invoicing
• Scheduling
• Job tracking
• Subcontractor management

Start your 14-day free trial today. No credit card required. No pressure. Or take a look at Tradify in action during one of our weekly 30-min live walkthroughs.