What's the best way to do job costing?
Hello everyone, I have been inconsistent with adding expenses to each job. How are other jobber users adding expenses to each job to see your profitability per job? Are you having your techs keep ...
Forum Discussion
One simple approach is to track costs by job as they happen rather than waiting until the job is completed.
For each job, I would separate costs into a few basic categories: labor, materials, subcontractors, and other expenses. Then compare the total actual cost against the original estimate and target margin.
For materials, having techs record the job number on every receipt is a good system. The important part is entering those costs regularly, so you can see cost overruns while the job is still in progress.
I also find it useful to track change orders and customer payments separately. That gives you a much clearer picture of estimated vs. actual cost, cost variance, and projected final profit.
A simple spreadsheet can work well for this if you don't want to add another complicated system.