In this customer story
Carpenter and flooring specialist James Hodson and electrician Josh Burn have a lot in common. Both are sole traders, both started as teenagers, and both followed in their dads’ footsteps.
They love their jobs, but not the admin side of running a business. Like many tradies, James and Josh find that invoicing, chasing payments, tracking cash flow and handling tax take time and energy they just don’t have.
Enter: Solo by MYOB.
A better way to invoice, manage costs, and chase up customer payments
What did pre-Solo life look like?
James remembers spending two to three hours on admin every day after work. This included manual invoicing, chasing up customers for late payments, finding receipts for expense claims, and sorting tax and BAS compliance.
Cash flow was another challenge. Like many sole traders, James and Josh both struggled to balance incoming cash with expenses at times — especially when customers paid their invoices weeks late. For Josh, who works for several rental agencies and real estate clients, this was a particular issue. He’s often paid monthly in line with rental payments, which means cash flow is stretched.
Solo by MYOB: A simple, time-saving solution
Josh’s shift to Solo began with an Instagram post. He had only just started as a sole-trading sparky and knew he needed a way to manage the money side of the business. He joined up, went through a simple setup process, and was away laughing.
James had been in business for almost five years before the switch, using a mix of manual processes to handle his finances. When a fellow tradie told him about Solo by MYOB, he was quick to jump on board.
It’s massive. So, before Solo came in, I was doing Excel spreadsheets and Word documents, typing them all up, and writing out invoices through that. The process now, it’s simple, it’s easy, and I just save so much time.”
Speed and simplicity for sole traders
What makes Solo by MYOB work for tradies? It’s designed for speed and simplicity — and everything happens through a smartphone. That means users can send invoices, take payments, and track expenses in real time, instead of after work.
Simple on-site invoicing
Creating and sending invoices via smartphone is a game-changer for James, who used to write up each invoice in Word and email it to clients. Now, he can build an invoice and send it on one platform in just a few seconds. For Josh, in-app invoicing makes life easier for him and his clients. He does the admin in a few clicks, and his clients — many of them real estate or rental agents — have documentation for their records.
“A lot of it’s through real estate agents, so it just goes through their system, and it’s nice and simple.”
Faster payments with Tap to Pay
The Tap to Pay function in the Solo app gives customers a way to pay as soon as the job is done — just tap a credit card, and you’re sorted. James has found that this option helps him get paid faster, avoiding the customer chase-down. While some still prefer bank transfers, he uses Tap to Pay as much as possible.
“I think Tap to Pay has been great,” he enthuses. “There are those clients who tend to avoid paying straight away, but I just slap the phone out, and I’m like, ‘Well, you can actually pay this way.’”
Smart, accurate expense tracking
Tracking purchases is crucial for tradies. They need to have a record of the cost of materials so they can charge customers accurately, and keep receipts for business expenses so they can claim them back at tax time.
Solo by MYOB has helped with real-time expense tracking and smart matching in the app.
It just automatically categorises what expenses are and puts them in the right category. So when you’re going through it at tax time, you know where things go and how you should categorise them.”
Another handy feature? Connecting Bunnings PowerPass to the Solo app. This means all purchases at Bunnings — and there are many for busy tradies — are automatically recorded as expenses in the Solo app, with no need to hang onto receipts.
“It helps me ensure every expense is tracked, and I don’t need to worry about missing something. It’s automatically in there, and I just get every deduction that I can,” explains Josh.
One app for invoicing, payments and cash flow management
The overarching benefit of Solo by MYOB: It’s an all-in-one solution. No more messy spreadsheets or disconnected apps. Instead, all admin functions happen in one place.
“I reckon the best part about the Solo app is having everything in one place. All the admin, all the banking, all the payments, it’s all just in one spot. I don’t have to run around trying to catch everything, it’s just there,” says Josh.
This makes it easier to track cash flow as well. Sole traders can see expenses and payments as they come in, giving them a clearer view of available cash. It’s all managed through a separate business account, so there’s no way to mix business expenses and personal costs.
By consolidating and automating the complicated parts of the job, Solo by MYOB has helped Josh and James focus on their actual work — and reclaim some personal time as well.
For tradies rushing from job to job, from quote to quote, from customer to customer, that work-life balance is essential.
“So, just spending less time sitting at a laptop is always good. I get more time to myself and have a healthier balance between work and life,” says Josh.
Information provided in this article is of a general nature and does not consider your personal situation. It does not constitute legal, financial, or other professional advice and should not be relied upon as a statement of law, policy or advice. You should consider whether this information is appropriate to your needs and, if necessary, seek independent advice. This information is only accurate at the time of publication. Although every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of the information contained on this webpage, MYOB disclaims, to the extent permitted by law, all liability for the information contained on this webpage or any loss or damage suffered by any person directly or indirectly through relying on this information.
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