Quick answer: The Construction Business Advancement Grant is a new Queensland Government program that helps small construction businesses pay for business management software, like job management, quoting and timesheet apps. It was announced in the 2025-26 Queensland Budget, with $4.4 million allocated for 2026-27, and Business Queensland currently lists it as "opening soon". Based on the information shared with software suppliers so far, it's expected to cover up to $5,000 of eligible software for Queensland construction businesses with fewer than 20 staff. The Queensland Government decides who's eligible, so always check the official guidelines on business.qld.gov.au before you spend.
If you run a building, reno, roofing or landscaping crew in Queensland and you've been putting off getting off spreadsheets, this is worth a proper look. Here's what we know, what's still to be confirmed, and how to make sure the money goes somewhere useful.
What is the Construction Business Advancement Grant?
It's one of two new grant programs the Queensland Government announced in the 2025-26 Budget, one for construction businesses and a sister program for professional care businesses. The construction one had $4.4 million put against it for 2026-27, which was confirmed at the Queensland Estimates hearings in July 2026.
The idea is simple. Small construction businesses lose a lot of time and money to admin: timesheets scribbled on the back of a docket, quotes retyped into invoices, and nobody knowing whether a job made money until the accountant tells you in October. The grant helps cover the cost of software that fixes that, drawn from an approved "Business Management Software" catalogue.
What it's not: a grant for tools, utes, plant or materials. It's for the systems that run the business.
Is my business eligible?
The official guidelines haven't been published at the time of writing, so treat this as a guide rather than gospel. Based on the information released to suppliers, you're likely to need to be:
- A construction business based in Queensland
- Fewer than 20 employees
- Annual turnover under $10 million
- Trading for 12 months or more, with an active ABN
- Buying software that's listed in the approved catalogue
It's expected to be eligibility-based rather than competitive, which means applications aren't expected to be scored against each other. That said, with $4.4 million in the kitty for the year, funding won't last forever. Getting your ducks in a row early is the smart move.
Not sure where you land? Our quick eligibility checker takes about a minute. It won't give you a decision (only the Queensland Government can do that), but it'll tell you whether it's worth applying and we'll keep you posted on the opening date.
How does the grant work?
Here's the process as we understand it:
- Check you're likely eligible. Size, turnover, trading history and location.
- Pick your software from the approved catalogue. Only listed products count.
- Apply through the Queensland Government portal once the round opens.
- Pay for your subscription and claim with proof of payment. The grant is expected to reimburse eligible spend, not pay the supplier upfront.
- Keep your paperwork. The department is expected to have audit rights, so keep invoices, receipts and anything showing what you bought and when.
One bit of advice from people who've been through grant claims before: only claim for what you'd buy anyway, at the price everyone else pays. If a supplier starts offering to "bundle" extras onto your invoice to max out the grant, walk away. That's exactly the sort of thing an audit picks up, and it's your ABN on the claim, not theirs.
What should you actually spend it on?
This is the question that matters most, and it's where a lot of builders get it wrong. Free money makes it tempting to grab the fanciest system on the list. But a grant only covers so much, and after that you're paying for the software yourself. Pick something your crew will still be using in three years.
Match the tool to the work you actually do.
If you're mostly service and maintenance work: a tradie service app
If your jobs are short callouts and you're doing several a day, the simple tradie apps like Tradify, ServiceM8 and Fergus are built for exactly that. Quote, dispatch, invoice, next.
Choose these if: your average job is measured in hours, not weeks.
The catch: once your jobs stretch to months with progress claims and variations, they start to creak.
If your biggest headache is HR, rostering and payroll: an HR platform
Some businesses on the catalogue list are HR and people-management tools. If your pain is staff contracts, onboarding and compliance paperwork rather than running jobs, one of those might be the better spend.
Choose these if: the jobs run fine but the people admin is drowning you.
The catch: they won't help you quote, schedule or see what a job really cost.
