The WorkflowMax Alternative for Australian Businesses
Xero retired WorkflowMax in June 2024, and the successor product changed pricing, leaving thousands of businesses re-evaluating their options. Opus offers native Xero integration, job management, quoting, invoicing, CRM, team chat, and financial tracking in one platform. No middleware. No workarounds.
Why teams are looking for a WorkflowMax alternative
Xero retired WorkflowMax in June 2024. The brand was sold to BlueRock, an Australian advisory firm, which relaunched it as WorkflowMax by BlueRock with new pricing. For many businesses, the forced change became the moment to ask a bigger question: keep replacing one point solution with another, or consolidate everything into one platform.
WorkflowMax
Retired by Xero in June 2024
WorkflowMax was a reliable job management tool for service businesses. It handled time tracking, quoting, and invoicing with a solid Xero connection. Many Australian businesses depended on it for years.
What it did well
What it lacked
Opus
Complete Business Management
Opus covers everything WorkflowMax did and adds the tools you were paying separately for. One platform for projects, finances, CRM, chat, equipment, and AI analytics, all with native Xero sync.
Everything WorkflowMax did, plus
Honest trade-offs
Job management software for Australia, compared
How Opus compares with what WorkflowMax offered before it was retired, across the features Australian job management software is judged on.
| Feature Area | O Opus | W WorkflowMax |
|---|---|---|
| Job Management | Visual pipeline boards, drag-and-drop stages, project numbering, task management with sub-tasks and assignments, and crew scheduling. Jobs flow from lead to invoice in one system. | Had solid job management with job states, time tracking, and job costing. Limited board views and no drag-and-drop pipeline. |
| Quoting | Build quotes from your phone or desktop with saved pricing, attach photos, and convert accepted quotes to active jobs in one click. | Quoting was a core strength. Quotes converted to jobs and flowed through to invoicing. |
| Invoicing | Invoicing with progress claims, automated payment reminders, overdue tracking, and automatic Xero sync with full line items and GST. | Invoicing tied to jobs and time entries, pushed into Xero. No automated payment chasing. |
| Xero Integration | Native two-way Xero sync. Invoices, bills, expenses, and chart of accounts sync automatically. Project profitability calculated from live Xero data. | Had tight Xero integration since both were Xero products. One-way push of invoices and time entries into Xero. |
| Project Tracking | Cost-to-complete tracking, real-time margin per project, materials and subcontractor cost capture, and profit analysis fed by live financial data. | Job costing built on tracked time and estimated costs. Limited project-level profitability once costs sat outside the system. |
| Client Portal | Built-in client portal where clients view project status, documents, and invoices. Client data flows from CRM into projects and reports. | No dedicated client portal. Clients received quotes and invoices by email. |
| Time Tracking | Time tracking with timesheets, billable/non-billable categorisation, and direct link to project costs and Xero invoicing. | Time tracking was one of its strongest features. Staff timesheets, timer-based tracking, and tight integration with job costing. |
| Team Communication | Built-in threaded messaging, project-level chat, and @mentions. No separate Slack or Teams subscription needed. | No built-in messaging. Teams relied on email or third-party chat tools alongside WorkflowMax. |
| AI & Analytics | Claude-powered AI assistant for natural-language queries across all business data. AI expense categorisation, proposal parsing, and financial forecasting. | Basic reporting with job profitability and staff productivity reports. No AI features. |
| Pricing Model | Flat per-user pricing with a free tier. Professional at $25/user/month covers the full feature set. No per-job fees or surprise add-ons. | Charged $30 to $70 per user per month at retirement. The successor product, WorkflowMax by BlueRock, launched with its own pricing structure. |
WorkflowMax ratings reflect the product's capabilities at the time of retirement. A higher rating in Time Tracking acknowledges its strong timesheet features.
Business management software for Australia, in one subscription
Most WorkflowMax users had three to five other subscriptions running alongside it. Opus replaces the entire stack with one Australian-built business management platform.
Typical WorkflowMax Stack
Per user/month for a 10-person team (before retirement)
WorkflowMax Premium
Job management and time tracking
HubSpot / Pipedrive
CRM and lead management
Slack Pro
Team messaging
Xero Growing
Accounting (shared cost)
Asset spreadsheet
Manual equipment tracking in Excel
Opus Professional
Everything included. One subscription, one login, one bill.
Project Management
Pipeline, boards, tasks, proposals
Time Tracking
Timesheets, billable hours, project costs
Financial Management
Invoicing, bills, expenses, budgets
Xero Integration
Native two-way sync, no middleware
CRM & Client Portal
Lead pipeline, contacts, enrichment
Team Chat
Project messaging, threads, @mentions
Equipment Tracking
Asset registry, depreciation, service logs
AI Business Intelligence
Available as add-on ($24.99/mo)
Your migration options
Three realistic paths for former WorkflowMax users.
WorkflowMax by BlueRock
Choose if you want a like-for-like WorkflowMax replacement.
