Job Costing
Job Costing provides real-time visibility into project profitability by tracking actual costs against your budget. Monitor spending, committed costs, and profit margins for every cost code in your project.
What Is Job Costing?
Job Costing aggregates all costs associated with a project and compares them to your original estimate. For each cost code (category), you can see:
- Estimated costs from your signed contract
- Actual costs from bills, time entries, and field receipts
- Committed costs from purchase orders and pending time entries
- Projected final costs based on current spending trends
- Profit margins comparing projected vs. estimated
Key Features
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Cost Code Tracking | Track costs by estimate category (Framing, Electrical, etc.) |
| Commitment Tracking | See costs committed via POs before they're billed |
| Variance Analysis | Identify budget overruns with color-coded indicators |
| Invoicing Progress | Monitor what's been billed to the homeowner |
| Margin Monitoring | Track projected profit against estimated margin |
| Completion Marking | Lock down cost codes when work is finished |
| CSV Export | Export job costing data for external analysis |
Accessing Job Costing
- Open a project
- Click the Job Costing (Beta) tab
Requirements:
- You must have the View Project Costs permission
- Only available for standard projects (not change orders)
Understanding the Interface
Summary Cards
Three cards at the top provide a project-level overview:
Projected Total Costs
- Total projected cost for the entire project
- Percentage comparison to budget (more or less than budgeted)
- Progress bar showing billed costs vs. cost to complete
Total Margins
- Projected profit in dollars
- Comparison of projected vs. estimated margin
- "TARGET MET" indicator when projected meets or exceeds estimated margin
Revised Client Price
- Total contract price including change orders
- Progress bar showing invoicing progress
- Amount invoiced vs. remaining to invoice
Main Table
The table displays one row per cost code with comprehensive cost data:
| Column Group | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Cost Structure | Estimated, total, committed, billed, and variance costs |
| Projections | Projected costs, cost to complete, and budget variance |
| Client Pricing | Client price, amount invoiced, and remaining to invoice |
| Profit | Projected profit, estimated margin, and projected margin |
Expandable Details
Click any row to expand and see detailed breakdowns:
- Assemblies - Estimate entries from the signed contract
- Bills/POs - Standard bills and purchase orders
- Bills/POs (Variance) - Variance bills affecting profitability
- Change Orders - Additional scope approved by homeowner
- Client Invoices - Owner invoices released
- Field Receipts - Job site material expenses
- Time Clock - Labor costs (approved and unapproved)
Quick Reference
| Action | How To |
|---|---|
| View job costing | Project → Job Costing (Beta) tab |
| Expand cost code details | Click any row |
| Collapse all rows | Click Collapse All button |
| Filter by cost code | Click filter icon, select cost codes |
| Export data | Click Export to CSV |
| Toggle fullscreen | Click fullscreen icon |
| Mark cost code complete | Check the Complete checkbox |
In This Section
- Tracking Costs - Understanding cost calculations
- Variance Analysis - Identifying and managing budget variances
- Cost Reports - Using job costing data for reporting
Related Topics
- Purchase Orders - Managing vendor commitments
- Time Tracking - Labor cost entry
- Client Invoicing - Invoice customers
- Cost Codes - Configuring cost categories
- Cost Controls Report - Production cost reporting