Buyer's guide
The AI back office for small service businesses
Why owners are switching, what it actually costs, how it works day to day, and how to try it for three days before you pay anything.
Why service businesses switch
The business side of a trade or practice is a second job nobody applied for. These are the four reasons owners tell us they moved it to an AI back office.
Admin eats your evenings
Quotes, follow-ups, chasing invoices and planning next month happen after the last job — or not at all. An AI back office does that work while you're on the tools.
Unpaid invoices go quiet
Most owners chase once, then feel awkward. A written three-step sequence, dated and in your voice, gets sent because it's already done.
Hiring for admin costs more than the admin
A part-time office hire is thousands a month before training. The software costs $49–$149 and doesn't need onboarding.
You want finished work, not a chatbot
Generic AI gives you advice. This hands back the actual quote, email, plan or forecast, with your prices, your customers and your sign-off.
What's in the back office
Nine departments, each returning a finished piece of work. Growth and Team plans can request a tenth built for their business.
| Department | What it hands back |
|---|---|
| Revenue Chaser | A ready-to-send follow-up sequence for an unpaid invoice. |
| Sales Pipeline | Lead ranked, next move decided, outreach message written. |
| Quote Builder | A clear, itemised quote with pricing rationale. |
| Marketing Department | A 4-week content and offer plan with copy written. |
| Competitor Desk | A competitor report with pricing position, gaps to attack and what to change this month. |
| Cash Flow Office | A 90-day cash projection with risks and cuts. |
| Operations | A step-by-step SOP your team can actually follow. |
| Hiring Desk | Job ad, screening questions, and a scorecard. |
| Customer Care | A reply that protects the relationship and your margin. |
What it costs
Three monthly plans, billed to the card on file after the trial. Cancel any time from your billing page.
Starter
For the owner-operator doing everything themselves.
$49/month
- All 9 departments
- 40 briefs per month
- Client & invoice tracker
- Saved work history
Growth
For a small team that needs the system running weekly.
$99/month
- Unlimited briefs
- A 10th department built for your business
- Business profile tuning
- Priority generation
- Export to email & PDF
Team
For multi-crew businesses with real overhead.
$149/month
- Everything in Growth
- A 10th department built for your business
- 5 team seats
- Shared client records
- Quarterly strategy review
Compared with the alternatives
| Option | Typical monthly cost | What you have to do |
|---|---|---|
| Do it yourself | Your evenings | Write every quote, chase and plan from scratch |
| Part-time admin hire | Wages plus onboarding | Recruit, train, manage, cover absences |
| CEO Engine | $49–$149 | Type what you need, send what comes back |
Want to check the maths with your own hours and job value? Use the payroll calculator on the home page.
How it works
Fill in your business profile once
Trade, services, area, who you sell to, how you talk and how you sign off. About three minutes. Every department writes from it.
Brief a department in plain English
Pick Revenue Chaser, type the client, the amount and how late it is. Leave blanks — anything you don't know becomes a clearly marked placeholder, never a guess.
Get the finished document back
Emails, quotes, plans and forecasts arrive ready to send. Save it, copy it, or email it to the client straight from the page.
Every department's brief comes with a worked example of what to type and what comes back — see them in the member guide.
Free trial
Three free days on any plan
Add a card, pick a plan, and run real briefs on your real clients. Nothing is charged before day 4. Cancel during the trial and you pay nothing.
Start your 3 free daysCommon questions
What is an AI back office?
Software that does the office work of a small business — collections, quoting, marketing, cash planning, hiring and procedures — and returns finished documents instead of advice. You brief it; it hands work back.
Which businesses is CEO Engine built for?
Owner-run service businesses: plumbers, electricians, HVAC, landscapers, cleaners, dental and physio practices, IT support, agencies and similar teams of one to about twenty.
Does it replace my accounting software or CRM?
No. It sits alongside them. It produces the chase sequence, the quote and the forecast; your accounting tool still records the money. Client records can also sync from your own HubSpot account.
How does the free trial work?
Add a card, get 3 free days on any plan. Nothing is charged before day 4, and you can cancel from the billing page at any time during the trial.
More answers on the FAQ page, or contact us.