PRESS RELEASE: The Hidden Margin Leak Putting Billions in Tradie Revenue at Risk

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Hidden Margin Leak Putting Billions in Tradie Revenue at Risk
With admin drag, missed charges and poor site data putting pressure on job costing, the gap between site and office is becoming a margin issue for trade businesses.
Auckland / Sydney, 5 May 2026 — Australia’s trade businesses are under pressure to protect margin, improve cash flow and run tighter jobs, but one of the biggest profit leaks may be happening before the invoice is even raised: on site.
Australian Bureau of Statistics data released in June 2025 shows the construction industry was responsible for 7.0% of Australia’s GDP in 2023-24, employed around 1.3 million people, and generated $633.6 billion in total income. Within that, construction services — the part of the sector commonly referred to as tradies — generated $276.1 billion in income.
That means even a 1% leakage in missed charges, admin drag, rework, delayed invoicing or poor job data would represent around $2.8 billion in value at risk.
Research from hipages shows 66% of tradies have experienced lost work or jobs due to the amount of time spent on business admin, while 78% say time is wasted chasing quotes, invoices and payments. The same research found 49% of tradies have seen job costs exceed client budgets due to miscommunication, while 43% have missed or delayed deadlines.
For NextMinute CEO Alex Jenks, the issue is not just the amount of admin. It is the quality of the information flowing from the job site back to the office.
“For trade businesses, poor site data is not just an admin problem. It is a job-costing problem, a cash-flow problem and a margin problem,” Jenks said.
“If timesheets are late, photos are missing, charge-up work is forgotten, or job notes are buried in text messages, the office is already working with incomplete information. That makes it harder to invoice accurately, manage payroll, track actuals against estimates and understand whether a job is really making money.”
The problem is compounded by payment pressure. Xero Small Business Insights data for the December quarter of 2025 shows Australian small businesses were paid 6.6 days late on average, even as construction recorded 9.5% year-on-year sales growth and 5.3% year-on-year jobs growth.
NextMinute, job management software built for builders and tradies, has launched a rebuilt mobile app designed to help close the gap between site and office by making it easier for crews to capture the right information while the work is happening.
The new app has been rebuilt from the ground up using Flutter, Google’s modern cross-platform app framework. For NextMinute customers, that means a faster, more stable and more consistent experience across both iPhone and Android, as well as a stronger platform for future product development.
Site teams can use the rebuilt app to log timesheets against the right job, add photos and expenses, use talk-to-text to add notes to the site diary, view job details and site plans, check weather for job sites, and stay aligned with an updated mobile calendar experience.
“We know tradies do not want to stand around doing admin on a phone for ten minutes,” Jenks said.
“The app has to be quick, obvious and reliable. If it is not easy enough for the crew to use every day, the whole workflow falls over. That is why this rebuild matters so much.”
Better on-site data gives trade businesses a clearer view of labour, costs, photos, notes, expenses and job progress. That helps office teams prepare payroll and invoices with less chasing, gives owners better visibility over actuals versus estimates, and reduces the risk of missed charges or undocumented variations.
The rebuilt mobile app also marks a strategic shift for NextMinute’s product roadmap.
According to Jenks, the previous mobile platform was becoming outdated and limiting what the team could deliver. The move to Flutter clears the way for NextMinute to focus on key features customers have been asking for, including new integrations, checklists and further workflow improvements designed to reduce admin and improve job visibility.
“This was not just a cosmetic refresh,” Jenks said.
“We made the call to rebuild the app properly because the old platform was holding us back. Moving to Flutter gives us a much stronger base to deliver the speed, stability and ease of use our customers expect, and it means we can respond much faster to what tradies are asking for.”
Jenks said the rebuild is both an immediate improvement for customers and an investment in the future of the platform.
“This rebuild improves the experience today, but just as importantly, it gives us the ability to ship new features much faster,” he said.
“Our customers are always telling us where they want the product to go. With this foundation in place, we are in a much better position to deliver on that — from integrations and checklists to many more improvements that help trade businesses run cleaner, more profitable jobs.”
For trade businesses trying to protect margin, reduce admin and improve cash flow, Jenks said the lesson is simple: cleaner job costing starts with better information from site.
“The details matter,” Jenks said.
“The extra hours, the photos, the expenses, the site notes, the charges, the variations — those are the things that determine whether the office has a clear picture of the job. Better site data means better decisions, cleaner invoicing and stronger control over profitability.”
The new NextMinute mobile app is available now on iOS and Android.
About NextMinute
NextMinute is job management software built for builders and tradies. It helps trade businesses quote, schedule, track time and costs, manage variations, invoice and report from one system. With customers across New Zealand and Australia, NextMinute is focused on helping project-based trade teams run smoother, more profitable businesses.
Media contact
Alex Jenks
CEO, NextMinute
[email protected]