Product scope

What Daybook does — and what it deliberately does not

Honest boundaries for NZ sole traders and tiny crews: the seam between the job and the money, not a parallel general ledger or field-service suite.

How to read this page. Shipped is in the current module build. Target is committed direction that may be partial or not wired end-to-end. Later stays out unless strategy changes. Free and Paid are the only commercial tiers — see packaging. Tier 1 below means core product surfaces, not pricing.

Status

Shipped Target Free Paid Tier 1 surface Supporting Competitive gap Parity in progress

Packaging

Free and Paid — two tiers only

No Guest / Solo / Team SKUs. Free is the full quote-to-invoice workflow on $0/month. Paid unlocks bank connections, automations, and accountant access. Free still earns when clients pay via Pay now — Yardstick clips a small fee on Stripe card and Akahu bank-pay transactions.

Free

$0Yardstick account · no monthly fee

  • Core workflow: quotes, invoices, jobs, clients, library, manual expenses
  • Cloud sync, overview, reports, GST on documents, PDF + public share links
  • Quote accept and convert to invoice; manual record payment
  • Payment terms presets; credit notes (editor + hub); recurring profiles (manual / settings)
  • Pay now on public invoice — Stripe card + Akahu bank pay (platform clip on success)
  • Overview mailto overdue shortcuts (no server email cadence)
  • No linked bank accounts, nightly match queue, or tax set-aside sweeps
  • No accountant seat; no scheduled automations

How Free makes money: a small platform clip when your client pays from the invoice link (Stripe or Akahu) — you keep the subscription at $0.

Paid

$39/mo NZD inc. GST · one org subscription

  • Everything in Free, plus money automation and collaboration with teeth
  • Bank link (Akahu): read-only feeds, nightly reconciliation, overview match queue
  • Expense suggestions from bank lines; tax / GST / ACC set-aside to your nominated accounts
  • Automations: recurring invoice scheduler, server overdue reminders (deduped)
  • Accountant read-only seat — assign from Settings; CSV, bundle, PDF exports
  • Custom branding on PDF and public links (target)
  • Org members and roles as product allows (no separate Team SKU)

Pay now clip still applies on Free and Paid — subscription pays for automation and bank depth, not for taking payments.

Part 1

Scope map

Tier 1 is the quote-to-payment loop and job thread (product surfaces — not pricing). Supporting areas feed documents, exports, money rails, and accountant access. See Free vs Paid for what each commercial tier includes.

Tier 1 Core in-app surfaces

Overview

/app

Engine room: recents, counts, new invoice/quote, links into the rest of the app.

  • Recents
  • New doc
  • Sync status

See breakdown ↓

Invoices

/app/invoice/:id · /app/invoices

Author, issue, PDF, share link, GST, payments, credit notes, recurring profiles, reminders (partial).

  • Credit notes
  • Recurring
  • Pay now
  • Reminders

See breakdown ↓

Quotes

/app/quote/:id · /app/quotes

Same authoring model as invoices; convert accepted work to an invoice with lineage.

  • Convert
  • Accept
  • Share

See breakdown ↓

Expenses

/app/expenses

Real module: manual capture, receipts, categories, status and audit baseline.

  • Receipts
  • Categories
  • Audit

See breakdown ↓

Jobs

/app/jobs · /view/j/:token

Living job thread: linked quotes/invoices, workspace money summary, client portal baseline.

  • Thread
  • Portal
  • Stage

See breakdown ↓

Public views

/view/d/:token · /view/j/:token

Read-only document and job views for clients — no login wall.

  • Print
  • Share
  • Contact

See breakdown ↓

Supporting Enables Tier 1

Clients

/app/clients

Address book for documents — not a standalone CRM.

  • CRUD
  • Picker

See breakdown ↓

Library

/app/library

Reusable line items with defaults; insert into quote and invoice editors.

  • Line items
  • Defaults

See breakdown ↓

Reports

/app/reports

CSV by domain and accountant bundle export baseline.

  • CSV
  • Bundle

See breakdown ↓

Settings

/app/settings

Org identity, module toggles — accountant invite on Paid only.

  • Org
  • Toggles

See breakdown ↓

Banking

Setup + overview queue

Linked accounts, nightly reconciliation, tax set-aside — Paid only.

