THE SOFTWARE DOES NOT FIX JOB COSTING. THE COST CODE STRUCTURE DOES.
Most platforms can do job costing. Very few are set up to do it. What separates the ones that work is six capabilities: multi-level cost codes, committed cost alongside actual cost, labor burden charged to the job, equipment charged by the day, WIP calculated out of the cost ledger, and a project manager who can read the report in 30 seconds. Job costing is a setup problem before it's a software problem.
General accounting software was built to close a month for a company. Job costing software has to close a month for every job in the company at the same time, which is a different build. It needs somewhere to put a commitment that has no invoice against it yet, a way to push payroll tax and workers comp onto the job with the wage, a daily charge for a machine you already own, and a WIP schedule it can produce by itself. Buying the license does none of that. The setup does.
WHAT IT MEANS.
Construction job costing software is accounting software set up so every dollar of labor, burden, material, equipment, and subcontract cost posts to a cost code on a specific job rather than to a company-wide expense account.
The trade decides which of the six capabilities is make or break. On civil and earthwork, it's equipment allocation, because the fleet is the second largest cost on the job and it's the one most often buried in overhead. On concrete and other labor-heavy trades, it's burden. On electrical, it's phase-level cost codes for rough-in, trim, fixtures, fire alarm, and low voltage, because a generic three-bucket setup can't tell a foreman which phase is over.
Under $3M in revenue, the make or break is discipline rather than software. A QuickBooks file set up correctly with a weekly cost review beats an expensive platform nobody keeps current. Construction-native tools such as Sage, Foundation, or ControlQore earn their keep when the business outgrows discipline and needs committed cost, automatic burden, equipment by the day, and a WIP schedule the system builds itself.
WHAT GENERAL ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE WILL NOT DO.
Cost codes collapse into three buckets
A generic setup puts everything into material, labor, and overhead. Job costing needs at least two tiers, a broad category with subcategories under it, built the way the trade builds the work. A project manager asking whether the underground is over can't get an answer out of three buckets, so he stops asking and runs the job off his own spreadsheet.
Committed cost is invisible until the invoice comes in
The money is committed the day a purchase order or a subcontract gets signed, not the day the invoice hits accounts payable. A system that reports actual cost only tells you about the overrun weeks after the week you could have done something about it. Committed cost is what turns a job cost report into a forward-looking document.
Labor burden sits in overhead instead of on the job
Payroll tax, workers comp, and benefits belong on the job with the wage that generated them. When burden sits in a company-wide overhead account, every job reads 25% to 30% more profitable than it is. That's the single most common reason a contractor feels profitable and runs out of cash at the same time.
Owned equipment costs nothing on the report
A machine you own costs a daily rate whether it turns or sits, and that rate has to hit the job it's assigned to. When the fleet lives in overhead, civil and earthwork jobs read as profitable while the equipment bleeds cash under a line nobody reviews. One verified civil client found $779,000 the year they started charging equipment to jobs by the day.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IN DOLLARS.
A verified concrete client at $4.9M in revenue went from $161,000 of net profit to $1,112,000 with the same crews and the same revenue. No rate increase, no new customers. Cost started posting to the job that caused it, which let them see which work made money and which work was costing them to perform.
A verified civil client at $7.1M in revenue ran 34 machines and 14 trucks on one blended hourly rate. Charging equipment to jobs by the day, separate from fuel and separate from the operator, uncovered $779,000. They downsized the fleet and started billing idle days.
WHAT WE SET UP.
The estimate is written in phases and assemblies and the general ledger is written in accounts, and until somebody translates one into the other, actual cost and estimate can't be compared. We build the code list off the format you bid in, then set the software up to hold it. That's the work the license doesn't do for you.
One burden rate per labor class, applied to the job with the wage instead of at month end by journal entry. One daily rate per machine, charged to the job it's assigned to whether it runs that day or sits. Both are calculated off your own trailing cost rather than a rule of thumb, and both get reviewed twice a year.
If the monthly WIP schedule takes four hours in Excel, it doesn't get done, the financials are wrong, and the bank stops trusting them. WIP is calculated from the job cost records every month for every client, along with the cost to complete review and the 13 week cash flow forecast. Those are baseline deliverables here, not upgrades.
Your PM opens the job and reads actual against estimate by cost code in 30 seconds, without calling accounting and without opening a spreadsheet. If that takes longer, the job costing isn't working, whichever logo is on the screen. We set the PM-facing report up and then we test it on the PM.
THE OUTPUTS, NAMED.
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.
