FAQ
Questions, answered plainly
Everything people ask before signing up — products, pricing, AI, and your data. Still stuck? Email hello@extrua.com.au.
Getting started
- What is Extrua?
- Extrua is an Australian software studio. We build two products: Dispatch (job management for service businesses) and Reconcile (intelligent bookkeeping clean-up), plus done-for-you websites that wire straight into the tools you already use. Both products were built from running a real services business, not theorised in an office.
- Who is it for?
- Any service-based business, whatever the service: cleaning of every kind, trades like electrical, plumbing and air-con, lawn, garden, pest and pool rounds, and care and appointment work like massage, beauty and allied health, whether you go to the client or they come to you. If you book jobs, send invoices and want less admin, it fits.
- How long does it take to get set up?
- Minutes. Sign up, your workspace is provisioned automatically, and you're running. There's no mandatory onboarding call, though we're happy to help if you want it.
- Do I have to move everything over at once?
- No. Start your free trial with the parts you need, and switch more on as you grow. Nothing is all-or-nothing.
Pricing & plans
- How does Dispatch pricing work?
- It's per active user, with no GST charged, so you pay only for the people working in the app. Starter A$39, Growth A$42 and Pro A$51 a month for each office user at our founding prices for the first 300 users (A$53, A$57 and A$69 after that), and A$25 for each field user, who signs in to the staff app only (A$36 after that). Founding prices stay for as long as your subscription stays active, including every user you add later. You start with a 14-day free trial for your first user (each extra user is billed from the day you add them), then it converts to the plan you picked. Cancel any time.
- Is there a free trial, and do I need a card?
- Yes. There's a 14-day free trial with your plan's features, for your first user. The free trial covers one user: you. To add another user you add a card first, and every extra user is billed at your plan's price from the day you add them, pro-rata for the rest of the trial. No card to start. Add one before day 14 and the trial turns into your chosen plan, with your first payment taken then. If you don't, your workspace pauses and everything in it is kept. We'll email you about three days before it ends, and your dashboard shows how many days are left. If you don't add a card, you won't be charged for that first user.
- What isn't included in the free trial?
- Extra users: only the first user is free; each extra user is billed from the day you add them. A phone number: the AI voice receptionist and texting from your own number start after your first payment. The Phone & SMS pack can't be added until the trial has turned into a paid plan. Lower sending limits during the trial: up to 150 customer emails and 40 texts a day. “Done for you” set-up or a website build: a separate one-off, quoted on its own.
- How do the Dispatch plans differ?
- They step up by the AI and phone features you need. Starter runs the day: scheduling, quoting, invoicing, GPS clock-on, client portal and online bookings, with job costing, profit reports and the API & webhooks included. Growth adds an AI chat widget for your website, in-app AI and lead-source reports. Pro adds an AI voice agent, SMS with a dedicated number (set up after your first payment), and intake & consent forms. There's also a one-off “Done for you” option where we build your website and integrate the apps you use.
- How does the AI work across the plans?
- Growth includes an AI chat widget for your website that answers questions and captures every enquiry while you work, and in-app AI that answers from your own documents and drafts replies to enquiries. Pro adds an AI voice agent that answers calls 24/7 and takes the details of every enquiry for you to follow up, plus SMS from a dedicated business number. On Pro, call time is A$0.275 a minute and texts are A$0.108 per 160-character segment, on top of the number's monthly rental.
- What about the phone line and SMS?
- The Phone & SMS pack is usage-based, the same way card processing fees work: a monthly rental for your dedicated Australian number (A$6.31 a month for a local number that takes calls; A$17.34 a month for a mobile number, which you need to send texts), then A$0.108 per 160-character text segment and A$0.275 a minute of call time. You only pay for what you actually use. Pro includes the pack, but the rental and usage are still charged; on Starter or Growth, ask us and we set it up. Either way the number is set up once your subscription has made its first payment, not during the free trial.
- Is GST charged on top?
- No. Extrua software is supplied by Stephen Edward Billingsly (sole trader), who is not registered for GST, so no GST is charged. The price you see is the price you pay.
- Why per-user pricing?
- Because it scales with your team, not your busyness. You pay for the people working in the app, so a quiet month and a flat-out month cost the same, and growing your client list costs nothing.
- Do clients or jobs count toward my bill?
- No. Clients, jobs, quotes and invoices are unlimited on every plan, and only active users are billed. Bring your whole client history across, including dormant clients; old records cost nothing to keep.
AI agents
- What can the AI agents do?
- They handle the first response: answering questions 24/7 from the services and documents you load, and taking down the details of each job so you can price it and send the quote. They never give a customer a price. Anything they can't confirm from your information is handed to you rather than guessed. You can always see what they did.
- How does the AI know my services?
- You load its “brain” yourself: upload your service docs and FAQs through a simple form, and the agent answers from those. It never gives a customer a price, even one a document states: your team prices each job from the details it takes down. You don't need a consultant, and when something changes you update one document. Prefer us to set it up? White-glove setup is an option, not a requirement.
- Will it make up answers?
- It answers from your loaded information, and unclear or non-standard requests are routed to you rather than guessed.
Reconcile (bookkeeping)
- What does Reconcile do?
- It finds and fixes what's drifted in your books: duplicate invoices, phantom income, payments that don't match the bank, a clearing-account graveyard. It started by closing a real $56,000 bank-balance variance on the founder's own business before it became a product.
- Is it safe to run on my live books?
- Yes. It works on a read-only copy of your data, so your live file keeps running as it is, and you approve an agreed list of corrections at the end. Nothing is changed behind your back.
- Can I try it without paying?
- Yes. Start with the free Books Diagnostic. Chat through what's going on, get a clear picture of what's wrong and the dollar gap, no card required, then decide.
- What does Reconcile cost?
- It depends who you are. Paid cleanups aren't on sale yet, so there's no price to show. For your own business it will be a one-off payment, no subscription; for an accountant or bookkeeper working across client files, Reconcile for Practices will be a monthly subscription. Today you can run the free Books Diagnostic and talk to us about what you need.
- Does Reconcile fix my books automatically?
- No, by design. It works on a read-only copy, finds what's wrong and prepares the fixes with the evidence behind each one, but you (or your accountant) apply them. It prepares your books and GST for BAS; it never lodges on your behalf.
Reselling Dispatch
- Can I sell Dispatch to other businesses?
- Yes, through the Dispatch reseller program. You introduce service businesses to Dispatch and earn commission on every customer you bring in, for as long as they stay. It's commission only, free to join, and you work under your own ABN in your own time. The details and the online application are at extrua.com.au/resellers.
Your data & security
- Who owns my data?
- You do. An admin with access to Settings can download your business records in one click, even if your workspace is paused or cancelled (from Settings › Billing then). Uploaded photos and documents aren't in that file. It's your data, and it goes with you.
- How is my data protected?
- Each business is fully isolated from every other, and we keep encrypted off-site backups of both the database and your files in a second, independent cloud. With no signal, your crew can still open the jobs they've already viewed, clock on and off, tick checklists, take photos and mark jobs complete; it all syncs when the signal comes back. The office side needs a connection.
- Can I cancel any time?
- Yes. Cancel from your account settings; your subscription ends at the end of the billing period. No exit fees, and you can export your data on the way out.
Ready to take a look?
The Diagnostic is free with no card; the Dispatch trial is free for 14 days for your first user with no card to start (extra users need a card and are billed).