  • Akahu
  • Match queue

See breakdown ↓

Payment collection

Public invoice + rails

Pay now on public invoice — Stripe + Akahu on Free (platform clip); bank link is Paid.

  • Pay now
  • Events

See breakdown ↓

Accountant

Same app · invite

Read-only seat — Paid subscription; same app URL as operators.

  • Invite
  • Exports

See breakdown ↓

Email & reminders

Org email config

Send, BCC, and scheduled overdue reminders — depends on org email and orchestration.

  • Reminders
  • Share sheet

Tools

Reserved

No in-app calculators in current MVP trim; daybook:tools:use reserved for future utilities.

  • Later

Part 2

Does and does not

Today’s honest bar per surface. Substance matches offers and internal PRODUCT.md — trimmed for readability.

Tier 1 Shipped baseline

Overview

Cross-cutting engine room at /app — primary actions, recents, and links until dedicated hubs and bank signals deepen.

✓Does
  • Entry counts and recent invoices and quotes
  • New invoice and new quote entry points (sidebar + overview for thumb reach)
  • Links to jobs, expenses, clients, and library
  • Sync warnings and status baseline (local, syncing, synced, failed, conflicted)
  • Document-derived money signals (e.g. unpaid totals) until bank feeds exist
✕Does not (yet)
  • Full documents list with search, filter, and bulk actions until product adds dedicated hubs
  • Live bank match queue on overview until nightly reconciliation ships
  • Standalone tax dashboard or “yours vs government” pocket balances until banking + set-aside sweeps exist
  • Job milestone attention strip until jobs notifications ship
Tier 1 Shipped baseline

Invoices

Editor at /app/invoice/:id; light hub at /app/invoices for status buckets and recents.

✓Does
  • Author, preview, PDF, and shareable read-only link
  • Client picker and insert lines from library
  • GST on document; NZ date and NZD presentation
  • Manual partial and full payment recording with event-sourced balance integrity
  • Credit notes — dedicated financial events; net off invoice; hub list + CSV export (editor flow shipped)
  • Payment terms presets — Net 7 / 14 / 30, cash on delivery; due date derived on create
  • Recurring profiles — settings + hub on Free; automated scheduler on Paid
  • Void instead of hard delete for issued invoices (baseline direction)
  • Pay now on public invoice — Stripe + Akahu on Free (platform clip per payment)
  • Overdue detection; mailto digest on Free; server email cadence on Paid
✕Does not (yet)
  • Pay now onboarding polish for every org — see gaps
  • Credit note public link + dedicated PDF parity with Xero/MYOB
  • Purchase orders, supplier bills, or AP ledger
Tier 1 Shipped baseline

Quotes

Same authoring model as invoices; hub at /app/quotes for draft / sent / accepted narrative.

✓Does
  • Create, edit, preview, PDF, and public quote view
  • Accept quote and convert to invoice with lineage preserved
  • Client and library integration matching invoice editor
  • GST on document consistent with invoice rules
✕Does not (yet)
  • Pay quote as a payment rail — same bar as invoice: not until payment collection ships
  • Variation quotes with client approve on portal (jobs — see PRODUCT.md)
Tier 1 Shipped baseline

Expenses

Real module at /app/expenses — not a placeholder; automation deepens with bank match pipeline.

✓Does
  • Manual create/edit; categories; business vs personal
  • Receipt photo capture and file upload metadata on records
  • Status transitions and audit trail baseline
  • Linkage integrity where expenses touch money events
✕Does not (yet)
  • Nightly expense suggestions from bank lines — Paid only (Akahu match pipeline)
  • Rich policy engine or automated triage beyond MVP cutline
  • Accountant write access — read-only seat on Paid only
Tier 1 Baseline Depth target

Jobs

Own the seam between job and money — see PRODUCT.md; honest bar is operator workspace + public portal baseline today.

✓Does
  • Job thread with stage; linked quotes and invoices
  • Workspace financial summary derived from documents
  • Tokenized client portal: money strip, doc list, payment summary, activity from financial events
  • Default/core job pattern when a document has no job yet
✕Does not (yet)
  • Variation quotes with client approve on portal (placeholder until variation flow ships)
  • Full chronological job log split internal vs client-visible
  • Milestones, date-shift notifications, and overview milestone attention
  • Pay now on job portal until payment collection ships
  • Scheduling, dispatch board, or crew roster
Tier 1 Shipped baseline

Public views

Client-facing read-only surfaces — /view/d/:token for documents, /view/j/:token for jobs.

