Job costing for HVAC, plumbing, and electrical shops
If you cannot see what a job actually made, you are guessing on the next bid.
I set up and maintain job costing for HVAC, plumbing, electrical, remodeling, and general contractors in Central Texas. The point is simple: labor, materials, subs, and change orders coded to the job so the profit number is real.
What usually goes wrong
A lot of shops run everything through a few expense accounts and look at the total P&L at month-end. That can hide a job that lost money next to two that did fine.
Other common issues:
• Materials bought on a credit card never make it to the job
• Labor hits payroll but does not hit the project
• Change orders get billed and never get costed
• Retainage sits in regular accounts receivable
• Service work and install work get mixed together
The books can still be “caught up” and still not answer the question you care about: did that job make money?
What I set up
I work in QuickBooks Online as the default for most trades files. The setup depends on how you run work, but it usually includes:
• Jobs or customers set up so costs can land in the right place
• A chart of accounts that matches how you bid and build
• Labor, materials, equipment, and sub costs tracked by job
• Change orders, progress billing, and retainage when they apply
• Monthly reports that show job profit, not just company profit
If you already use a field tool, we keep that in place and make sure the books match it. I do not rip out a system that is working just to start over.
What you get each month
Reconciled books, costs coded to jobs, and a review so we can look at the jobs that are off. If a job looks profitable in the field and thin on paper, we find out why.
Who this is for
Trade shops and GCs in Leander, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Georgetown, Austin, and nearby areas that are past the “I can keep this in my head” stage. If you have more than a handful of jobs going at once, job costing stops being optional.
If you want to see profit by job instead of a blended number at month-end, we can look at your current file and what it would take to get there.