Expense Tracking for Tradespeople — Know Where Every Pound Goes

The problem: tradespeople don't track expenses properly

Most tradespeople know roughly what they earn. Very few know exactly what they spend. And the gap between those two numbers is where profit lives — or dies.

Here's what usually happens: you buy materials at Screwfix, diesel on the way to site, pay a labourer cash for the day, hire a skip. You know these are costs, but you don't write them down against the specific job. At the end of the month, the money in your account is less than expected, but you can't say exactly why.

The real cost isn't the missed expense — it's the wrong decision you make because of it. You quote the next similar job at the same price, thinking you made money last time, when you actually broke even. Or worse, you lost money and didn't know it.

How VoxTrade tracks expenses

VoxTrade gives you two ways to log expenses, both designed for tradespeople who are on site with dirty hands and 30 seconds to spare:

Voice logging

Say it out loud: "Spent forty-five pounds on plasterboard at Wickes for the Smith kitchen job." VoxTrade's AI extracts the amount, category, supplier, and project — and files it. Done in the time it takes to say the sentence.

Receipt scanning

Photograph any receipt. The AI reads the supplier, date, line items, VAT, and total. Assign it to a project with one tap. The original image is stored as proof.

Per-project categorisation

Every expense is linked to a specific project. You can see exactly what you've spent on materials, fuel, tool hire, subcontractors, and more — per job, not just overall. This is what turns expense tracking from a bookkeeping chore into a tool for making better business decisions.

What you can track

• Materials: timber, plasterboard, bricks, cement, plumbing fittings, electrical supplies, paint, adhesives, fixings
• Fuel: diesel, petrol, mileage to and from site
• Tool hire: scaffolding, skip hire, specialist equipment rental
• Subcontractor costs: labourers, specialist trades you bring in
• Consumables: PPE, drill bits, saw blades, sandpaper, cleaning products
• Other costs: parking, congestion charges, permits, waste disposal

If it costs you money on a job, you can track it. And because it's linked to a project, you'll see its impact on that job's profit margin in real time.

Frequently asked questions