Purchase orders a small builder will actually use
A purchase order is the cheapest control a small builder can put on spending, and the one most often skipped. This guide sets out a habit that holds up on a busy site.
12 min read
Blog
Business and Contracts
Most builders who struggle are good builders with weak paperwork. This is the business side: contracts, pricing, cash flow, people and disputes.
Purchase orders a small builder will actually use
A purchase order is the cheapest control a small builder can put on spending, and the one most often skipped. This guide sets out a habit that holds up on a busy site.
12 min read
Leasing or buying vans and plant: choosing the finance for cash flow
Finance for a ute or an excavator is a cash-flow decision before it is a tax decision. This is how the main structures compare and what to test before signing.
10 min read
Passing on card fees on trade invoices: the rules
A card fee is a real cost of getting paid, but recovering it is a disclosure decision as much as a pricing one. Get the disclosure wrong and the fee becomes a complaint.
11 min read
Why cash payments on a building job cause trouble
A client who offers cash looks like an easy win, but cash leaves no trail, and on a building job the trail is what protects the builder when something goes wrong.
11 min read
Trading names, ABNs and licence names on your paperwork
A trading name is not a legal entity. The licence name, the ABN and the trading name each answer a different question, and they must agree on every document you issue.
10 min read
Personal guarantees: what a builder puts at risk
A company limits what its owners lose, but a personal guarantee can switch that protection off. Here is how guarantees work for builders and directors, what decides their size and what to check before you sign one.
11 min read
Sole trader or company: choosing a business structure as a builder
A sole trader or a company decides who is liable, who holds the licence and how the business can grow, long before it decides the tax. This article sets out the questions to answer first.
11 min read
Succession planning for a small building business
Most small builders plan the sale or the handover date and forget everything that has to move with it. The licence, the people, the clients and the accounts all need their own plan.
12 min read
Interviewing a site supervisor: questions that reveal real competence
A site supervisor interview should test how a candidate handles a late pour, a defect and a difficult subcontractor. These scenario questions show what a sound answer sounds like.
11 min read
Performance reviews for site staff without the awkwardness
A review should record what you saw on the job, not how you feel about the person. This routine keeps the conversation specific, fair and free of surprises.
12 min read
Award classifications for carpenters and labourers, explained
Pay follows classification, and classification follows the work actually done. This guide explains how award classifications match skills and duties for carpenters and labourers, and how to check the right level.
11 min read
Leave accruals: the wages liability small builders forget
Leave that staff have earned is money the business owes them, whether or not it has been taken. Left out of the numbers, it flatters the profit and arrives as a cash shock when someone leaves.
11 min read