01
Lead
Where it breaks
Replied to hours later, if at all.
What good looks like
- One inbox for every source — platforms, website, email, phone.
- A named owner per shift, with a backup.
- First reply drafted instantly; a person reviews and sends.
How the office runs
Behind every good trade business is a boring, reliable office.
This is how the back office of a working painting and cleaning group actually runs — the stages every job goes through, the roles, the weekly rhythm and the numbers we watch. Steal any of it.
The loop, stage by stage
02
Quote
Where it breaks
Priced from memory at 10pm. Margin by gut feel.
What good looks like
- Site visit booked in the first reply.
- Quote out within 24 hours, from rate cards and templates.
- Margin checked against a floor before it's sent.
03
Dispatch
Where it breaks
Scope lost across WhatsApp. No PO. No compliance.
What good looks like
- A written brief that stands on its own — scope, photos, access.
- Compliance checked before award, not after.
- A signed purchase order before anyone starts.
The number to watch
Jobs started without a signed PO (target: zero)
04
Deliver
Where it breaks
Client chasing updates. Defects argued about.
What good looks like
- Milestones agreed up front, a photo at each one.
- The client can see progress without calling.
- Defects logged with photos and closed with proof.
The number to watch
Open defects older than 7 days
05
Invoice
Where it breaks
Bills retyped. Paid twice, or not at all.
What good looks like
- Subbie invoices checked against PO + approved variations.
- Bills drafted into accounting once, with the job reference.
- Changed bank details always confirmed by phone.
The number to watch
Days from job complete to invoice sent
Hando app
06
Numbers
Where it breaks
GP found out a quarter late.
What good looks like
- Gross profit per job, reviewed every Friday.
- Revenue rebuilt correctly — deposits don't hide it.
- Separate targets per trade — never blended.
The team shape
Five seats, clearly owned.
You don’t need a big office — you need every job stage to have exactly one owner. One person can hold several seats; no seat can have nobody.
- Owner / Ops lead
- Sets targets, approves pricing and anything unusual, runs the Monday briefing.
- Operations & admin
- Owns dispatch, scheduling, subbie paperwork and the daily digest. Often a remote team member.
- Sales support
- Owns the lead inbox and quote follow-ups. Measured on reply time and conversion.
- Onboarding & marketing
- Client welcome packs, reviews, content and new-subbie onboarding.
- Bookkeeper
- Reconciles weekly, flags anything odd before Friday numbers, runs BAS.
The rhythm
Reviewed every week, not every quarter.
A cadence generated from your systems — so nobody has to build a spreadsheet to know how the business is going.
Every morning
Digest: today's jobs, leads waiting, quotes to chase, invoices to check, anything overdue.
Monday
Briefing: last week's numbers, this week's crews and gaps, open issues, one improvement.
Friday
Numbers: GP on every completed job, conversion, money in and owed, bills due.
Monthly
Month GP by trade, subbie performance, compliance expiring, SOPs to update.
The stack
No rip-and-replace. Hando sits on top.
Your job system stays the source of truth for jobs, your accounting system for money. Hando connects them, fills the gaps between them, and automates the hand-offs on a workflow tool you can own outright.
- ServiceM8
- Xero
- Pipedrive
- Google Workspace
- Twilio
- Notion
- n8n
Want this running in your business?
Start with the free playbooks, or have us install it with you.