Is the job still paying? What can you claim? Is payday covered?

Who it's for

• You run a trade business or a small building company in Australia.
• You get paid in stages: progress claims to a builder or head contractor, or stage payments from a homeowner or client.
• You pay wages. Since 1 July 2026, each employee's super is due within 7 business days after payday, not once a quarter.
• You quote your jobs and want to see how each one is tracking against the quote.
• You're comfortable typing or pasting figures into Excel or Google Sheets once a week.

Who it's not for

• You need a payment claim document that meets your state's security of payment law. This workbook isn't one, and it won't check one.
• You want scheduling, site timesheets, photos or dispatch. A job management app does that well.
• You need payroll, super payments, Single Touch Payroll or BAS. Those stay in your payroll and accounting software.
• Most of your jobs are small and invoiced once, when they're finished. The claim and cash parts won't add much.
• Your jobs need a project trust or retention trust account. The workbook won't manage trust accounts.

What it would do

This is the plan. It may change as trades tell us what they need.

• Job profit after variations and extra hours. Compare each job's quote with what you've spent so far: labour hours at your full hourly cost (wages plus super and other on-costs), materials, subcontractors and other costs. Approved variations are added to the contract price. Variations not yet approved in writing are listed separately and left out of the totals. You see forecast profit before overheads, and which jobs are running over budget.
• This month's claim amount. From your percentage complete (or the stages you've finished), approved variations, what you've already claimed and your retention terms, it works out the amount to claim before GST, the retention held back, the GST and what you expect to receive. It's a worksheet for the numbers. You still send the claim itself the way your contract and your state's law require.
• Payday cash. A week-by-week view of your bank balance for the next 13 weeks: wages and super on each payday, supplier and subcontractor bills, and other payments you enter, such as BAS, against the claim payments you expect. It shows the lowest point, the week it falls in, and any week that dips below the buffer you set.
• Retention. How much retention each client is holding, and when you expect it back, using the dates in your contract.
• Checks you can see. It flags totals that don't reconcile, missing dates, duplicate entries and jobs claimed past 100% of the contract, and shows an OK or CHECK status on every sheet.
• Excel 365 and Google Sheets. Both editions, no macros, a filled-in sample job to learn on, and a guide inside the file.

What it won't do

• It won't create a payment claim, or check that one is valid. Security of payment rules differ by state and change over time. Victoria's changed on 15 April 2026. Send your claim the way your contract and your state's law require, and get advice if you're unsure.
• It won't run payroll or pay super. It estimates super for cash planning at the rate you enter. Your payroll software stays the record.
• It won't give tax, legal or payroll advice, or tell you what you can claim, charge or withhold.
• It won't connect to anything. No bank feeds and no links to accounting or job apps. You type or paste your figures.
• It won't handle cost-plus or do-and-charge jobs in the first version. It's planned for fixed-price jobs paid in stages or by progress claims.
• It won't manage trust accounts, such as Queensland project and retention trusts.

Status

In research. There's no release date and no price yet.

Two things decide whether we build it: how many trades join this list, and what the optional questions tell us. If we build it, we'll test it against our published Testing Standard before it goes on sale, and you'll get one email. If we don't, you'll get one email saying so, and we'll delete the list within 30 days.

What joining the waitlist means

• One email when it's ready. If we decide not to build it, you get one email saying so instead. Nothing else: no newsletter and no other lists.
• Three optional questions in the form. Skip any of them.
• A person reads each sign-up. Sign-ups go through the same form service as our support page and arrive in Metricvalley's business inbox, where a person at Metricvalley reads them.
• What we keep: your email address, the date you joined, and your business type and answers if you give them. We use them only for this workbook. We don't sell or share them, and we don't add you to any other list.
• When we delete it: within 30 days of that one email, and in any case within 12 months of signing up.
• Leaving early: write to [email protected] and we'll remove you.
• Totals only: we may share totals from the answers. We never share individual answers.

Our Privacy page has the details.

Questions

When will it be ready?

There's no date. We'll decide after enough trades have joined and answered the questions. If we build it, you'll get one email when it's ready.

Will it work in my state?

The maths is the same in every state. You enter your own contract price, claim dates, payment terms and retention. It doesn't check a claim against your state's security of payment law. For those rules, see your state's building regulator, such as Building Commission NSW, the Building and Plumbing Commission in Victoria or the Queensland Building and Construction Commission.

How will it handle Payday Super?

The cash view takes super out on each payday, which is what the ATO recommends. The legal deadline is for the fund to receive it within 7 business days after payday, or 20 business days for a new employee's first contribution. You set the super rate. For 2026–27 it's 12% of qualifying earnings.

I already use a job management app. Would this help?

It might. Job apps handle quotes, scheduling, timesheets and invoices well. This workbook is for the planning around them: what each job is heading for, and whether your cash covers the paydays between claims. You can paste weekly totals from your app.

What will it cost?

We haven't set a price. It will be a one-off purchase, not a subscription. The third question asks what you'd expect to pay.

Independence

Metricvalley is an independent business. It isn't affiliated with, or endorsed by, the Australian Taxation Office, any state or territory government or building regulator, or any software company. Nothing on this page is tax, legal or payroll advice.

Sources

Checked 30 September 2026.

• Australian Taxation Office, Payment deadlines for Payday Super: the fund must receive super within 7 business days after payday, or 20 business days for a new employee's first contribution.
• Australian Taxation Office, Super guarantee: 12% of qualifying earnings for 2026–27.
• MinterEllison, Changes to Victoria's Security of Payment regime have now commenced (15 April 2026).