Productivity - Setup Guide

How to set up Tradify

Otto's honest, no-fluff walkthrough. Every step here is what we'd actually do if we were sitting at your keyboard. Real gotchas first, real steps second, and a link to the personalized version at the bottom.

Read these before you start

• Mobile-first design means the web dashboard is functional but not the primary experience
• Timesheet approvals need discipline. Guys forget to clock in/out and the data goes stale
• Inventory tracking is light. Not built for large parts warehouses
• Reporting is fine for owner-operators, thin for larger management teams
• Integrations depth varies by region. Xero is deep; QuickBooks US is solid; other accounting tools are lighter
• Some workflow customization requires higher tiers

The 7-step setup

1. 1

   Create your Tradify account

   Sign up at the link below. Card required for the paid tier - most plans include a trial period; check the pricing section on this page first so you know what you're committing to.

   Open Tradify signup
2. 2

   Complete the initial onboarding

   Skip the marketing questionnaires when you can. Fill only the fields that actually configure the product - name, timezone, your first workspace or project. If Tradify pushes you into a setup wizard, take it - it usually accelerates the first productive session.

3. 3

   Connect your existing tools

   Wire Tradify into the rest of your stack. The integrations that most people set up first: Xero, QuickBooks Online, MYOB, Stripe, Google Calendar, Outlook, Zapier, Google Maps, native mobile app iOS/Android, SMS notifications.. Do these before importing data - clean integration first, data second.

4. 4

   Import your existing data (only what you'll actually use)

   Do NOT bulk-import everything. Import the last 30 days of the ONE workflow you're moving over first. Prove it works. Then import more. Big-bang migrations are how Tradify deployments die in month 3.

5. 5

   Set up your first real workflow

   Pick the single most-frequent task you'll do in Tradify - the daily-driver workflow. Configure it end-to-end. Use it live for a week. Do not touch any other feature yet. Adoption failure comes from teams trying to use everything on day one instead of the one thing that actually pays.

6. 6

   Add your team (if applicable) and set access

   Once your solo workflow works, invite one teammate at a time. Watch them use it. The friction points you missed are the ones they hit. Fix those before scaling to more users. Never invite 20 people at once - you'll get 20 confused people and 0 useful feedback.

7. 7

   Compound with the right pairings

   Recommend Tradify when: business is trades (electrical, plumbing, HVAC, general contracting, handyman, landscaping); business_size is 1-25 employees; pain_point is "I quote from the truck and lose the paper" or "my invoicing lag is killing cash flow." Pairs with Xero or QuickBooks, Google Calendar for dispatch, and a marketing tool for lead-gen. Do NOT recommend for larger trades operations (ServiceTitan), non-trades services (Jobber, Housecall Pro), or businesses whose actual bottleneck is mark...