HVAC Business Air Exchange Gets Admin and Accounting Sorted

by Team Tradify, June 18, 2020

New system seamlessly converts PO to invoice

With two decades of experience under his belt, Rob Francis runs his HVAC business like a well-oiled machine.

In operation since 2008, Air Exchange has worked with some of the biggest organisations in Australia, helping them select the ideal commercial chiller products for their business and budget, and providing HVAC installation and repair services to businesses across the country.

However, there was one task that Rob always found clunky and out-of-step with the rest of his business.

Unreliable and inaccurate accounting

Rob was using an online service to manage and keep track of his business financials but was constantly dealing with problems.

When the system sent out invoice reminders for overdue accounts, it would double the invoice total. This would leave Rob with big gaps in his cash flow and he’d always question the accuracy of his financial reporting.

On the other hand, his clients were receiving invoices that progressively got more expensive for no reason – something Rob says wasn’t good customer service.

“If the invoice was $1000, when an invoice reminder was sent it would double to $2000. I didn’t even bother to look at what was going wrong because if the money’s wrong, that’s it for me.”

That’s when Rob knew it was time to look for an alternative solution.

Many benefits well worth the investment

Rob had previously considered using Tradify, but at the time, decided to go with something he thought was more cost-effective. He admits that was the wrong decision, so when he started looking for a different option, the Tradify tradie app was top of mind.

Just to be safe, he looked at several different products but found most of them were far too complex for what he needed. Tradify had just the right amount of functionality – and this time, cost wasn’t a factor. With the difference it’s made to his business, Tradify more than pays for itself.

Photo of two large industrial gas tanks being wheeled into an installation

Tradify was the most appealing solution. I wasn’t going to be restricted to just my phone – I can use it on any device and from anywhere. It had everything I needed – and cost wasn’t even a consideration this time round,” Rob adds.

Purchase order to invoice quickly and accurately

Rob explains that because most of his work is maintenance-based, he doesn’t often need to quote for a job. Instead, he’s usually emailed a purchase order which, ideally, he’d transfer directly to an invoice. With a lot of repeat business, Rob was always looking for ways to execute admin tasks faster.

Before Tradify, Rob didn’t have faith that his old system would transfer over all the necessary information. He also didn’t have anywhere to store electronic copies of his purchase orders.

Now all Rob has to do is create a new job in Tradify and assign the purchase order to the job, making it super-simple to store and keep track of his paperwork – then he automatically creates an invoice when the job’s complete.

“From job to invoice no documentation is lost – all I have to do is attach it to the job. Then when the job’s complete and I’m ready to invoice, everything’s there ready to go.”

A huge beige coloured commercial chiller unit

Notes-and-photos function helps Rob get paid more quickly

Being able to take notes and add photos while on the job has helped Rob settle accounts quicker. Beforehand, he’d spend precious hours uploading photos to his computer, naming and filing them accordingly. All he does now is take a picture, label it and attach to the right job in Tradify.

“Pictures paint a thousand words. I’ve learned over time if I can have everything ahead of time, when I ring the client to tell them the work is done, it assists tremendously with getting paid on time.”

Employee gives tick of approval

The Tradify tradie app also gets a big thumbs up from Rob’s employee.

“He used to work for someone else and they used a much larger, more complicated platform. He has said to me a number of times that he finds Tradify much easier to use.”

Two men tightening a bolt on a chiller installation

Rob gets 20% of his working week back

Had he not moved to Tradify, Rob believes he’d still be “shackled to his desk.” He estimates his old way of doing things used to cut into at least 20% of his working week as he’d set aside a day just to backtrack, sift through emails and compile job information.

“That was a time cost. I’m also only human so I’d sometimes forget stuff.”

These days, things are a lot less time-consuming.

“Today my employee has a day off, I need to catch up with a few customers, grab a bite to eat, and I’ll still manage to invoice $10,000 – ‘Do I have everything?’ doesn’t even cross my mind.”

Rob also says the change has opened up his HVAC business to more opportunities because he’s available to take on new projects.

“There’s no guesswork involved. You know where you are from day-to-day, and looking forward into the future, there’s clarity around knowing where you are financially,”