Builders
Big jobs and long waits to get paid. See which jobs carried the month.
Monthly reports for Aussie tradies
Numbers that make sense.
Your Xero figures in plain English. No jargon. No spreadsheets. Just where the money went, in a report you can read on your phone at 5pm.
Built for Xero. Send one export, get a 4-page PDF back within 24 hours.
Sample
September 2026Amber
Money in$38,400
Kept from jobs$21,500
Running costs$13,200
You kept$8,300
Your line$23,600Beaten by $14,800
More work than August, but you kept $1,700 less. Extra subbies and a new drill explain most of it.
- Plain English
- Monthly reports
- Built for tradies
- Made for Xero
- First report free
- No jargon
Inside every report
What you get every month.
Six parts across four pages. Tap through them using an example sparky's September.
Your month · September
Amber
More work came in than August, but you kept $1,700 less. Most of that is $1,900 extra on subbies and a $970 tool buy.
Money in$38,400
You kept$8,300
Change on August−$1,700
Jobs vs running costs
56c
Down from 61c in AugustFrom every dollar of work, 56c was left after materials and subbies. Running the business cost $13,200 on top. If the first number drops, look at your quoting. If the second one climbs, look at your overheads.
September$38,400 in
August$36,100 in
Materials & subbies $16,900Running costs $13,200You kept $8,300
Legend shows September's figures.
Your line · September
$23,600
Beaten by $14,800This is how much work you need to bill each month just to cover your running costs. Everything above it is where your profit comes from. Most tradies have never seen this number.
Running costs$13,200
Kept from each $1 of jobs56c
Your line ($13,200 ÷ 56c)$23,600
Costs that stood out
4 costs
2 creeping upOne-off bills come and go. Creeping costs rise a bit every month and are easy to miss. We rank them by dollars so you know which one actually matters.
SubcontractorsUp $1,900 on August
$3,100One-off
Tools & equipmentNew drill and tester
$1,180One-off
Ute & fuelUp $520 since June
$2,450Creeping
Phone & softwareUp $190 since April
$640Creeping
Lines show April to September.
Three things worth a look
3
Questions, not ordersThe biggest moves in your month, each with a dollar figure and a question. No "you should". Just the stuff worth asking yourself about.
- Subbies cost $3,100, up $1,900 on August.Was that one big job, and did the quote allow for it?
- Fuel is $520 a month higher than June, up three months running.Is it the drive to the new site, or is the ute due for a service?
- Phone & software is $640, up $190 since April.Are you still using every app you're paying for?
The full list
Every line
September vs AugustEvery line from your Xero P&L, every month, with the change in dollars and percent. For when you want the detail.
| Line | Sep | Aug | Change | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Money in | 38,400 | 36,100 | +2,300 | +6% |
| Materials | 13,800 | 12,900 | +900 | +7% |
| Subcontractors | 3,100 | 1,200 | +1,900 | +158% |
| Kept from jobs | 21,500 | 22,000 | −500 | −2% |
| Apprentice wages | 6,200 | 6,200 | 0 | 0% |
| Ute & fuel | 2,450 | 2,210 | +240 | +11% |
| Tools & equipment | 1,180 | 210 | +970 | +462% |
| Insurance | 1,100 | 1,100 | 0 | 0% |
| Phone & software | 640 | 590 | +50 | +8% |
| Accounting & bank | 420 | 400 | +20 | +5% |
| Advertising | 310 | 310 | 0 | 0% |
| Other | 900 | 980 | −80 | −8% |
| Running costs | 13,200 | 12,000 | +1,200 | +10% |
| You kept | 8,300 | 10,000 | −1,700 | −17% |
Example figures for a made-up electrician, ex-GST. Your report uses your own numbers.
Chapter 1 Who it's for
Tradies on the tools, turning over $75k to $500k a year.
You've got Xero, or your bookkeeper does. You know roughly how the month went. Nobody's ever sat down and told you why.
