BREAKING EQUIPMENT COST OUT IN JOB COSTING.
Most subcontractors bill equipment as one all in hourly rate that buries the machine, the operator, fuel, mobilization, and fees together. When the job goes over, you can't tell which one moved. Breaking equipment into separate cost codes for the machine, the operator, fuel, and fees is what lets you see where a job is bleeding.
The all in rate caps your revenue at run time while the real cost runs all day. A machine on site for a day costs you a full day whether it runs two hours or ten, and if the only way it bills is by the hour then the idle time is a loss that never appears on a line item. Separating the codes changes what the report can tell you. The machine line answers whether the iron is earning, the operator line answers whether the labor plan held, and the fuel line answers whether consumption matched the estimate.
WHAT IT MEANS.
Equipment cost basis is the true daily, weekly, or monthly cost to own and run a specific machine, separate from the operator who runs it and the fuel it burns.
SEPARATE WHAT MOVES SEPARATELY.
Machine cost basis
Charge a daily, weekly, or monthly rate for the machine being on the job, separate from whether it's running. That rate covers ownership: replacement cost, maintenance, insurance, and registration spread across the days you work it. A machine on site for a day costs you a full day even if it runs two hours, so it should be billed for the day.
Operator labor
The operator is labor, not equipment. Keep them in separate cost codes so that when an operator moves to another task or a day runs long, the labor overrun sits on its own line instead of muddying the equipment number. Track operator cost fully burdened, including taxes, workers comp, and benefits.
Fuel and fees
Fuel is consumption and it moves with hours run, so it belongs on its own line where you can compare it to the estimate. Mobilization, staging, and permit fees are one time costs per deployment. Separating them is how you catch a job where the machine sat idle burning standby cost while the schedule of values only paid for run time.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IN DOLLARS.
A verified civil client at $7.1M was running 34 pieces of equipment and 14 trucks on a single all in hourly rate. A skid steer billed at $450 an hour looked fine until the real numbers came out: $979 a day just to have it on site, $200 to mobilize, fuel at 8 gallons an hour, and an operator at $47 an hour fully burdened. On a two hour task they billed two hours and lost money every time. Once equipment was broken into separate cost codes and a daily standby rate was charged, their balance sheet improved by $779,000.
When you bill equipment weekly or monthly there are 13 months in a year, because four weeks equals one month, which is how rental companies charge. A five week project is one month and one week. Pricing owned equipment this way recovers real carrying cost and shows when renting beats owning.
SIX STEPS, ONE MACHINE AT A TIME.
Take replacement cost, maintenance, insurance, and registration over the years you plan to own it, then divide by annual working days. That's the number the machine has to earn every day it sits on a job, and it's usually higher than the owner expects.
The machine rate covers presence, separate from fuel and operator. A machine delivered on Monday and used on Thursday cost you four days of ownership, and the cost code should say so rather than absorbing three of them into overhead.
Taxes, workers comp, and benefits included. When the labor plan slips, the overrun belongs on the labor line where somebody owns it, not blended into an equipment rate nobody questions.
Fuel consumption gets compared to the estimate month by month. Eight gallons an hour on a machine estimated at five is a variance you can see and fix, and it's invisible inside an all in rate.
Mobilization is a one time cost per deployment and standby is the cost of idle days. Both need their own lines so idle days get covered rather than absorbed by whatever hours the machine happened to run.
Four weeks equals one month, so a year holds 13 months and a five week project is one month and one week. Pricing owned equipment the way rental companies price theirs recovers real carrying cost and makes the rent versus own question answerable.
FLAT MONTHLY FEE. NO SURPRISES.
Three tiers, priced by your trailing twelve month revenue. Which one you're in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. No hourly billing, no payroll, and no add-ons.
| Last 12 months revenue | Monthly fee |
|---|---|
| Up to $1M | $1,900 to $2,900 |
| $1M to $3.5M | $2,600 to $3,900 |
| $3.5M to $6.5M | $3,800 to $5,700 |
| $6.5M to $9.5M | $5,100 to $7,100 |
| $9.5M to $12.5M | $6,100 to $8,500 |
| $12.5M to $15.5M | $7,400 to $11,000 |
| $15.5M to $18.5M | $9,400 to $13,500 |
| $18.5M+ | Quoted individually |
Range reflects the three tiers below. Which one you're in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. No payroll. No hidden line items.
You stop guessing.
You get the CFO work. Job costing built against the way you estimate, a 13 week cash forecast, monthly WIP, and a meeting every month that ends in decisions rather than a report.
Your bookkeeper keeps doing the books.
You stop touching the books.
Everything in Core, and we run the bookkeeping and the controllership as well. Nobody in your office is answering coding questions or chasing a reconciliation at month end.
We do the books. No payroll.
Every job shows its margin while it's still running.
Everything in Executive, plus the job costing and WIP platform set up, loaded with your cost codes, and managed for you every month. You never have to learn it.
We do the job costing.
FREQUENTLY ASKED.
