Costie
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Your commercial department, without the salary.

Most subcontractors lose margin in the same four places: the price they quoted, the contract they signed, the compliance they scrambled, and the claim they couldn’t substantiate.

We do that work for you — estimates, contracts, compliance and claims — every month, for a fraction of the cost of hiring a commercial manager.

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Estimators and contract professionals
Built in Queensland
Purpose-Built for Civil Contractors
Australian Owned & Operated
Built by Trusted Professionals
Integrates with Xero

You’re good at the work. That was never the problem.

Nobody in a 15-person civil business has time to price properly, read the contract before signing it, keep the SWMS current, and put together a claim that gets paid without an argument. So it lands on the owner at nine at night, or it doesn’t get done.

A full-time commercial manager costs six figures plus on-costs. Most subcontractors turning over $2m to $20m can’t justify one, and shouldn’t have to.

What we take off your plate

  1. 01

    Win the work

    Quantity takeoffs, estimates, professional quotes and tender submissions that put you in front of the right jobs.

  2. 02

    Lock in the terms

    Contract and terms of trading review, variation and extension-of-time positions, so the margin you priced is the margin you keep.

  3. 03

    Stay eligible

    Insurance and licensing review, SWMS and SOPs, compliance documentation kept current and ready for any head contractor’s audit.

  4. 04

    Get paid

    Progress claims, claimed-to-date tracking and progress reports, substantiated with site evidence so they get paid without an argument.

  5. 05

    Know your numbers

    Live job cost and margin tracking, reported monthly, so you find out a job is going backwards in week two instead of at handover.

Every client runs on Costie. Included.

Your operators capture hours, site diaries and photos from the field — under two minutes every shift. Costie turns that into live job cost, defensible claims, and a portal your own clients can log into to watch progress in real time.

It’s built on Brady Cost Management’s activity-based costing method: every job broken into discrete activities, each with its own labour, plant, materials and subcontractor cost. That’s why we can tell you where the margin went, not just that it went.

Costie isn’t something else to buy. It’s how we deliver a full commercial service for a fraction of what it costs to hire one.

Costie cost tracking overview with budget vs actual comparison across line items
Cost tracking overview
Costie project cost breakdown showing labour, materials, equipment, and subcontractor costs
Project cost breakdown
Costie payment claim PDF with base scope, variation scope, GST calculations, and totals
Payment claim PDF
Costie timesheet entry recording an operator’s hours against a project activity, with GPS clock-in and site notes
Timesheet and site capture
Costie client portal where a contractor’s own client sees the accepted quote, payment claims and project activity
Client portal

From first look to monthly reporting

  1. 1

    We look at your business.

    Your jobs, your rates, your plant, and how you price and claim today.

  2. 2

    We build your cost framework.

    Rate library, cost codes and claim structure, set up in Costie for your trade.

  3. 3

    Your crew starts capturing.

    Operators log hours, diaries and photos. Two minutes a shift.

  4. 4

    We run the commercial side.

    Quotes out, contracts checked, compliance current, claims lodged on time.

  5. 5

    You get the numbers monthly.

    Where every job sits, and what it means for how you price the next one.

We’ve done the work, not just built the software.

Brady Cost Management is led by Sarah Brady, a cost controller and estimator with a civil background — residential subdivisions, earthworks, erosion and sediment control, retaining walls, concrete, stormwater, water and sewer. We’ve priced the jobs, run the claims and argued the variations.

That experience is what you’re buying. Costie is what makes it affordable.

What it looks like in practice

“Operators record timesheets, site diaries and progress photos every day and say it’s easy to use. Claims are now a straight extract against known plant rates instead of a month-end reconstruction. The best feature is the client portal where our clients can log in to watch progress in real time.”
Civil earthworks contractor, Queensland
“Seeing margin tracked live has changed how I price work, which projects to bid for, and who I market to.”
Landscape construction, NSW

Send us a job you’ve just finished — or better yet, let’s trial one new job.

We’ll show you what it actually made, where the margin went, and what a claim on it should have looked like. No charge, no obligation, and you keep the analysis either way.

Book a call

Prefer to see the platform first? Request a demo

Monthly retainers

Essential

$3,000/mo

  • Costie platform set up and configured
  • Progress claims and claimed-to-date reporting
  • Compliance pack (SWMS, SOPs, insurance register)
  • Monthly cost and margin report
  • Client portal
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Complete

$5,000/mo

  • Everything in Essential, plus
  • Estimating and quoting
  • Tender submissions
  • Contract and terms of trading review
  • Variation and EOT management
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Embedded

from $8,000/mo

  • Everything in Complete, plus
  • A named commercial manager for set days per month
  • Tender and BD strategy
  • Representing you with your clients
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Not ready for a retainer? One-off tenders, contract reviews, estimates and claim disputes at $180/hr.

All prices exclude GST.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Costie?
Costie is the platform behind Brady Cost Management’s commercial service. Your crew captures site data through it; we use it to run your estimates, claims and cost reporting. Clients on a retainer get it included.
Who is Costie built for?
Costie is purpose-built for small to medium sized Australian civil construction contractors, including businesses that deliver fencing, earthworks, retaining walls, concrete works, stormwater drainage, sewer works, erosion and sediment control, turfing, and water reticulation services.
How does Costie calculate costs?
Costie is built on Brady Cost Management’s activity-based costing methodology. Every quote is broken down into discrete activities, each with its own labour, materials, equipment, and subcontractor costs. This gives you full visibility of your true costs before you submit a price, so you can quote with confidence and protect your margins.
Do I have to use the software myself?
No. Some directors want to run it themselves and we set them up to do that. Most want the commercial work handled and just want to see the numbers each month. Both work, as long as your crew captures the site data.
What if I already have an estimator or a bookkeeper?
Then we work alongside them. Plenty of businesses have someone doing the invoicing and nobody doing the commercial thinking.
What size business is this for?
Typically 5 to 40 staff, turning over roughly $2m to $20m, working under head contracts or direct to developers.
Does Costie have a timesheet feature?
Yes. Costie enables your crew to timesheet to multiple projects including GPS tracking.
How does GPS tracking work in Costie timesheets?
GPS coordinates are captured at two specific moments only: when an employee clocks in and when they clock out. No background tracking occurs between these events or outside work hours. Employees must grant consent before any GPS is captured, and timesheets work without GPS if permission is denied.
How do we sign up or trial Costie?
Book a call and send us a job you’ve just finished, or one you’re about to start. We’ll show you what it actually made, where the margin went, and what a claim on it should have looked like. No charge, no obligation, and you keep the analysis either way. If you’d rather see the platform first, request a demo from the same form.