For tradies
Expense tracking and bookkeeping for tradies
Tools in the morning, timber at lunch, fuel on the way home. Expense tracking for tradies means sorting spending that lands all day, every day — so AI2Fin reads your bank feed, tells job spending apart from personal, and keeps the deductions counted as they happen. Tax time becomes a review instead of a reconstruction.
What Fin does for you
Site spending and the weekly shop, told apart
One card pays for the timber and the groceries. Every transaction is sorted the day it lands, so job spending stays separate from personal without a Sunday night of scrolling back through the statement.
Tools, ute and hi-vis, all counted
Trades rack up more claimable spending than almost any occupation — and lose more of it to receipts that fade in a console. Deductible spend is flagged as it arrives: tools, fuel, protective gear, licences and tickets.
GST captured on the way past
Materials carry GST, and so does most of what goes in the ute. Fin tracks it per transaction as the spending is categorised, so the period totals are built from rows you have already seen rather than assembled the night before.
What the job actually cost you
You quote one number and spend another. Group spending by job, site or client and watch the gap open while there is still something you can do about it — not three months later when the invoice is long paid.
The paperwork stops following you home
The sorting runs in the background while you are on the tools. Your books stay current on their own, so the evenings and the weekend go back to being yours.
What to keep, and what Fin does with it
The categories that come up most on a trade return, the record that backs each one, and where it comes from once your account is connected.
| Spending | The record that backs it | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Tools and equipment | Receipt showing the item and date. On wages the $300 rule decides whether it is claimed outright — tested per item, but a set or several near-identical tools count together against it; on an ABN it is depreciation or a small-business write-off instead | Bank transaction, with the receipt photographed or forwarded and matched to it |
| Fuel and vehicle running costs | Both methods are for a car — under one tonne, fewer than nine passengers — so a valid 12-week logbook, or your work-related kilometres for cents-per-kilometre. A heavier ute is claimed at actual cost instead | Fuel and servicing transactions categorised as they land; the logbook stays yours to keep |
| Materials and consumables | Supplier receipts. What you use up on the job is claimed in the year you buy it; materials still on hand at year end can count as trading stock instead, so the closing figure matters | Merchant recognised from the transaction and sorted automatically |
| Protective clothing and safety gear | Receipt for items protective by design — hi-vis, steel caps, respirators — plus laundering costs | Categorised from the transaction, flagged as likely deductible for review |
| Licences, tickets and union fees | Renewal notice or receipt for a licence you already hold | Recognised as a recurring payment and surfaced ahead of the next one |
| GST on eligible purchases | A valid tax invoice. A credit needs a creditable acquisition, so spending that carried no GST, private purchases and input-taxed items sit outside it | Captured per transaction as the spending is categorised, ready for the period totals |
What you can claim
Plain-English guides to the deductions that come up most for work like yours — what usually counts, what usually does not, and the records worth keeping.
Tradies
As a tradie you can generally claim the tools, protective gear, and work-related vehicle travel you pay for yourself — the things you buy to actually do the job.
Electricians
As an electrician you can generally claim the test instruments and insulated tools you buy yourself, the renewals that keep your licence and endorsements current, and travel between sites.
Plumbers
As a plumber you can generally claim the tools and machines you buy yourself, the revalidations that keep your endorsements current, tool insurance, and the running costs of the van.
Carpenters
As a carpenter you can generally claim the tools and consumables you buy yourself, the site tickets you keep current, protective gear, and travel between sites.
Painters
As a painter you can generally claim spray and access equipment, the consumables that get used up on every job, respiratory protection, and travel between sites.
Did you know?
Tampons were taxed at 10% as a non-essential item for nearly two decades while condoms, sunscreen and lubricant were GST-free — until the 'tampon tax' was finally scrapped in 2019.
After a campaign of nearly two decades, Commonwealth, state and territory treasurers unanimously agreed on 3 October 2018 to make menstrual products GST-free from 1 January 2019, giving up about $30 million a year in revenue.
Every member of the OECD uses a Value-Added Tax except one: the United States. Instead of a national consumption tax, the US relies on a patchwork of state and local retail sales taxes, in place in 45 of the 50 states plus Washington, D.C. As a result, the US raises only about 16.8% of government revenue from consumption taxes, roughly half the OECD average of about 31%.