Sparkies
Materials swing with every job. Know what you kept after the cable and switchboards.
Plumbers
Call-outs and fit-outs in the same month. See which ones actually paid.
Chippies
Find out if your rate still covers the ute, the tools and the insurance.
Painters
Paint, subbies and time. See what's left once they're paid.
Landscapers
Busy months and quiet ones. Know your line before the slow patch hits.
Ever stared at a Xero P&L and thought "yeah, but what does this actually mean for me?" This is for you.
Chapter 2 The problem
Xero knows everything. It just doesn't say it in English.
- The P&L is written for accountants.
Cost of sales, gross profit, operating expenses. Useful if you've been trained to read it. Most tradies haven't.
- You hear about it once a quarter.
By then, the costs creeping up have been creeping for months.
- Nobody tells you why.
A P&L shows what happened. It doesn't tell you which job, which bill or which habit caused it.
Your Xero P&L
| Total Cost of Sales | 16,900.00 |
| Gross Profit | 21,500.00 |
| Motor Vehicle Expenses | 2,450.18 |
| Total Operating Expenses | 13,200.00 |
| Net Profit | 8,300.00 |
↓ What we send you
Amber month. You kept $8,300, which is $1,700 less than August. Most of it was extra subbies and a new drill.
Chapter 3 How it works
One export in. One report back.
No dashboards to log into. No new software. Just a PDF in your inbox once a month.
Send your Xero export
One CSV from Xero each month. Takes about 30 seconds. We'll show you how the first time.
Get your report
A 4-page PDF lands in your inbox within 24 hours.
Read it anywhere
On the ute, in the office, wherever. It's made to read on your phone.
Same again next month
And we tell you how last month's flags are tracking.
Built for XeroNot on Xero? Email tetotech1@outlook.com and we'll talk it through.
Chapter 4 Sample report
Page one of your report.
Here's how a month opens for an example sparky. The verdict, the four numbers that matter, your line, and three things worth a look.
Brookes Electrical · September 2026
Prepared by Numbers That Make Sense from a Xero export. Example business.
Amber
More work came in than August, but you kept $1,700 less, mostly from extra subbies and a new drill.
Money in$38,400
Kept from jobs$21,500
Running costs$13,200
You kept$8,300
Your line this month$23,600
You beat it by $14,800
Three things worth a look
- Subbies cost $3,100, up $1,900 on August.Was that one big job, and did the quote allow for it?
- Fuel is $520 a month higher than June.Is it the drive to the new site, or is the ute due for a service?
- Phone & software is up $190 since April.Are you still using every app you're paying for?
Numbers That Make Sense · a TeTo Tech servicePage 1 of 4 · All figures ex-GST
Jobs vs running costsWhat you kept from the work, and what the business cost to run.
Costs that stood outOne-offs and creeping costs, ranked by dollars.
The full listEvery line, with the change in dollars and percent.
Chapter 5 Pricing
One price. First report free.
See what you're getting before you pay a cent.
Monthly report
$79 / month
Pay monthly. Cancel anytime.
Your first report is free.
Every month you get
- Your month in plain English with a green, amber or red verdict
- Jobs vs running costs split so you know what to fix
- Your line the work you need just to cover costs
- Costs that stood out one-offs vs creepers, ranked by dollars
- Three things worth a look each with a dollar figure
- The full list every line, every month
General information only, not financial, tax or accounting advice. Report figures are shown ex-GST.
Chapter 6 About TeTo Tech
Why we built it.
Most accountants send you a P&L once a quarter, charge you a few hundred dollars for it, and expect you to work out what it means.
We think you deserve someone telling you what the numbers actually say, in words you'd use at the pub, not the words your accountant uses at tax time.
Numbers That Make Sense is run by Ted and Tom, the founders of TeTo Tech in Queensland. You deal with us directly. Email tetotech1@outlook.com any time.
TeTedCo-founder, TeTo Tech
ToTomCo-founder, TeTo Tech