- Successor product after BlueRock acquired the brand from Xero
- Familiar job management and time tracking workflow
- Xero integration carried over as a core feature
- New product rebuilt from scratch, with its own pricing
- Scope stays close to job management, not full business management
Opus
Choose if you want more than what WorkflowMax offered.
- Everything WorkflowMax did plus CRM, chat, equipment
- Native two-way Xero sync (independent of Xero roadmap)
- AI-powered analytics and forecasting
- $25/user/mo for the full feature set
- Built for Australian SMBs (5 to 100 people)
- Free tier available to evaluate before committing
Build your own stack
Choose if you prefer best-of-breed tools for each function.
- Pick specialised tools for PM, CRM, chat, finance
- Each tool excels at its specific job
- Expensive: $80 to $150+ per user/month total
- Data lives in multiple systems
- Integration maintenance is ongoing work
- No single view of project profitability
Migrating from WorkflowMax to Opus
Four steps, a few days, and our support team alongside you. The same process works for professional services firms, agencies, and trade businesses.
Export Your Data
Export jobs, clients, time entries, quotes, and invoices from WorkflowMax by BlueRock (or use the export files you saved before the original WorkflowMax shut down in June 2024).
Import Clients and Jobs
Load your client list and open jobs into Opus. Our support team helps map WorkflowMax fields to Opus projects, contacts, and cost centres so nothing is lost in translation.
Connect Xero
Authorise the two-way Xero sync. Your chart of accounts, invoices, and bills link up automatically, and project profitability starts calculating from live financial data.
Go Live with Your Team
Invite your team, set roles and permissions, and run your first jobs end to end. Most teams complete the full migration within a few days, not weeks.
Not sure which plan fits? Compare the details on our pricing page, or start on the free plan and upgrade when you are ready.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions from teams migrating away from WorkflowMax.
Is Opus a good WorkflowMax alternative?
Yes, if you want one platform instead of a job management tool plus separate apps. Opus covers the core WorkflowMax workflow (quoting, job management, time tracking, invoicing, Xero sync) and adds CRM, team chat, equipment tracking, a client portal, and AI analytics. It is built in Australia for businesses of 5 to 100 people. If your team only needs timesheets and job costing, a narrower tool may suit; if you want job and business management in one place, Opus is a strong fit.
Can I import my WorkflowMax data?
Yes. Opus supports project and client data import. Before WorkflowMax shut down in June 2024, users could export their data (jobs, clients, time entries, invoices), and exports from WorkflowMax by BlueRock work the same way. Our support team can help you map that exported data into Opus. Most teams complete the migration within a few days.
How does Opus pricing compare?
WorkflowMax charged $30 to $70 per user per month at the time of retirement, and that covered job management and time tracking only. Opus Professional at $25/user/month includes project management, financial management, CRM, team chat, equipment tracking, and native Xero integration. There is also a free plan to evaluate the platform before committing.
Does Opus integrate with Xero?
Yes, and it goes further than WorkflowMax did. WorkflowMax had a one-way push of time entries and invoices into Xero. Opus has native two-way sync: invoices, bills, expenses, and your chart of accounts sync bidirectionally in real time. Project profitability is calculated automatically from live Xero financial data, which WorkflowMax couldn't do.
Why was WorkflowMax retired?
Xero announced in 2023 that it would retire WorkflowMax, and the product shut down in June 2024. The WorkflowMax brand was sold to BlueRock, an Australian advisory firm, which launched WorkflowMax by BlueRock as a new product with its own pricing and feature set. The change forced thousands of businesses to re-evaluate their job management software, and many took the chance to consolidate onto a broader platform.
What about WorkflowMax by BlueRock as a replacement?
WorkflowMax by BlueRock is the successor product, rebuilt by BlueRock after it acquired the brand from Xero. It is a reasonable option if you want to keep a WorkflowMax-style job management workflow with Xero integration. Opus is a broader business management platform: it adds CRM, team chat, equipment tracking, a client portal, and AI analytics on top of the job management core. Which one fits depends on whether you want a like-for-like replacement or a consolidation of your whole tool stack.
What does Opus have that WorkflowMax didn't?
CRM with lead pipeline and client enrichment, built-in team messaging and project chat, equipment and asset tracking with depreciation, AI-powered business intelligence, cash-flow forecasting, bill management and expense tracking, visual pipeline boards with drag-and-drop, and a client portal. These are core platform features, not add-ons.
Is Opus suitable for the same types of businesses that used WorkflowMax?
Absolutely. WorkflowMax was popular with professional services firms, agencies, consultancies, and trades businesses in Australia and New Zealand. Opus serves the same market with a broader feature set. If your business tracks project profitability, bills time, and uses Xero, Opus is a strong fit.
Ready to move on from WorkflowMax?
Join Australian businesses that upgraded from job management to full business management. Start your free trial of Opus today.
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