Custom software and automation for the work your business does by hand every week.
Custom software and business process automation · Sydney and Australia-wide
FingerTip builds custom applications, internal dashboards, automations and integrations for service businesses in Sydney and across Australia. Custom applications start from A$12,000 and automations from A$4,000, at a fixed price agreed in writing before work starts.
Free, 20 minutes, with Domenico Mastroianni, web consultant and software developer, who leads every FingerTip project. Bring one task, the systems it touches and how often it happens. You leave with a rough price range, so you know early whether the project fits your budget. No proposal you did not ask for.
What does custom software fix in a service business?
Custom software fixes the work that repeats in a service business.
A new job arrives by email. Someone types the client's details into the booking system, then types the same details into the invoicing software.
At the end of the month, someone opens three spreadsheets and rebuilds the same report by hand.
A client asks how their job is going. Nobody can see it in one place, so the answer starts with an email to a colleague.
Each of these jobs is small on its own. Repeated every week, the jobs add up to time spent moving information instead of doing the work.
Software you can buy fixes some of this repetition. When no product fits how your business runs, a tool built for your process is meant to remove the step instead of adding another login.
What kinds of custom software does FingerTip build?
FingerTip builds four kinds of custom software: internal dashboards, integrations, automations and custom applications. Each example below is software FingerTip built and runs today, inside its own business or on websites it manages. No client is named.
| What | What it does | An example FingerTip built |
|---|---|---|
| Internal dashboards | One place to see and manage work that is spread across emails, spreadsheets and systems | A project dashboard that holds every job, task and deadline, and sends notifications through three channels |
| Integrations | Two systems you already use, connected so the data moves by itself | A tracking plugin that records each website visit in the business's own analytics, so the visit data is not handed to an outside analytics company. When ads are running, it also reports to the business's Google Ads account. It runs on several client websites from one master copy. |
| Automations | A repeated task done by software from start to finish | An audit workflow that checks every page of a website, runs a screen reader through each page on a Mac and an iPhone, and writes the results to files |
| Custom applications | Software for one job your business does often | A desktop app and a command-line tool that make a test copy of a live website on the hosting platform, so changes are tried before they go live |
Not sure which kind your task is? Book the free 20-minute call →
What business processes can be automated?
Business process automation is software doing a repeated task from start to finish, such as copying new enquiries into a booking system, sending reminders, or building a monthly report. FingerTip builds automations from A$4,000.
A task suits automation when it follows the same steps each time. The systems involved must let other software read or send their data.
How does a custom software project work?
- A free 20-minute call. You describe the task and the systems involved. FingerTip gives you a rough price range.
- A free planning meeting. If the range works for you, FingerTip works through the task, your systems and what the software must do. You pay nothing for it unless you go ahead.
- A written scope and a fixed price. What will be built, what it connects to, what it costs and when it is due, all agreed in writing before work starts. Most projects take about two months.
- Built with check-ins. You see the software working along the way, so you can raise anything before handover.
- Handover. You receive the software, the installation documentation, and a walkthrough that teaches you and your staff to use it.
- Two months of fixes included. Anything that does not work as agreed in the first two months after handover is fixed at no charge.
- Hosting and support afterwards. FingerTip hosts the software on its own servers in Australia under a monthly retainer from A$220. The retainer includes 30 minutes of small changes and fixes each month. Software on your own server can have a maintenance retainer if you want one.
How much does custom software cost for a service business?
FingerTip custom applications and dashboards start from A$12,000. Automations and integrations start from A$4,000. Every project is priced as one fixed amount after the planning meeting, and agreed in writing before work starts. The price on this page is the price paid in full upfront. Paying in instalments costs more.
| Item | Price and terms |
|---|---|
| Free call and planning meeting | Free. You pay nothing unless you go ahead |
| Custom application or internal dashboard | From A$12,000, fixed price |
| Automation or integration | From A$4,000, fixed price |
| Paid in full before work starts | The quoted price |
| Two monthly payments | 10% more |
| Three monthly payments | 15% more |
| Fixes in the first two months after handover | Included |
| Changes outside the agreed scope | A$140 an hour, quoted and agreed before they are done |
| Monthly retainer after handover | From A$220 a month, including 30 minutes of small changes and fixes. Required when FingerTip hosts the software; optional on your own server |
The code FingerTip writes for you is yours once paid for, so another developer can take the software over.
Who is FingerTip's custom software service not for?
- Very large projects. When the scope needs a full development team, FingerTip says plainly that it is not the right fit.
- Businesses that need support around the clock. FingerTip works business hours, Monday to Friday.
- Jobs that a product you can buy already does well. Buy the product. There is no need to reinvent the wheel.
Everyone else: book the free 20-minute call.
What do businesses ask before having custom software built?
You own the software FingerTip builds for you, once it is paid for. FingerTip keeps its own general tools and code that existed before your project, such as sign-in and system connectors, and may use them in other projects. You get a permanent licence to use those parts in your software. Read more about what you own.
A FingerTip custom software project typically takes about two months. The timeline for your project is part of the written scope, agreed before work starts.
FingerTip can connect systems your business already uses when each one lets other software read or send its data, most often through what is called an API. FingerTip checks each system in the free planning meeting that follows the free call, before anything is quoted.
Buy software when a product already fits how your business works. Have software built when you want a tool shaped around your process, with only the features you use. A custom build also lets you decide who owns your data, where it is stored and how it is secured, which a subscription product may not allow. If you are not sure which way fits, talk it through on the free 20-minute call.
A FingerTip custom software project is paid in full before work starts, at the quoted price.
It can also be paid in two monthly payments for 10% more, or three monthly payments for 15% more.
With monthly payments, FingerTip hands the software over when the last payment is made, even if the software is finished earlier.
The price is fixed in the written scope. Changes outside it cost A$140 an hour, quoted and agreed before they are done.
FingerTip hands the software over with installation documentation and a walkthrough for you and your staff. Anything that does not work as agreed in the first two months is fixed at no charge.
Custom software built by FingerTip runs either on FingerTip’s own servers in Australia or on your own server. Hosting on FingerTip’s servers comes with a monthly retainer. On your own server, FingerTip can maintain the software under an optional retainer.
A monthly retainer is required when FingerTip hosts the software. It starts from A$220 a month, covers the hosting and includes 30 minutes of small changes and fixes each month. Further changes cost A$140 an hour. If the software runs on your own server, a maintenance retainer is offered, and you choose whether to take it.
Data in custom software built by FingerTip is stored either on FingerTip’s servers in Australia or on your own server. FingerTip can access software it hosts or maintains under a retainer, because that access is needed to fix and update it. You decide who else gets access.
FingerTip works business hours, Monday to Friday, and not on weekends or public holidays. A business that needs support around the clock is better served by a larger agency, and the free call is where that is worked out. The code is yours once paid for and comes with installation documentation, so another developer can take the software over.
FingerTip has built web applications that work on phones, in the browser. FingerTip has not yet published an app in the App Store or Google Play. Whether your task needs a phone app is worked out in the free planning meeting that follows the free call.
Which task would you get rid of first?
A free 20-minute call with Domenico Mastroianni, web consultant and software developer, who leads every FingerTip project. Describe the task, the systems it touches and how often it happens. You leave with a rough price range and an honest view of whether custom software is worth it for the task. No proposal you did not ask for. If you go ahead, the code is yours once paid for.