Forward SoftwareDevelopment & technical consulting

Auckland, NZ

Software built around how you work.

Full-stack developer with an operations background, for NZ businesses and founders stuck on spreadsheets, manual work, or an app they've outgrown.

Book a free intro callView selected work
From a shared spreadsheet to a job tracker your whole team uses.
Expertise
Websites, Web Apps, and AI Tools
Approach
Understand the process first, then build what fits
Location
Based in NZ, serving global teams

01/The problem

Sound familiar?

Most of the businesses I build for know their work inside out. The software just hasn't kept up.

  • Businesses

    The business runs on spreadsheets and manual handoffs, and one person on holiday slows everything down.

    Build

  • Businesses

    Your team types the same details into three different tools, and the numbers never quite match.

    Build

  • Businesses

    Your no-code or low-code app has been outgrown. It's slow, costly to change, and nobody is sure who can see what.

    App health check

  • Founders

    You're a founder with an idea worth testing, but no technical partner to build the first version.

    Discovery and scoping

02/Services

Where I can help

Three ways in, depending on where you are. Most work starts with discovery, so you know what you're getting and what it costs before the build begins.

Start here

Discovery

Before anything gets built, I map how the work actually runs today, write down what the software needs to do, and recommend an approach with a fixed build estimate. You know what it will cost before you commit to it.

  • A clear map of your process or idea, in plain language
  • An honest view of where AI would save time, and where it wouldn't
  • A fixed price and date for the build, so there are no surprises
See discovery options

Good fit for Anyone about to spend money on software who wants to get it right

Internal tools & MVPs

Build

Software that takes the spreadsheets, copy-paste and chasing out of your week. For businesses, that's internal tools for approvals, handoffs and reporting. For founders, it's a focused first version you can put in front of real users.

  • One tool your team actually uses, in place of spreadsheets and manual handoffs
  • Repetitive work automated, with AI where it genuinely helps and plain code where it doesn't
  • An MVP with the features that prove the idea, and nothing it doesn't need

Good fit for Teams outgrowing spreadsheets, and founders testing an idea

Outgrown your app

Migrate and modernise

Your app runs on a no-code or low-code platform and it's become slow, costly or hard to change. I work out how it really runs, including the workarounds nobody wrote down, then move it to a custom stack you own.

  • Your data, users and workflows carried across intact
  • Only the right people can see or edit sensitive data
  • Code you own outright, with no platform limiting what you build next

Good fit for Businesses that have outgrown a no-code or low-code app

03/Pricing

Start with a fixed price

Two ways to start, each with a set price, a set length and a written deliverable you keep. You know where you stand before anything gets built.

Before a build

Discovery and scoping

I work through how things run today and what you need, then hand you a plan you can act on, whether or not I build it.

For
New builds, automation and migrations
Length
4 working days
Fixed price
$2,400 NZD

You receive

  • A map of how the process runs today
  • Written requirements
  • A recommended approach, including where AI fits and where it doesn't
  • A fixed build estimate
Book a free intro call

Technical review

App health check

A technical review of an app you already run, so you know what's risky and what to fix first. It's not legal advice or sign-off.

For
Existing apps, custom or no-code
Length
2.5 working days
Fixed price
$1,500 NZD

You receive

  • Findings ranked by risk
  • Access control, user-data handling (Privacy Act 2020 / GDPR), security basics and code quality
  • A recommended fix for each finding
Book a free intro call

Builds: Quoted after discovery, as a fixed price with a deliverable and a date.

Not GST-registered; no GST charged.

04/How I work

From first call to finished build

Every step has a clear price and a clear next step, so you're never paying to find out what something costs.

  1. 01

    Free 30-minute intro call

    You tell me what's slowing you down. I'll say honestly whether I can help, and which discovery option fits. No cost, no obligation.

  2. 02

    Paid discovery

    A fixed-price discovery or health check. You get a written deliverable you can use whether or not I build anything for you.

  3. 03

    Build

    Quoted from what discovery found: a fixed price, a deliverable and a date. The person who scoped the work is the person who builds it.

Book a free intro call

05/Work

Proof, not promises

Real projects, told in full: what the problem was, what I built, and how it turned out.

The rebuilt NZMAI resource directory: a search bar with category and tag filters above cards for NZ lenders

01Platform migration

NZMAI Platform Migration

Lead developer · Full-stack

NZMAI, a resource platform for NZ mortgage advisers, had outgrown its Bubble.io app. It was costly to run, stuck with a template look, and hard to control who could see what.

  1. 01Chose and set up a custom stack, with every change checked automatically before it goes live.
  2. 02Designed a new database and limited access by role, enforced in the database itself.
  3. 03Moved all 13 calculator tools across and rebuilt the resource directory with search and filters.

Result

A tested foundation NZMAI owns, with a large part of the platform already moved across and the rest ready to build on it.

Read the case study

File review findings for a sample client file: a summary of what the adviser did well and what's missing, 3 of 7 steps fully compliant, high overall risk with 2 critical gaps, and a status for each step of the advice process

02AI compliance automation

Compliance Report Assistant (Proof of Concept)

A large NZ financial advice firm checked compliance by hand. Each review meant cross-referencing documents and emails, so only a sample of client files could be checked.

In the demo, it reviewed a nine-document sample file in about a minute, and its findings matched the issues the firm's compliance team had already flagged.

Read the case study

06/About

I'm Andy Guffey

A full-stack developer who worked in operations first. I know how work actually moves through a business, because I've done it.

Black-and-white portrait of Andy Guffey, smiling, in a flannel shirt

Qualifications

  1. Postgraduate Diploma in AI Product EngineeringMission Ready · Completing 2026
  2. Diploma in Full Stack DevelopmentMission Ready · 2025
  3. Bachelor of Commerce in Management and MarketingVictoria University of Wellington · 2019

Before I wrote code, I worked on a production line, in a warehouse, and in back offices in government and insurance. I've been the person working around a clunky system, so I know what to ask before building a new one.

Now I build the software. Alongside my development diploma and commerce degree, I'm completing a Postgraduate Diploma in AI Product Engineering, so the AI I recommend is grounded in how it really performs.

Working with me means working with one person. No account managers and no hand-offs: the person who scopes your project is the person who builds it.

Before I wrote code

  1. Fonterra

    Process Operator

    Worked on the production floor to strict quality standards, recording work in SAP, where every minute of downtime costs money.

  2. New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade

    Business Process Coordinator

    Coordinated workflows between teams and stakeholders, and built SharePoint pages to make the work easier to find and follow.

  3. Scania NZ

    Parts Administrator, then Warehouse Lead

    One of the main contacts on parts for dealers, workshops, fleet customers and Scania's factories worldwide. Then, as Warehouse Lead, helped move the national parts warehouse from Wellington to Auckland in 2020.

    More than 170,000 parts across nearly 9,000 line items

  4. Suncorp NZ

    Operations Consultant

    Dug into legacy data and large datasets to work out what had actually happened, and why.

Full work history on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)

From the start, Andy showed great teamwork, communication, and problem-solving skills — we worked seamlessly together and supported each other through every challenge.

… His attention to detail and ability to combine technical skill with design sense always impressed the team.

Kenneth Sta Maria on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)Studied with Andy at Mission Ready

07/Contact

Connect

Share your project scope or book a direct call, whichever fits your workflow best.

Prefer email

andy@forwardsoftware.co.nz

Goals, timeline, and anything that is not working today.

Replies within 24 hours.