How do you approach paying tradies

Hello
I am renovating again and was interested to hear how people handle paying anyone working on their properties.
Is cash in the hand worth the risk ? And what are the risks ? Do you ask for a written quote then follow up with a request for a cash price? How do you manage increases in cost following an agreed price ? Do you simply prefer a written quote , if so how many quotes do you chase ? Do you have a cash limit above which you insist on a quote ? If the quote blows out have you held the person to the quote ? How did you manage the hours workers book if your not present - at work yourself ?

Sorry for the many questions but I am time poor (and cash poor) which means trusting a lot of the work I would normally do or at least be present during to go out and make some money myself.

Thank You...

 

I don't offer cash anymore. For an IP, I want a tax invoice to maintain my paper trail.
For substantial works by trades - I give them a written scope of what I want done, and what materials I want used and ask them to price it. Most of the time I'll ask for fixed price.

 

Cashies will not be deductible and also open both yourself and the tradesman to litigation if things go wrong.

Ask for a fixed price quote and emphasise its a "Fixed Price" so you need to get your figures right beforehand Mr Tradesman.

 

I always pay tradies cash.

I forever trust tradies to turn up on time, do a quality job at low prices, issue me with a receipt, report GST and pay their PAYG installments.

Tradies are just genuine honest blokes trying to make a living.

pinkboy

 

Fixed price, bank transfer with invoice. This is more difficult than it sounds.
You get to the end, and I ask for an invoice, and am met with "Oh that price I gave, that was cash". Awkward.
The amount of times this has happened in the past 2 weeks I should know better. I was silly to assume that pricing quoted would be legit and invoiced!
Then I think to myself, hang on, what kind of plasterer, gets $50 an hour cash? And if you think about it. its more than that because they can also claim benefits, lower cost health care etc, whilst earning a 100k+ Tax free salary! Makes me really angry that the rest of us pay more tax to make up for those who dodge the system, and then all of the whiners complain about neg gearing! Then I think if I did this to my clients they would just about throw me out of their house!

 

The thing is, some actually are- my hubby and I have been astonished with the attitude of the tradies who we have had quoting, and he is a tradie who runs his own business aswell. The cheek they have is unbelievable.

 

Cash is king

Next is the almighty case

 

No.

- it's illegal
- no written quote
- can't claim the expense
- no tax invoice (as proof of purchase) if something goes wrong (warranty work)
- ATO penalties if you get caught

I always get a tax invoice and pay the GST included amount. No exceptions.

 

Was talking too the 3 Thai Ladies over the fence who live next door to where i have been working fixing up a run down rental,they had a blocked drain today and asked for advice,a tree root has gone inside the waste outlet about 3.5 mts inside..They rang 3 Plumbers call=out plus run the elec ell down too cut the tree root out,2 Plumbers said 180 bucks with a tax receipt 150 cash no receipt , the third 200 bucks with the cleanout upfront receipt and one year back-up..

 

In Sydney at the moment most tradies won't even turn up unless you agree to pay them cash.

 

While I prefer direct credit, I've paid with cash as long as I get a Tax Invoice.

 

In this case, "cash in hand" means no tax invoice.

 

Shall we change the subject to the Finance sector then ....

 

You get better mileage out of paying with beer.

 

But only after the works done.

 

Thanks pink boy. Nice to be acknowledged that we are human still.
As a tradie being s/e for 25 yrs you quote a job on many factors no 2 are the same. Depends on how the client treats you on first phone call and subsequent meetings etc. If renovating its sometimrs hard to predict what is involved in the job until you start ripping out walls and ceilings etc in areas that cannot be viewed. So you factor in the worst case scenario. If at the end of the job i allow say a day work and only took me half a day then i discount my work. If I'd started the same job and then discovered heaps of probs and client doesn't want to hear it and then they expect you'll fix it for love. Not going to happen. Best way to gey your tradie offside instantly.
I usually explain this to a client if there are many unknowns it may be best to work on an hourly. I like to be open and honest and treat people the same way you'd like to be treated. Treat me like a ******** then expect to be charged accordingly.......hope that explains so of the mysterys out there about tradies. These are just my musings and all tradies/ humans are different..
Thanks.
Yorkie

 

@yorkie - who wudda thunk it?