The Connections hub: connect the apps TradesWork works with

Overview#

Connections is one page that lists every app TradesWork connects to: payments, phones and texting, email, QuickBooks, online booking, lead sites, GPS, payroll, suppliers, AI, the API and switching tools. Each one opens a guide with what it switches on, what you'll need, numbered steps and troubleshooting. Most steps tick themselves off as soon as TradesWork sees them working; steps that happen in another company's app you mark done yourself.

Before you start#

• Owners and Admins can set things up, mark steps done and ask for help.

• People with read access to reports (for example Accounting and Viewer) can open the hub and read the guides, but see no action buttons.

• Technicians can't open it.

Steps#

Read the hub#

1. Open Settings › Integrations › Connections (or press Connect your apps on the Settings home page).

2. At the top, First-day setup: X of 6 connected counts the six essentials: card and bank payments (Stripe), business phone numbers, business texting, email from your domain, QuickBooks Online and online booking.

3. Start here shows those six. Below them, the other connectors are grouped: Get paid, Phones & texting, Email, Accounting, Leads & booking, Marketing & reviews, Field & fleet, Payroll & HR, Suppliers, Developers & AI and Switching.

4. Each card shows a status pill and a one-line summary:

   • Connected: working.

   • Action needed: started, but something needs you (for example QuickBooks needs reconnecting).

   • Not connected: not started.

   • Not switched on: TradesWork hasn't switched this on for your account yet. You can read the guide; the steps open once it's on.

   • Some cards also say Partner pending or Coming soon (see FAQ).

5. Each card shows About N min, the typical time to finish.

Follow a guide#

1. Press Set up (or Manage if it's started, or View guide if you can't make changes).

2. Read What it switches on and What you'll need before you begin.

3. Under Step by step, work through the steps. Each step's button takes you to the exact place to do it.

   • Steps marked Ticks itself complete on their own when TradesWork sees them done.

   • Steps marked Mark when done happen in someone else's app (your website editor, a lead site, your payroll provider). Press Mark done when you've finished. Press Not done yet to undo.

4. The bar at the top shows X of Y steps done.

Get help#

1. Open Troubleshooting in the guide for the common problems.

2. Still stuck? In Still stuck?, describe what happened in What happened? (optional) and press Ask for help. This puts a high-priority task on your office task list so someone follows up.

3. Or press Email TradesWork support to send an email.

Settings that change this#

Each connector is set up on its own settings page. The hub links to all of them:

• Settings › Integrations › Payment Processing (Stripe)

• Settings › Phones › Phone Numbers, Call Recording & Texting (numbers, texting registration, porting)

• Settings › Communications › Email Domains (sending domain, lead and bill forwarding)

• Settings › Integrations › QuickBooks Online

• Settings › Communications › Web Appointments

• Settings › Integrations › Booking Providers & Lead Sources, GPS, Financing, API Application Access, Import from ServiceTitan

• Settings › People › Payroll, Settings › AI › AI Assistants & Data Preferences, and Pricebook › Supplier Catalogs

Tips#

• Do the six essentials first: get paid, answer calls, text, email, sync your books and take bookings.

• Phone texting registration takes days for the carriers to approve. Start it on day one.

• Moving your phone number takes 1–2 weeks. Start that early too, and keep paying your old provider until it completes.

Troubleshooting#

• A card says "Not switched on" → TradesWork hasn't turned on that service for your account. → Read the guide now, and use Ask for help so support can switch it on.

• A manual step won't stay ticked → only Owners and Admins can tick steps, and someone may have pressed Not done yet. → Mark it again; the change is in the audit trail.

• An automatic step won't tick → TradesWork hasn't seen the real thing happen yet (for example a first lead, a test call, a $1 payment). → Do the test the step asks for.

• I don't see Set up buttons → your role can read guides only. → Ask an Owner or Admin.

FAQ#

What does "Partner pending" mean? The basic version works today, but a direct connection with that company is still being finalized. For example, financing works with your lender's apply link while direct lender connections are pending; payroll exports a file while direct Gusto and ADP sync is pending.

What does "Coming soon" mean? It isn't built yet: Google Business Profile, Google Ads and CallRail. The guide tells you what to do in the meantime.

Does TradesWork ever log in to my other apps for me? No. You connect each app yourself, usually by signing in to that app or pasting a key, and you can disconnect it any time.

What do the switching tools connect? Import from ServiceTitan takes the files you export (no ServiceTitan login or API), reads QuickBooks read-only to reconcile open balances, and gives your company an import address so ServiceTitan's scheduled reports keep TradesWork current until you cut over. See Switch from ServiceTitan.

Coming from ServiceTitan#

In ServiceTitan these live under Settings › Integrations (API Application Access, Booking Providers, GPS, Financing, Payment Processing, QuickBooks Online). TradesWork keeps the same group in the settings menu (Settings › Integrations) and adds the Connections hub so you can see what's done at a glance.