Missing calls? Receptionist, answering service or neither: working out the cash flow

The call you didn’t take

Every service business knows the feeling. You’re up a ladder, under a sink, with a patient, or halfway through a busy lunch service, and the phone rings. By the time you check it, the caller has moved on to the next business on the list. You’ll never know exactly what that call was worth, but you can make a decent estimate. And that estimate is the starting point for deciding whether it’s time for help on the phones.

We’re a phone-first business ourselves, so we think about this a lot. Here’s a practical way to work through it.

Step 1: put a number on missed calls

Take a normal week and look at your phone’s missed-call log. Then estimate:

1. How many missed calls were likely new customers (not suppliers, spam or family).
2. What share of those you’d normally win if you’d answered.
3. Your average job or sale value.

Multiply them together for a rough weekly figure.

Line	Illustrative example
Missed calls from likely new customers per week	8
Share you’d usually win	40%
Average job value	$650
Estimated revenue missed per week	About $2,080

Illustrative figures only. Use your own numbers.

It’s rough, and that’s fine. It’s still far better than guessing, and it gives you something to compare against the cost of each option.

Step 2: the three options

Option A: a phone answering service. Someone answers in your business name, takes a message or books a job, and passes it on. These services suit businesses with variable call volumes, calls that come in bursts, or owners who mainly need messages taken reliably. Pricing structures vary, often by the number of calls or minutes, so compare what you’d pay for your actual call pattern.

Option B: a receptionist. An employee, part-time or full-time, who answers calls, books work, handles walk-ins and often takes on admin, invoicing and follow-up. This suits businesses with steady call volume, in-person customers, or plenty of admin to share.

Option C: change how you handle calls yourself. Set call-back windows, use a clear voicemail message that promises a return call by a certain time, or add online booking. Cheapest, but only works if you can reliably follow up.

Step 3: the true cost of a receptionist

If you’re considering an employee, the wage is only part of it. Plan for:

• Award wages. Receptionists are generally covered by the Clerks—Private Sector Award, which applies to employees who mainly carry out clerical and administrative work in the private sector. Some industries have their own awards with clerical classifications, so check which applies. The Fair Work Ombudsman publishes current pay rates.
• Superannuation. The super guarantee rate is 12%, the rate that has applied since 1 July 2025. From 1 July 2026 it’s calculated on each eligible employee’s qualifying earnings.
• Payday Super. From 1 July 2026, super must reach the employee’s fund within 7 business days of paying wages. For a new employee’s first contribution, the timeframe is 20 business days. That changes cash-flow timing compared with paying super quarterly.
• Leave and public holidays. Annual leave, personal leave and public holiday entitlements for permanent staff.
• Other on-costs. Workers compensation insurance, payroll tax if your business is above your state’s threshold, equipment, software and training time.

Add those up for a realistic annual cost, then divide by 52 to compare with your weekly missed-call estimate.

Step 4: the cash-flow gap

Here’s the part that catches growing businesses out. Hiring costs start immediately; the extra revenue from better call handling builds over weeks or months. For the first period after a hire, you’re paying more out before more comes in.

With Payday Super, super now leaves the account with each pay run rather than in a quarterly lump. That’s easier to budget in some ways, but it means there’s no longer a quarterly delay to help cash flow in the early months of a new hire.

A simple way to plan it:

1. Map expected weekly costs of the new role for the first three months.
2. Map expected extra revenue, conservatively, starting low and building.
3. The gap between the two, added up, is roughly the cash you need to carry the hire until it pays for itself.

business.gov.au’s cash flow resources have templates if you’d like to set this out properly.

Which option fits?

Your situation	Often a good fit
Calls come in bursts, mostly need booking or messages	Answering service
Steady calls all day, plus walk-ins and admin	Receptionist
Few calls, but you often miss them at key times	Better call-back routine
Growing fast, admin piling up	Part-time receptionist, reviewed after three months

Whichever you choose, review it after a couple of months: are you winning more of the calls you used to miss?

Getting more from the calls you do answer

Before you hire anyone, a few changes can lift the value of every call:

• A proper voicemail message. Say who you are, when you’ll call back, and offer an alternative such as an online booking link. A missed call with a clear promise often isn’t a lost customer.
• A call-back routine. Return calls at set times, for example at morning tea and at the end of the day.
• A simple script. Whoever answers should ask the same few questions: name, number, what’s needed, where, and when. It makes quoting and booking faster.
• Track outcomes. Note which calls became jobs. After a month, you’ll know your real conversion rate, which makes the hire-or-not decision far clearer.

We’ve written our own guidance on phone conversations from the other side of the desk; if you’re curious how a structured first call works, see what to say when you call. The same principles apply to your customers ringing you.

Funding the first few months

If the numbers say a receptionist will pay for themselves but the business can’t comfortably carry the first months, that’s a common reason owners talk to a lender. Wages are a legitimate business purpose, and a working-capital facility sized on a realistic plan can bridge the gap until the extra revenue arrives.

When you call, describe it simply: “I’m hiring a receptionist to stop missing calls. I estimate it’ll take about three months to pay for itself, and I’d like to cover roughly $X of wages and super in the meantime.” Our page on how much to ask for helps you build the number, and describing turnover helps with the rest.

If you’re a trade or service business with lumpy income, you can check what you might qualify for before committing to the hire, so you know the safety net is there.

A worked example

A two-van plumbing business estimates it misses about ten likely-customer calls a week while both plumbers are on jobs, and wins about half of the calls it does answer. With an average job of around $500, that’s roughly $2,500 of work walking away each week. The owner compares an answering service with a part-time receptionist who would also handle invoicing and chasing. They choose the receptionist, plan for a three-month ramp-up, and arrange a small working-capital facility to cover wages and super during that period.

Illustrative example only.

Answering the phone is worth money

Whether it’s a service, a new hire or a better routine, getting calls answered is one of the simplest ways to grow revenue in a service business. We should know: answering the phone is what we do. If you’d like to talk about funding a new role or smoothing the cash while it beds in, ring 03 4059 1829 or send a 60-second enquiry. There’s no credit check to enquire, your details aren’t spread across a pile of lenders, and a real person will pick up. Please give accurate figures so we can match you properly on the first call.