HOW TO KNOW IF A JOB IS ACTUALLY PROFITABLE.
A job is profitable only when its actual cost comes in under the estimate and the bid recovered real overhead. You find out while the job is running, not at closeout, by tracking actual cost against the estimate weekly with a cost-to-complete. If your project manager can't pull a job's cost position in 30 seconds, you don't know whether it's profitable.
Most subcontractors believe a job made money because the deposit cleared and the final check came in. That's hoping, and hoping doesn't survive a bad quarter. A job made money only when its cost beat the estimate and the bid carried true overhead, and you can only confirm that if somebody tracked the cost as the work happened. The job that feels good can be the one bleeding, and the job that felt tight can be the winner. The difference is visibility, and you either had it while the crew was on site or you didn't.
WHAT IT MEANS.
A construction job is profitable when its actual direct cost comes in at or under the estimated cost and the bid recovered the company's real overhead.
Profitability is decided in two places. The first is the bid, where overhead is either recovered or it's not. The second is execution, where actual cost either beats the estimate or it doesn't. Watch only one of the two and you're guessing. A job that beats its cost estimate but was bid on a 10% overhead assumption when the true number is 30% still loses money.
THE THREE THINGS TO CHECK.
Actual against estimate, weekly
Every dollar in the estimate has to map to a job cost code, so you can compare actual cost to estimated cost line by line, every week. When labor on a phase runs 15% over budget, you see it in week three and not at closeout. A job tracked this way tells you it's fading while you can still respond to it.
Fully burdened cost
Labor isn't the wage. It's the wage plus payroll taxes, workers comp, and benefits, often 30% to 40% on top. Equipment is the machine, the fuel, and the mobilization. If your job cost leaves these out, the job looks more profitable than it is, and you bid the next one the same wrong way.
The 30-second test
Ask your project manager where a job stands on cost as of last month. If he pulls it up in 30 seconds, the system works and you can trust the profitability number. If he has to ask accounting, wait for a report, and then rework it himself, you don't know whether the job is making money.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IN DOLLARS.
Labor costs the wage plus payroll taxes, workers comp, and benefits, often 30% to 40% on top of the base wage. A crew you priced at bare wage is running 30% to 40% hotter than the estimate from the first day on site. No amount of production in the field makes that back.
A bid built on a 10% overhead assumption when the true overhead is 30% loses money even when the field beats the cost estimate. The crew did its job and the bid didn't. That's why both halves have to be watched, not just the half you can see from the job site.
KNOW IT RUNNING, NOT AT CLOSEOUT.
The job cost codes get built to match the way you estimate, so actual cost compares to estimated cost line by line without anybody translating between two systems. Actual against budget then gets tracked weekly rather than at closeout. A job you can only judge after it closes is a job you never controlled.
The single best tool for knowing whether a job will be profitable is an honest cost-to-complete, filled out line by line: what percent complete you are, and how much is left to spend on each line item. Roll that against the original budget and you know whether the job is trending to make money or lose it, while there's still room to act.
Done monthly on every active job, the cost-to-complete turns profitability from a closeout surprise into a managed number. It raises the right questions while they're still answerable: are we missing a change order, did we underestimate a phase, does the build strategy need to change. Those are useful questions in week six and useless ones at closeout.
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.
Pricing
| 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.
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