Custom software development in Ireland for businesses that have outgrown spreadsheets
We build quoting and invoicing systems, client portals and web platforms around the way your business already works, so your team stops copying the same details from one tool to the next.
- Google Partner
- 5.0 from 15 Google reviews
- Cavan, New York and Liverpool
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We build custom software for Irish businesses that are still running jobs on paper and spreadsheets, or that off-the-shelf tools don't fit. Projects range from a back-office system for a fireplace showroom in Longford to a fundraising platform used by clubs in Ireland, the UK and the US. Our team of designers, developers and marketers, led by James, designs and builds the software, along with the website in front of it if you need one.
Every custom software development project starts from how a job moves through your business today, so the software follows your process and uses your team's own words. We also run two products of our own, both built to solve problems we kept seeing in client businesses. MotorWorks is garage management software for independent workshops, and MyReviews asks customers for Google reviews by text, email and QR code.
If the main job is keeping track of enquiries and following them up, our page on bespoke CRMs and CRM integration covers that side in more detail.
When is custom software worth it over an off-the-shelf tool?
It's worth it when the tools you can buy make your team work around them. That usually shows up as the same details typed into several places, or a monthly bill for software built for much bigger companies. MotorWorks started that way: the garage software JTK Motors could buy was mostly dated, expensive or built for large dealerships, so we built a job system around how their workshop runs.
If a standard tool covers most of what you need, use it, because it will be cheaper and quicker to set up. Custom software earns its cost when your jobs have steps no standard tool covers. For example, an events job carries on through venue sourcing, registrations and check-in long after the sale, so no off-the-shelf CRM fitted Precise Events.
Who this is for, and when we'd suggest something else
A good fit if
- Your team copies the same details from an enquiry into a quote, then an invoice, then the accounts.
- The software you can buy was built for much bigger companies or a different trade, so you pay for features you never use.
- Clients or staff keep ringing and emailing to ask where something stands, when they could check it for themselves.
When we'd point you elsewhere
- If you only need a booking calendar or an online form, a ready-made tool will do it for much less, and we'll point you to one.
- If you need an enterprise system rolled out across a large organisation, a specialist partner for that platform will serve you better than we would.
Bespoke software and web applications we build
Quoting and invoicing systems
Quotes go out with a link where the customer can accept and sign online, and the accepted quote becomes a deposit, balance or full invoice without anyone retyping a line. For Longford Fireplaces, invoices, quotes and credit notes then flow into Xero.
Portals for your clients
Clients log in to check progress, upload documents or sign, instead of emailing you to ask. At Foresight Global Recruitment, candidates follow their application and sign job offers in their own account, while employers see their placements without candidates' personal details.
Online forms in place of paperwork
Questions appear only when they apply to the person filling in the form, and every submission reaches your office in the same format. That's how OACI's certification applications now work, with a confirmation email to each applicant.
Bookings, registrations and scheduling
OACI's office moves an audit to another day or auditor by dragging it on a calendar, and each auditor blocks their own time off, so nobody is booked onto a day they've set aside. At Precise Events, every registration lands in the guest list the team plans with, and guests are checked in on the night by scanning a QR code with a phone.
Platforms your customers use
When the software is the product, it has to work for your customers as well as your staff. On Ralli, clubs run their own fundraising events and take donations directly into their own accounts. Clubs and contestants edit their own pages, and each change waits for a club manager's approval before it goes public.
The right view for each role
Each person sees what their job needs and nothing more. At Longford Fireplaces, the drawing office sends drawings for approval without seeing any of the money, and the laptop on the counter keeps the day's takings out of customers' sight.
What happens, step by step
Map how the job runs today
We talk to the people who will use the software and follow a job from the first enquiry to the final invoice, noting where details get copied or lost along the way.
Agree what it will do
We write a specification of what the software will do, who sees what and which of your tools it connects to, and agree it with you before building starts.
Build and review together
We build the software and review it with you as it takes shape, changing the wording and screens until they match how your team already talks and works.
Launch and train your team
We show each person the parts of the software they need, and can write a plain-English guide for each role.
Keep improving it
Once it is in daily use, we can keep adding to it as your business changes and your team asks for more.
Software development projects and what changed
Each case study starts where the business was when it came to us, then explains what we did and why.
Ralli
We rebuilt ClubSpot's fundraising events product as Ralli, one platform for clubs in Ireland, the UK and the US, and built its marketing site.
Read the case studyLongford Fireplaces & Stone Solutions
We replaced Word quotes and carbon-copy invoice books with a back-office system where customers sign quotes online and invoices flow into Xero, so staff quote, order and invoice from one place.
Read the case studyOACI
Businesses can now apply to OACI online instead of emailing Word forms back and forth. The new homepage loads its main content in about a second, where the old site took almost five.
Read the case studyMotorWorks
MotorWorks gives a garage one place to book jobs, keep vehicle histories, order parts and send invoices, and it is now available to independent garages across Ireland.
Read the case study“I've hired James on several projects and he delivers an exceptional project each time. I trust him with all my partner assignments and will continue to rely on him to bring a strategic eye to all development and marketing-related opportunities first. I can't thank him enough for being someone I can rely on. If you read this tell him C-r-a-i-g sent you :) You'll be VERY glad you did.”
Custom software questions
If your question isn't answered here, email [email protected] and we'll get back to you.
What drives the cost of custom software?
The scope drives most of it. That means how many kinds of people use the software, how much of the job it covers and what it has to connect to, such as your accounts or payments. Moving records across from spreadsheets or an old system adds to it too. Once we've mapped how your business runs, you'll get a quote for what we've agreed to build.
Who owns the software and the data?
You do. The code we write for you, the records it holds and the accounts it connects to, such as your accounting or payment accounts, all belong to your business. If you ever want another developer to take it on, we'll hand everything over.
Can it connect to the tools we already use?
Usually, as long as the tool allows it. Precise Events' invoices export to Sage with the account codes already filled in, and JTK Motors' car listings fill in their make, model and engine from the registration. We check what your current tools allow before we quote.
How long does a custom software project take?
You'll get a timeline with the quote, once we know how much of your business the software needs to cover. A back-office system for one showroom and a platform serving clubs in three countries are very different jobs, and the pace also depends on how quickly your team can review each stage.
What happens after the software goes live?
We can keep looking after it and add to it as your business changes. MotorWorks shows how that can go: it began as the job system we built for JTK Motors, proved itself in daily use there, and is now available to other independent garages in Ireland.
Is custom software only worth it for big companies?
No. Longford Fireplaces is a showroom with no dedicated administrator, and its back-office system was built so the people serving customers at the counter could run it without learning accounting software. What matters is how much time your team loses to copying and chasing paperwork, whatever the size of the business.
Related services
Web design
Websites designed around how your customers buy, built to be found on Google.
- A custom design rather than a template
- Built and tested for mobile first
- SEO structure and schema from launch
SEO
Technical fixes, local listings and content that get you found by people ready to buy.
- Technical audit and fixes
- Keyword research and on-page optimisation
- Rank tracking and monthly reports
PPC & Google Ads
Paid campaigns built around what a customer is worth to you, with tracking set up properly.
- Google Ads search, shopping and video
- Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn ads
- Conversion tracking and weekly optimisation
Start with your website, then tell us what your team keeps typing twice
Send us your website and we'll look it over before a free 20-minute call, then walk you through the changes in order of priority. If the site is in good shape, we'll tell you so.