If you're a builder or trade crew of 3 to 20 running staged jobs: NextMinute
This is the middle of the market, and it's where NextMinute lives. It's job management built for residential builders, renovators, roofers, landscapers, carpenters and concreters whose jobs run for weeks or months, not hours.
What you'd be putting the grant towards:
- Quotes that flow into the job. Build quotes off takeoffs, and they become the job budget. No retyping.
- Every job and every crew in one place. Schedule your crew and subbies across all your live jobs, so you're not running the week off a whiteboard and a group chat.
- Timesheets from site, not the ute at 7pm. The crew logs time against the job on the mobile app, so timesheets land where they belong and payroll stops eating your Sunday night.
- Know what every job really cost. Back-costing shows quote versus actual on labour and materials while the job's still running, not after it's too late to do anything about it.
- Progress claims and variations done properly. Staged invoicing with GST handled the Australian way, synced to Xero or MYOB.
Every plan gets the full feature set, it's month-to-month with no lock-in contract, and there's a local support team you can actually ring. Plans are priced by crew size, so check the pricing page to see what fits your team.
Choose NextMinute if: you've got 3 to 20 people on the tools, your jobs run in stages, and you've outgrown a tradie app or a stack of spreadsheets.
The catch: if you're a one-person band doing callouts, it's more system than you need. And if you're a volume builder where estimating from full plan sets is the whole game, the bigger platforms like Buildxact or Buildertrend are built for that (though most volume builders will be over the grant's size limits anyway).
Quick comparison
Getting ready before the round opens
You don't need to wait for the opening date to get organised. A bit of prep now makes the application a ten-minute job instead of a lost weekend:
- Have your ABN, staff numbers and last financial year's turnover handy.
- Work out what's actually costing you time: quoting, timesheets, scheduling, invoicing or chasing money.
- Trial the software before you commit. NextMinute has a 10-day free trial with no credit card, or you can book a demo and we'll walk you through it with your own jobs.
- Get on the list for opening-day updates through our grant eligibility checker.
FAQs
When does the Construction Business Advancement Grant open?
At the time of writing (October 2026), Business Queensland lists the grant as "opening soon" with the date to be confirmed. Check business.qld.gov.au for the latest, or use our eligibility checker and we'll let you know when it opens.
How much is the Construction Business Advancement Grant?
It's expected to cover up to $5,000 of eligible business management software. How far that goes depends on the software you pick and the size of your crew, so don't assume it covers a set number of months.
Who is eligible for the Queensland construction grant?
Queensland-based construction businesses are the target. Based on supplier information, you'll likely need fewer than 20 staff, turnover under $10 million, at least 12 months of trading and an active ABN. The Queensland Government makes the final call.
Do I have to pay for the software upfront?
It's expected to work as a reimbursement: you pay for the software, then claim with proof of payment. Keep every invoice and receipt in case of an audit.
Can I use the grant for NextMinute?
NextMinute is business management software built for construction crews, which is exactly what the grant is designed to fund. Check it's listed in the approved catalogue when the guidelines are published.
Does NextMinute decide if I'm eligible?
No. Only the Queensland Government decides eligibility and funding. Our checker gives you a quick guide, and our team can help with the paperwork, but we can't approve or guarantee a grant.
Can I apply if I already use NextMinute?
That depends on the final guidelines, which haven't been released yet. Get in touch with our team and we'll let you know as soon as it's clear.
The bottom line
The Construction Business Advancement Grant is a genuine leg-up for small Queensland builders and trade crews who've been meaning to get their jobs, timesheets and costs out of spreadsheets. Check you're likely eligible, pick software that fits the way you actually work, and keep your paperwork clean. If you're running a crew of 3 to 20 on staged jobs, check your eligibility here and we'll keep you posted and help you with the application. In the meantime, the free trial is there if you want a crack at it before the round opens.
Grant eligibility, funding amounts and eligible spend are set by the Queensland Government. NextMinute doesn't decide eligibility or guarantee funding. Always check the official guidelines on business.qld.gov.au.