A US-style retail sales tax is charged once at the final sale, whereas VAT is collected in slices at every stage of the supply chain.
Pricing
Choose the plan that fits your needs. No hidden fees, no surprises.
Hover over any feature to learn more
FREE
Essential features for getting started with financial management
- Dashboard overview
- Category management
- Travel expense tracking
- Recurring pattern tracking and insight
- Basic expense management
- Budget Allocations
- Smart filtering
- AI2 Fin Agent Assistant
- VAT/GST Calculations
PREMIUM
Advanced features for comprehensive financial management
- Everything in Free
- Connections In (Auto Import)
- Bulk Management & Analyses
- All transactions view
- Custom Automation Rules
- Photo Receipt Capture
- AI Chat File Uploads
- ATO export functionality
- AI Categorization
- Context Aware AI Tax Analysis
- Advanced Pattern Analysis
- CSV Bank Imports
ELITE+
Full automation with priority support and email-to-expense
- Everything in Premium
- Intelligent Automation
- Email Processing
- Lenses
- BAS/VAT Reporting
- Outbound DestinationsGoogle SheetsMicrosoft ExcelNotionAirtable
- Priority Support
AUTO+
Next-generation intelligent automation and autopilot features
- Everything in ELITE+
- Insights+
- Reports on autopilot
- Smart Transaction Rules
- Predictive Analytics
ENTERPRISE
Enterprise-grade data control is the default here — on every plan.
Your records can stay on your own machine or in your own cloud, telemetry stays off unless you turn it on, and Fin keeps an auditable record of everything it sends. Enterprise adds the people and the paperwork: dedicated support, custom deployment and reviews for large-scale operations.
Verify it yourselfTradies — common questions
Does this replace ServiceM8, Tradify or simPRO?
No — those are job management: quoting, scheduling, dispatch and getting the invoice out. AI2Fin handles the money side underneath them, reading your bank feed, sorting what you spent, capturing GST and surfacing deductions through the year. Most tradies run job software for the work and something separate for the money — this is the something separate, and it is the half that decides what you keep.
Where do the receipts in my ute end up?
Snap a paper docket at the counter, forward an emailed one, or upload it later — the merchant, amount, date and line items are read automatically and matched to the bank transaction they back. Thermal paper fades within months, so capturing early is what keeps a faded receipt from becoming the weak point in your records.
Can it keep GST separated for my BAS?
Yes. GST is captured per transaction as your spending is categorised, so the totals for the period come from rows you have already reviewed rather than a scramble at the end. Full BAS reporting sits on the ELITE+ plan; the per-transaction GST tracking underneath it starts earlier.
It is just me and the ute — is this overkill?
No. Most of what it does is the part you would otherwise do by hand: sorting transactions, chasing receipts and trying to remember what was claimable. Nothing has to be set up per job and no bookkeeping knowledge is assumed — connect the account, review what Fin sorted, and get back to it.
What can a tradie claim at tax time?
Tools and equipment, protective clothing, fuel and vehicle running costs for travel between sites, materials, licences, tickets and union fees are the categories that come up most often. Fin surfaces them from your real spending so you can review what applies to you. The full breakdown, including what usually is not claimable, is in the tradie deduction guide. AI2Fin helps you find and organise potential deductions; always confirm what applies to you with your accountant or tax authority.
Can I start on the free plan?
Yes. The free plan covers the dashboard, expense management and categories — enough to watch a month of spending sort itself before you pay for anything. Paid plans add the deeper tax analysis, the ATO export and BAS reporting. See the plans below.
Built for how you work
One account, two lives, already sorted
For freelancersKnow what’s yours to keep, every month
For contractorsEvery job costed by the time you’re home
For small businessMonth-end that’s already done
For growing businessesOne set of transactions, sliced every way that matters
For studentsMoney that still exists in week four
For creatorsEvery payout in one number, gear and all
For businesses with an accountantYour handover fits in one email
Start free — your money, sorted
Let Fin handle the busywork while you get on with what matters.
Get 2Fin free →Explore features, see pricing, or read about security & trust.