THE PM JOB COST SCORECARD.
A PM job cost scorecard lists each project manager's active jobs with actual costs by cost code compared to the original estimate. It's the financial report that turns monthly bookkeeping into field accountability. Without it, the PM knows whether the job is on schedule. With it, the PM knows whether the job is making money, and where the money is going over while there's still time to close the distance.
The report does one job. It puts a number in front of the person who can still change the result. A project manager who manages work off the schedule alone will finish on time and negative, because nothing in a schedule tells him equipment used 120 percent of its budget at 65 percent complete. Cost code detail does tell him that, and it tells him early enough to tighten a crew, pull a machine off rent, or write the change order the scope change earned. Everything else on this page is the structure that gets that number in front of him every month.
WHAT IT MEANS.
A PM job cost scorecard is a report that lists each project manager's active jobs with actual costs by cost code set against the original estimate.
The scorecard has one row per active job per project manager. Each job breaks out by cost code with the estimate, the actual to date, the percent of the estimate spent, the money left to finish, and a status flag. The PM reads it monthly, after the close and before the owner meeting, so the numbers in the room are the same numbers the books hold.
WHY THE PM NEVER SAW IT COMING.
The PM tracks schedule and never sees the money
Without a scorecard, a project manager knows whether the job is on schedule and nothing more. Nobody sends him the cost code detail, so the first time he learns labor went over is when the job closes. He managed the part he could see. The part he couldn't see is where the margin went.
The conversation happens at closeout, which is too late
A job that's 65 percent complete with equipment at 120 percent of budget can still be fixed. There are months left to manage machine time, tighten labor, and write the change order for the scope that caused the overrun. Once the job closes, the same conversation is an autopsy, and no meeting recovers a dollar that has already been spent.
Change order work proceeds with no billing event behind it
Scope changes reach the job as cost long before anybody triggers a billing event for them. Untracked change order work is the single most common cause of jobs that look profitable on the WIP and still close negative. Nobody is concealing it. There's just no report that forces somebody to say out loud what got built and never billed.
The cost to complete comes in separately and stale
When the cost to complete is submitted on its own form, it comes in detached from any review of the actual costs behind it. The WIP then uses a figure from last month that nobody has questioned since. The number becomes a formality rather than a forecast, and the WIP inherits whatever error is inside it.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IN DOLLARS.
On a $296,000 job at 65 percent complete, material shows $84,000 estimated against $79,200 actual at 94 percent, subcontractor $52,000 against $41,600 at 80 percent, equipment $28,000 against $33,600 at 120 percent, labor $118,000 against $129,800 at 110 percent, and direct job expense $14,000 against $11,200 at 80 percent. Total actual is $295,400 against a $296,000 estimate, which is 99.8 percent of the budget spent with 35 percent of the work still left. The projected result is negative $10,200.
That job is in month four of a seven month schedule. Equipment and labor are both over the estimate, and at the current burn rate the job closes negative. Three months of work are left, which is enough time to manage machine usage, tighten the crew, and trigger a change order on the scope that caused the overrun. At closeout the same figures are only history.
HOW THE MONTHLY REVIEW WORKS.
The review doesn't start at the total. It works through each cost code one at a time. Is the remaining material estimate realistic for what's left to install? Is the remaining labor estimate consistent with the remaining scope? If equipment has used 120 percent of its budget at 65 percent complete, what changes over the last 35 percent? The PM answers each question and the CFO records the answers in the cost to complete column.
The PM confirms all open change orders before the meeting ends. Any scope change with costs reaching the job and no billing event behind it gets flagged, the CFO writes down the dollar amount, and the PM owns the timeline for turning it into a billing event. This one step removes the most common cause of a job that reads profitable all year and closes negative.
The cost to complete for each job is updated in the review rather than submitted separately. Whatever the PM says it will take to finish goes straight into the cost to complete column. When the WIP is produced the next morning it uses actual costs plus a figure the PM confirmed out loud the day before, not a number from last month nobody has looked at since.
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. The one-time onboarding fee is right here in the table.
| Last 12 months revenue | Monthly fee | One-time onboarding |
|---|---|---|
| Under $1M | $1,900 to $3,300 | $1,000 |
| $1M to $3.5M | $2,600 to $5,300 | $1,500 |
| $3.5M to $6.5M | $3,800 to $8,300 | $3,000 |
| $6.5M to $9.5M | $5,100 to $11,800 | $4,500 |
| $9.5M to $12.5M | $6,100 to $14,900 | $6,000 |
| $12.5M to $15.5M | $7,400 to $17,650 | $7,500 |
| $15.5M to $18.5M | $9,400 to $22,400 | $9,000 |
| $18.5M+ | Quoted individually | Quoted individually |
The onboarding fee covers migrating your books back to the start of your last taxable year and getting you fully operational in 60 days. It's billed once, with your first invoice. It's the same for all three tiers. Your first month is prorated, and your monthly engagement starts on the first of the first full month.
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. The onboarding fee is right here in the table.
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 and never in a report.
Your bookkeeper still does the books.
Every job shows its margin while it is still open.
Everything in Core, plus the bookkeeping and bank reconciliations done for you, and the job costing and WIP software set up, loaded with your cost codes, and managed every month. Use your own online software, or move to ours and we cover it.
A bookkeeper we choose does the books and reconciliations. No payroll.
You approve, and the money side gets handled.
Everything in Strategic, plus a controller we choose who handles your bills and receivables for you the way an in-house controller would. They call vendors, pay the bills and keep the accounting current. We plan the cash flow first, and you approve every payment because it is your money.
A controller we choose does the payables and receivables. No payroll, no pay applications, no collections.
FREQUENTLY ASKED.
