Rob Lemme Plumbing Services is a Wollongong-based commercial, industrial, and fire services plumbing business run by owner Rob Lemme.
Rob’s been in plumbing for 20 years, started as an apprentice, worked his way up to supervisor, before launching his own business. His crew has grown fast to eight field workers that handle a mix of maintenance work and bigger multi-section projects.
The Challenge
After Hours Admin
Rob was flat out in the field most days, then spending 20–30 hours a week after hours doing admin. Job paperwork, supplier invoices, site forms, and safety docs were mostly manual processes filled out on whiteboards, paper notes, photos texted through, all of which Rob had to re-enter into Xero manually each night. It meant double-handling, too much paper, and everything needing to pass through Rob’s hands before it got finished.
That really was the ultimate objective of this project was to get them doing the the grunt work for me because basically what i was doing was doing well we were double handling it they were tracking all the data but it was getting written down on paper and then they were sending photos to me and then i was deciphering it at night time and then manually putting it into xero myself and it was just the whole thing was just pointless…
On top of that, Rob needed a system that:
- Cut out paper and reduced admin bottlenecks
- Let the boys capture job data in the field without giving admin full financial access
- Handled multiple quotes/invoices per job and variable pricing
- Integrated cleanly with Xero and Reece supplier invoicing
- Supported heavy compliance and form work for industrial sites
The Solution
Automation, Team training and form templates
TradiePad ran a full setup and training project with Rob, led by trainers Ray and Roger. After scoping Rob’s workflow and goals, TradiePad recommended Ascora as the job management platform and some tweaking of his existing Google Workspace. Ascora was picked because it could be kept simple at the start, but had plenty of room to grow into as Rob’s business kept evolving.
Key parts of the setup included:
- Ascora job management + mobile app rollout
With most of the team on Android, Ascora was a good fit. The app gave the crew a single place to log timesheets, job notes, photos, stock used, and job progress, right there on site. Permissions were set so field staff could do the data capture without having open slather on financials.
- Supplier invoice automation (Reece → Ascora → Xero)
Rob especially liked the automated importing of Reece supplier invoices and auto-mapping them to jobs. This removed a big chunk of nightly paperwork and made job costing far more accurate.
- Forms and compliance built into Ascora
Rob’s work is “form heavy” with SWMS, risk assessments, work orders, inductions, and safety docs required on most jobs. TradiePad helped set up Ascora’s forms so everything could be completed and stored against the job in one app, replacing HazardCo and eliminating paper folders in utes.
- Job profitability & reporting
Ascora’s job profitability table and reporting gave Rob visibility on quoted vs actual costs, helping tighten up pricing and future quoting accuracy.
- Licence, competency, and asset tracking
TradiePad helped configure licence/competency tracking so Rob could quickly pull licences for major project requirements without chasing the boys for photos.
There were a couple of hurdles to work through, mainly keeping the rollout straightforward so the team didn’t get overwhelmed, and building out Rob’s custom forms properly. But with hands-on training and setup support, the crew got it quickly, and Rob didn’t have to battle through a complicated system solo.
I'm really glad I went for you guys to be honest and this is the reason why because i know that i knew that no program was just going to be simple out of the box i knew it was going to require set up and you know know how… I wouldn't have been able to set it up properly without your guys' assistance so everything's coming together exactly as I hoped.
The Result
STREAMLINED PROCESSES AND ABILITY TO SCALE
Rob saw a massive drop in after-hours admin pretty much straight away. Instead of spending a big chunk of every night buried in paperwork, Ascora and TradiePad’s setup meant the boys were capturing everything properly in the field, so Rob wasn’t double-handling jobs back at home. As he put it,
“These days it’s a lot easier. And especially you know with getting you guys onboard now. It’s probably saving me about an hour or two every night now so, you know, It’s getting even easier!”
And the longer they used the system, the bigger that time saving got. What used to be long 3–4 hour admin nights shrank down to half an hour or sometimes none at all because job info, photos, stock, and paperwork were already sitting in Ascora ready to go.
I honestly think Ascora, when I work out how much time per day it saves me. It honestly saved me about three hours a day of paperwork from what I was doing. No joke. It's probably at least two and a half hours a day. Sometimes it would be four hours a day at night!
wins
- The business now runs like a proper operation, not a one-man band. Rob summed it up perfectly:
“I suppose from my part, I’m glad I stumbled across you guys and we’ve come this far. It’s been great! It’s definitely taken the business to the next level in terms of professionalism and just efficiency and operation. It definitely feels like we’re actually running as a proper company.”
- The crew adopted Ascora fast and actually enjoy using it:
“I came into it saying I’m not putting this level of investment in, whether it be money or time, and not committing to this 100%… they’ve picked it up really quickly. They’re finding it quite easy to use which is great… it’s already saving me time. A LOT of time. So it’s achieving its objectives.”
- Forms and safety paperwork went from painful to smooth, with customers noticing the difference:
“Our stuff needs to be very specific, needed to be flexible, and that’s where the forms have come in massively for us… The forms have just cut out so much of that issue and they’ve revolutionised it for us… our customer is even super jealous of us…”
- Rob now can’t picture running without Ascora and TradiePad’s help:
“It’s going fantastic, mate. We’re at that point now where I can’t imagine running the business now without Ascora. It’s been revolutionary for us. So very happy!”
Ready to wave goodbye to after hours admin?
If you’re like Rob smashing out jobs all day then drowning in paperwork every night, TradiePad can help you set up the right system, train your crew properly, and get the admin off your shoulders.
Book a 15 minute chat and let’s get your business running smoother, with less paper and more profit.