✓Does
  • Read-only document and job presentation
  • Print, copy link, share, and contact sender
  • Pay now CTA on invoice public view — Free + Paid (Stripe card, Akahu bank pay; platform clip)
  • Default Yardstick / Daybook presentation on links on Free
✕Does not (yet)
  • Client login or account creation on public views
  • Custom org branding on PDF and public links — Paid target
Supporting Shipped

Clients

Daybook-local customer records at /app/clients — clear boundary for future shared package extraction.

✓Does
  • CRUD address book used by quote and invoice flows
  • Safe reuse in document editors with snapshot rules on issue
  • Cloud sync for signed-in Free and Paid orgs
✕Does not (yet)
  • Standalone CRM pipeline, deals board, or marketing automation
  • Cross-product unified customers UI at separate hostname (later strategy)
Supporting Shipped

Library

Reusable line items at /app/library (nav label may stay “Library” until rename).

✓Does
  • CRUD reusable lines with defaults (unit, description, pricing hints)
  • Insert into quote and invoice editors
  • Historical snapshot on issued documents when library data changes
✕Does not (yet)
  • Full inventory, stock on hand, or warehouse management
  • Purchase orders, supplier bills, or AP workflow
Supporting Baseline

Reports

Exports and GST-ready views at /app/reports — accountant download parity is a target.

✓Does
  • CSV export by domain and accountant bundle from reports
  • GST stays on documents; summaries support operator and accountant handoff
  • Data export / backup baseline for org-scoped Daybook data
✕Does not (yet)
  • Full general-ledger reporting or management accounts suite
  • IRD auto-filing or lodged return submission
  • GST period election-driven nudges until NZ signals target ships
Supporting Shipped baseline

Settings

Org configuration and module visibility on all tiers. Self-serve accountant billing on Paid; owners can manually assign read-only accountant seats on Free.

✓Does
  • Log out and session safety in authenticated shell
  • Minimum onboarding for numbering and business identity
  • Permission gating by module and action (baseline)
  • Module toggles hide nav routes (invoices, quotes, jobs, expenses, clients, library)
  • Recurring invoice profiles (cadence, pause, skip) — scheduler automation on Paid
✕Does not on Free
  • Assign accountant role in Settings — manual on Free; self-serve billing gate on Paid
  • Company / trading name / logo / BCC until admin.yardstick.nz hub ships
  • Scheduled email orchestration for reminders — Paid (org email config)
Supporting Paid only

Banking

Paid subscription: Akahu-linked accounts, nightly reconciliation, and prudent tax set-aside — money moves between your accounts only. Not on Free.

✓Does (target)
  • Setup wizard: link accounts; choose GST / income tax / ACC target accounts
  • Nightly pull of incomings and outgoings; suggest matches to invoices and expenses
  • Overview match queue (e.g. up to four) for fast triage when recon exists
  • Tax set-aside sweep of maximum prudent amounts — manual retry on insufficient funds
  • NZ bank account checksum validation on relevant fields (target)
✕Does not (yet)
  • Bank link, reconciliation, or tax sweeps on Free — upgrade to Paid
  • Pay IRD or any government body — sweeps move funds between user-owned accounts only
  • Escrow or held-balance payment models
Supporting Free + Paid

Payment collection

Pay now on public invoice — Stripe card and Akahu bank pay on Free and Paid. Yardstick clips a small fee on successful payments; subscription is separate.

✓Does (partial)
  • Public Pay now UI on /view/d/:token when providers configured
  • Stripe (card) and Akahu (bank pay) checkout hooks
  • Platform clip on successful client payments — Free tier revenue model
  • Webhook path → payment financial event + document update
  • Manual record payment remains fallback
✕Does not (yet)
  • Frictionless Pay now for every org without provider onboarding
  • Client-held wallets or platform escrow
  • Payment on quote public view
Supporting Paid only

Accountant

Paid subscription: assign from Settings; same app URL and read permission — not a separate accountant hostname.

