8 hours saved per week. Job admin that runs itself.
"We were spending 8 hours a week just on admin: booking confirmations, job sheets, invoices. Now it runs itself."Jake D., Director, Greenline Plumbing
Time saved
8 hrs/wk
Live in
28 days
Tools connected
3
New software
$0
The business
Greenline Plumbing is a growing plumbing company serving residential and commercial clients. At the time of this project, they had a director, two office staff, and six field technicians across a busy service area.
They were using ServiceM8 for job management, Xero for accounting, and a separate system to keep track of customers. None of the tools were connected to each other.
The problem
Every time a job was completed in ServiceM8, someone had to:
- 01Check the job notes and materials used in ServiceM8
- 02Create an invoice in Xero manually, copying the client details, line items, and amounts
- 03Email a completion confirmation to the client
- 04Update the client record in their customer system with job notes and status
With 40–60 jobs per week, this was consuming 8 hours of admin time, and errors were common. An invoice created with the wrong line items meant back-and-forth with the client. A missed customer record update meant lost follow-up opportunities.
The cost
8 hours per week of office staff time, at average AU admin wages, costs approximately $18,000–$22,000 per year. Plus the cost of errors, delayed invoicing, and missed follow-ups.
What we built
ServiceM8 → Xero: Automatic invoicing
When a job is marked as completed in ServiceM8, a Xero invoice is automatically created with the correct client details, all line items (labour, materials, callout fees), GST, and payment terms. The invoice is sent directly to the client without anyone touching Xero.
ServiceM8 → Email: Completion confirmations
A completion email is sent automatically to the client when a job is marked done. The email pulls the technician's name, job notes, and next steps from ServiceM8. No template-filling, no manual sending.
ServiceM8 → Customer system: Record updates
Completed jobs update the client record in the customer system automatically, including job date, technician, notes, and outcome. New clients from ServiceM8 are created in the customer system if they don't already exist.
Xero → ServiceM8: Payment reconciliation
When a client pays an invoice in Xero, the corresponding job in ServiceM8 is updated to "paid" automatically. No manual reconciliation.
The result
The automations went live on day 28 of the project. In the first week, Greenline processed 52 jobs with zero manual data entry between systems.
The office team freed 8 hours per week of admin work. That time was redirected toward following up quotes and handling new client enquiries, work that directly contributes to revenue.
"I honestly didn't think it would be this clean. We showed it to a few clients during testing and they couldn't tell it was automated. The invoices look exactly the same. They just arrive faster."Jake D., Director, Greenline Plumbing
Project details
Industry
Trades · Plumbing
Tools connected
ServiceM8, Xero, customer system
Automation platform
n8n (self-hosted)
Project type
Systems Integration
Delivery time
28 days
Ongoing
Managed Services plan
Similar automation for your trades business
We've built similar workflows for electricians, builders, and other trades businesses across Australia. The specific tools vary, but the problem is almost always the same: disconnected job management and accounting systems.