Construction Job Costing
Track what you spend on each project. Labor, materials, subcontractors, and overhead all coded by job so you can see which work makes money and which doesn't.
What This Is
Job costing assigns every expense to a specific project. When you buy materials for a bathroom remodel, that cost goes to that job. When your crew logs hours on a commercial tenant improvement, those labor costs get tracked against that project number. Same with subcontractor invoices, equipment rentals, and permit fees.
Without this level of detail, you’re looking at your profit and loss statement and seeing totals. Total revenue minus total expenses equals profit. That tells you whether your business made money last month. It doesn’t tell you that the restaurant build-out was highly profitable while the residential addition lost money.
The Tracking
The Tracking
Every expense gets coded to a job number. Labor hours tracked by project. Materials receipts assigned to specific builds. Subcontractor payments allocated correctly. Equipment rental charged to the right job. At any point, you can pull up exactly what a project has cost you so far versus what you estimated.
The Reports
The Reports
Monthly reports showing each project’s costs against your original bid. Work-in-progress tracking for active jobs. Completed job analysis comparing estimates to actuals. Over time, you build a history of what things cost that informs every future estimate.
Why This Matters
Your bank account shows $75,000. Business feels solid. But $30,000 of that is a deposit from a client whose project hasn’t started. Another $28,000 represents profit from three jobs that went smoothly. The remaining $17,000 is what’s left after a kitchen remodel ran $11,000 over budget. Without job costing, you just see $75,000 and assume everything is working.
The real cost is the decisions you make based on incomplete information. You keep taking kitchen remodels at the same rates because you don’t realize they consistently lose money. You pass on commercial work because the margins look thin, not knowing those projects always come in under budget. Every estimate is based on gut feeling instead of actual cost history.
Guessing at Bids
Guessing at Bids
When you estimate a job, you’re making assumptions about labor hours, material costs, and what the subs will charge. Without data from similar past projects, those assumptions might be optimistic. You find out if you were right three months later when the job closes and you’re wondering where the profit went.
Costs That Disappear
Costs That Disappear
That extra trip to pick up materials nobody planned for. The punch list items that took two days instead of one. The subcontractor who billed more than their original quote. These costs happen on every job. Without tracking them to specific projects, they vanish into general expenses and never inform your next bid.
What Changes
You stop guessing which types of work are profitable. The numbers show you. Maybe your commercial tenant improvements consistently hit 20% margin while residential bathroom remodels hover around 7%. Maybe that custom home builder you’ve been working with produces better margins than the property management company. The data tells you where to focus your energy.
Estimating becomes less stressful. When you’re bidding a similar job, you have real numbers from the last several you completed. You know how many labor hours that scope of work requires. You know which material categories tend to run over and by how much. Your bids reflect what things cost, not what you hope they cost.
Better Estimates
Better Estimates
Historical job data reveals patterns. Framing consistently takes longer than you estimate. Electrical subs have increased their rates since last year. HVAC rough-in on commercial jobs averages a certain amount. Your next bid accounts for these realities instead of defaulting to optimistic assumptions that leave no room for error.
Focused Growth
Focused Growth
Which job types should you pursue? Which customers are worth the effort? Where are you leaving money on the table and where are you losing it? Job costing answers these questions with numbers. You can make decisions about your business based on evidence instead of impressions.
San Diego's Small Business Bookkeeper
The Next Step:
A Short Conversation
A quick call to tell us about your business. We'll listen, answer your questions, and give you a clear price quote.