✓Does (Paid)
  • Assign accountant role from Settings by email (owner; platform API)
  • daybook:accountant:read — read-only in operator app; banner explains restrictions
  • Same job-threaded records and GST-ready views the operator sees (bank visibility stays with operator accounts)
  • PDF, CSV, and accountant bundle downloads in views the accountant can access
✕Does not (yet)
  • Separate accountant product, subdomain, or general ledger UX
  • Accountant seat on Free — upgrade to Paid
  • Full write access to operator financial actions by default
  • Year-end-only PDF dump as the primary collaboration model

Honest competitive read

Where we're short vs Xero / MYOB

Table-stakes and pitch-critical gaps for NZ sole traders — even when we have a partial or scaffold in the build. Close these before claiming parity on sales pages.

Credit notes

Parity in progress

Every competitor has this — table stakes when a client disputes or you overclaim.

We ship the real model (dedicated financial events, net off invoice — no ad hoc negative-line hacks) plus invoices hub list and CSV export. Phase 1 policy: no public credit note link — corrections stay operator-facing; PDF + public view are fast follow.

Policy (Phase 1) Editor + hub + CSV on all tiers; public /view/cn/:token not shipped — see GO-LIVE K5.

Automated payment reminders

Competitive gap

Xero reminders are genuinely good; MYOB pushes “Smart Invoice Reminders” hard.

Overdue detection and mailto shortcuts on Free. Paid adds server-scheduled, deduped, branded email cadence — still building.

Close the gap Daily scheduler on Paid + org from-address + dedupe + templates tied to public invoice link.

Recurring invoices

Shipped

Xero and MYOB both do retainers and regular maintenance billing.

Recurring profiles in settings on all tiers; automated scheduler on Paid. Hub callout and onboarding checklist surface it in-app.

Remaining Marketing/compare pages should match in-app discovery so sales does not under-sell what we built.

Pay now on public links

Free · clip model

“Clients pay by card from the invoice link” is a standard competitor line.

Free and Paid both get Pay now on the public invoice (Stripe card + Akahu bank pay). Yardstick clips a small fee per successful payment — so Free operators still monetise without a subscription. Gap is onboarding polish and webhook reliability for every org out of the box.

Close the gap One-click provider setup, webhook → payment event, clear failure UX; publish clip/fee copy on pricing.

Configurable payment terms

Shipped

MYOB shows “Cash on delivery”, Net 7 / 14 / 30 on invoice create — small UI, high frequency.

Per-invoice presets (Net 7, Net 14, Net 30, cash on delivery) derive due date on create and export on CSV/PDF baseline.

Remaining Org-default terms picker and richer copy on public view if competitors lead with it on sales pages.

Purchase orders & supplier bills (AP)

Deliberate line

Builders ask “can I track what I owe suppliers?” — Xero wins that conversation today.

We deliberately excluded bills/AP, POs, and supplier CRM from MVP. Buy-side story is expenses + bank match, not accounts payable. The moment a builder needs supplier ageing or PO workflow, they leave for Xero — know that line and do not pretend otherwise.

Our line Expense capture + nightly bank suggestions + export to accountant. Full AP is Later unless strategy shifts; say so on compare pages.

Guardrails

Hard out-of-scope

Deliberate boundaries from MVP cutline — do not pull into the next slice unless strategy changes.

No full general ledger UX Daybook aims at job-threaded money clarity, not replacing Xero-style GL for operators.
No payroll No payslips, PAYE, or employee scheduling as a product surface.
No scheduling / dispatch board Field tools own crew scheduling; Daybook owns quote → invoice → payment on the job thread.
No purchase orders or supplier bills (AP) Deliberate MVP cut — buy side is expenses + bank match, not “what I owe suppliers”. Builders who need AP ageing stay on Xero until strategy changes. See where we're short.
No inventory / warehouse Library line items only — not stock on hand or sale returns.
No IRD auto-filing Period nudges and GST summaries may ship; lodging returns stays with the operator or accountant.
No escrow payments Money moves via documented events and user-owned bank accounts — not platform-held balances.
Not a standalone CRM Clients are an address book for documents, not a sales pipeline product.
No legacy YAK commitment Existing redirects only; new work does not target legacy storage paths.