How to track job costs and profit on each job

Published 2026-11-03

Short answer

To track job costs, sort every cost into labor, materials, subcontractors and other job costs, record it the day it happens and give your own hours a rate. Compare actuals with the estimate line by line, then feed the difference into your next quote. Keep overhead separate, but make sure job profit covers it.

Revenue is what the customer pays. Profit is what is left after everything the job cost you. Many small contractors know the first number and guess the second. Tracking costs per job takes about ten minutes a week and shows which kinds of work pay and which only keep you busy.

Which four buckets should every cost go into?

Labor: your crew's time and your own time
Materials: everything bought for this job, including delivery
Subcontractors: work you paid someone else to do
Other job costs: disposal fees, equipment rental, fuel, permit fees, parking

Keep overhead, such as insurance, vehicle payments, phone and software, outside the job. It is real money, but it belongs to the business, not to one job. You deal with it at the end.

When should I record a cost?

Use one list per job, with the same name as the estimate. For each cost write the date, the supplier, the bucket and the amount, and take a photo of the receipt. A receipt left in the truck is a cost you will not see until it is too late to use.

A spreadsheet is enough. The point is not the tool, it is the habit: add the numbers on the day, not on the last Friday of the month.

How do I put a price on my own time?

If you work on the job yourself, give your hours a rate, for example the 40 per hour you would pay someone to do the same work. Without it, a job looks profitable when it merely paid you a wage. For employees, use the full cost of an hour, which is the wage plus the taxes, insurance and benefits you pay on top. Ask your accountant which percentage applies where you work.

Example: a 48 meter fence

You quote 5,200. Your estimated cost is materials 1,900, labor 40 hours at 35 (1,400) and disposal and rental 150, a total of 3,450. The planned profit is 1,750, which is a margin of 33.7% and a markup of 50.7%. Markup vs margin explains why those two numbers differ.

When the job closes, the real costs are materials 2,150 (a price rise and two extra posts), labor 52 hours at 35 (1,820) and disposal and rental 150, a total of 4,120. The real profit is 1,080, a margin of 20.8%. You earned 670 less than planned.

How do I compare the estimate with the actual cost?

Materials: 1,900 planned, 2,150 actual, 250 over (13%)
Labor: 1,400 planned, 1,820 actual, 420 over (30%)
Disposal and rental: 150 planned, 150 actual, on target

Labor explains most of the gap. You planned 40 hours for 48 meters, which is 0.83 hours per meter. The job took 1.08 hours per meter. If you quote the next fence at 1.1 hours per meter, you fix the problem at the source instead of working faster. Writing the plan from a clear scope of work keeps this comparison fair, because the planned costs describe the same job that was built.

What weekly routine takes ten minutes?

Enter the week's receipts and supplier invoices into each job's list
Add the hours worked per job, from your notes or your daily site reports
At about half way and again near the end, compare the running cost with the estimated cost
Write one line about anything that surprised you, such as hidden damage or a late delivery
When the job closes, record the final profit and margin in one place so you can compare jobs

How does overhead fit in?

Job profit has to pay the overhead. If your overhead is 2,400 a month and the average job leaves 1,750, you need about 1.4 jobs a month just to break even before you pay yourself. Knowing that number tells you whether a 400 job is worth the trip.

Job costs in SiteReporta

In SiteReporta your catalog items store both a cost and a selling price. While you build an estimate, the app shows you the total cost, profit, margin and markup. These figures are for you and never appear on the customer's PDF. They come from the costs you enter in the estimate, so treat them as the plan.

The app does not record receipts, actual costs or hours. Keep the actual figures in your own list and compare them with the plan. Your daily site reports, which record the crew count and work completed each day, help you reconstruct the hours later. How costs are treated for tax differs by country, so check your local rules or ask your accountant.

Common mistakes

Leaving out your own hours, which hides a loss
Mixing two jobs on one receipt and never splitting it
Comparing profit to revenue without checking that costs are complete
Looking at the numbers only when the job is over, too late to change anything
Never feeding the result back into the next estimate

Frequently asked questions

How often should I update job costs?

Add receipts and hours weekly at the very least, and compare the running cost with the estimate at about halfway and again near the end. Looking only when the job is over is too late to change anything.

What counts as a job cost and what is overhead?

Labor, materials, subcontractors and other costs for that job are job costs. Insurance, vehicle payments, phone and software belong to the business as a whole, so keep them outside the job.

Do I need accounting software to track costs?

No. A spreadsheet with one list per job is enough. The habit of adding numbers the day they happen matters more than the tool.

How long should I keep receipts and cost records?

It depends on where you work. The IRS says three years is the default for most records, with longer periods in some cases, and UK guidance says at least five years after the 31 January submission deadline. Check the rules that apply to you.

Does SiteReporta track actual costs and hours?

No. It shows planned cost, profit, margin and markup while you build an estimate, to you only. Keep actual receipts and hours in your own list and compare them with the plan.

Sources

Official sources for the rules and figures mentioned in this guide. Rules change and differ by place, so check the current text and your local rules.

General guidance, not legal, tax or accounting advice. Rules differ by country and trade.