What a solo plumber actually needs
Plumbing swings between two worlds: planned jobs you can quote properly, and emergencies where you are under a sink at midnight and someone wants a price. Both have to be invoiced and paid.
- Standard and after-hours rates — set both once so emergency callouts are priced properly, not guessed at the door.
- On-the-spot quotes — itemise the hot water unit, the parts and the labour and hand over a real price while you're standing in the laundry.
- Your licence number on every doc — plumbing and gas work needs your details on the paperwork; set it once.
- Somewhere for the compliance certificate — keep notes and photos against the job for the plumbing/gas compliance certificate the work requires.
- Deposits on installs — ask for a deposit on a hot water system or bathroom job so the unit isn't coming out of your pocket.
Typical line items it handles
Burst and leaking pipes, blocked drains and CCTV drain work, hot water system supply and install, tap and mixer repairs, toilet repairs and replacements, leak detection, gas appliance connections, backflow and tempering valves, and your callout fee. Save the jobs you do every week and they drop straight into the next quote.
What “job management” actually means for a one-van plumber
Plenty of products sell plumbing job management and mean a dispatch board for six vans. On one van it means something much plainer, knowing what's booked, what's done but not invoiced and what's invoiced but not paid, without keeping any of it in your head.
- Every job on one screen — quoted, booked, in progress, done, invoiced, paid. The screen tells you the next step rather than making you work it out.
- Scheduling that survives a burst pipe — book jobs against days, then move them when an emergency eats your morning. Recurring maintenance visits for agents book themselves back in.
- Materials against the job — put the hot water unit and the fittings on the job so the profit on it is the real number, not the invoice total.
- Job notes and photos — the before shot, the meter reading, the note about where the isolation valve is, all against the job instead of in your camera roll.
- It works with no signal — under a house or in a plant room, the job still saves and syncs when you surface.
Stop chasing builders and property managers
Maintenance jobs for agents and slow-paying builders are where plumbers lose the most time chasing money. Yamate invoices the moment you finish, puts your PayID or bank details on the invoice, and chases overdue accounts automatically by text until they pay.
Try Yamate free — built for solo plumbers →FAQ
What's the best invoicing app for plumbers in Australia?
One that lets you quote emergencies and installs on site and get paid fast. Yamate is built for solo plumbers — standard + after-hours rates, on-the-spot quotes, GST invoicing and auto-chasing — from $19/mo (founder price, until 30 Sept) on iPhone and Android.
Can I set an after-hours / emergency callout rate?
Yes — save a standard rate and an after-hours rate so emergency jobs are priced correctly every time.
Can I take a deposit on a hot water system install?
Yes. Add a deposit to the quote and request it before you order the unit. Check your state's rules on deposit limits for the work.
Is this plumbing management software or just invoicing?
Both. The invoicing is what you notice first, but the job runs from the enquiry through the quote, the booking and the callout to the money landing, and that's the management part. For a one-van business that whole loop is one app, not four.
Does it work as plumbing scheduling software for emergency callouts?
Yes, and that is the case worth checking. Emergency work doesn't fit a roster, it arrives, it jumps the queue and it needs an after hours rate on it. Yamate takes the job in, prices it at the right rate and puts it in the day without you rebuilding the schedule around it. The wider calendar side is on job scheduling software.
Tickets, safety and a crew
Yamate keeps your plumbing and gas tickets on file and tells you before they lapse — yours and your crew's. It'll draft a Safe Work Method Statement for a job from what the job actually is; you read it and sign it, and Yamate doesn't issue certificates or lodge anything with a regulator.
Got an apprentice or a couple of hands? You are not too big for it — pay runs, payslips, super and licence dates are in here too, on the same flat price.
Taken someone on? The Founder plan includes up to 3 people. For larger crews, the Company plan includes 10 people, then $15/month for each additional person, and gives everyone their own login so you choose what each of them sees. And if you get stuck anywhere, Ask ya mate — type a question and it walks you through the screens, suggesting the tap rather than doing it for you.
Is this plumber software, or just invoicing?
Both, and the distinction is worth being straight about. Search plumber software and you will find products built for a business with several vans and an office — job costing, staff allocation, asset registers. Good software, aimed further up the road than most plumbers ever travel.
Yamate runs the loop a one-van plumber actually repeats: quote on site, book it in, do it, invoice from the ute, chase the money. Licences and insurance dates tracked so they do not ambush you, GST and BAS figures kept as you go.
What it is not: takeoff or estimating software, and not a job-costing system for a fleet. If you are pricing commercial work off plans, you want something else and we would rather say so here than in month two.
Free tools for plumbers
General information only. Plumbing and gas licensing and compliance requirements vary by state — check your local regulator.