Job costing
Job Costing and Project Profitability
Job costing answers one question: did this job make what we expected, and if not, where did it go?
We set up and maintain job costing so cost data flows in during the project — not after everything is invoiced and forgotten.
The problem
Averages hide the jobs that lose money
A company-level gross margin of 28% can be made up of jobs at 40% and jobs at 6%. Without job-level reporting, you keep bidding the 6% work the same way because nothing tells you to stop.
The most common causes are consistent and fixable: labor costed at base wage rather than burdened cost, unallocated overhead, change orders performed without documentation, and equipment costs never charged to jobs.
Signs you may need this
- Every job looks profitable but the company margin says otherwise
- Cost codes are inconsistent or nonexistent
- Labor is costed at wages only, with no burden loaded
- Overhead is never allocated to jobs
- Estimates are never compared to actual results
- Change orders are captured late or not at all
What we do
How the work actually runs
01
Design the cost code structure
Cost codes and phases that mirror how you estimate, so estimate and actual can be compared line for line.
02
Calculate labor burden
A defensible burden rate covering employer taxes, workers' compensation, benefits, and paid time, applied consistently to job cost.
03
Allocate overhead sensibly
A simple, documented method for charging indirect and equipment costs to jobs, so gross margin means something.
04
Track estimate versus actual
Live comparison of committed and incurred cost against the estimate at the cost code level while the job runs.
05
Close the loop with estimating
Post-job reviews that feed real cost data back into how the next bid is priced.
Deliverables
What you receive
- Documented cost code structure and costing policy
- Burdened labor rate calculation and application
- Estimate versus actual reporting by cost code
- Gross margin by job, job type, and customer
- Committed cost and open purchase order visibility
- Post-job profitability review summaries
Outcome
What changes
You learn which kind of work your business is genuinely good at — and which work you should price differently or decline. Over a year, that is usually worth more than any cost cutting exercise.
Best suited to
- Contractors and construction companies bidding varied work
- Project-based businesses with multi-month engagements
- Companies whose estimates are not being validated against results
- Owners preparing to raise prices or change their mix of work
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Related services
Where clients usually go next
Construction
Construction Accounting Services
Construction accounting and bookkeeping built around jobs: job costing, WIP, retainage, labor burden, and margin reporting for U.S. construction companies.
Contractors
Accounting and Bookkeeping for Contractors
Accounting and bookkeeping for contractors and trades: job-based coding, subcontractor tracking, payroll job costs, and reporting on real project margin.
CFO support
Fractional CFO Services
Fractional and outsourced CFO services for growing U.S. small businesses: forecasting, margin strategy, lender readiness, and financial decision support.
Next step
Discuss Your Accounting
Bring one recent job and we will walk through where the margin went.