Job Costing
Job costing is fully automatic. The system calculates labor costs from GPS time tracking and material costs from receipt OCR — no manual entry from the field. The business owner sees real margin on every job without anyone filling out a form.
Feature Overview
Four core components:
- Material Costs — Pulled automatically from receipt photo capture
- Labor Costs — Calculated from GPS-based time tracking × employee hourly rate
- Job Cost Breakdown — Real-time view of cost vs. revenue on every project
- Profitability Reports — Margin trends across projects, crews, and service types
Material Costs Pipeline
7-step process from field receipt to cost entry:
- Tech takes a receipt photo in the mobile app
- OCR extracts vendor name, date, total, and line items
- GPS at capture time matches the receipt to the nearest active project
- System presents the match: "$142.50 at Home Depot → 123 Oak Street"
- Tech confirms with one tap (or selects a different project)
- Expense logged to the project cost breakdown
- Receipt image stored and linked to the expense entry for audit trail
Labor Costs Pipeline
6-step process from geofence entry to cost calculation:
- Tech's phone enters the job site geofence radius (75m default)
- Timer starts automatically — push notification sent to tech
- Tech leaves the geofence — timer stops
- Time entry created with: tech name, project, start time, end time, duration
- Labor cost calculated:
hours × tech's hourly rate = labor cost - Cost added to the project's job cost breakdown
Job Cost Breakdown
Sample breakdown for "Roof Repair — Park Residence":
Contract value: $8,400
Material Costs — $2,840 total
| Item | Vendor | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Architectural shingles (32 squares) | ABC Supply | $1,680 |
| Synthetic underlayment | ABC Supply | $420 |
| Ridge cap | ABC Supply | $180 |
| Ice & water shield | ABC Supply | $220 |
| Roofing nails (3 boxes) | Home Depot | $48 |
| Drip edge (24 pcs) | Home Depot | $96 |
| Caulk + sealant | Home Depot | $42 |
| Dumpster rental | Waste Co. | $154 |
Labor Costs — $1,960 total
| Tech | Date | Hours | Rate | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jake Torres | May 14 | 8.5 hrs | $52/hr | $442 |
| Carlos Reyes | May 14 | 8.0 hrs | $48/hr | $384 |
| Jake Torres | May 15 | 7.5 hrs | $52/hr | $390 |
| Carlos Reyes | May 15 | 7.0 hrs | $48/hr | $336 |
| Mike Alvarez | May 15 | 4.0 hrs | $52/hr | $208 (supervisor) |
Summary
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Contract Value | $8,400 |
| Total Materials | $2,840 |
| Total Labor | $1,960 |
| Total Cost | $4,800 |
| Gross Profit | $3,600 |
| Margin | 42.9% |
Profitability Ranges
| Range | Margin | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Excellent | 40%+ | On target — strong job |
| Healthy | 30–40% | Good margin, sustainable |
| Thin | 20–30% | Watch for scope creep or cost overruns |
| Concern | Under 20% | Review pricing or cost structure |
Report Types
Six job costing report types available:
- Per-Project Breakdown — Full cost detail for one job
- Service Type Summary — Average margin by service category (roofing, gutters, HVAC, etc.)
- Technician Cost Report — Labor hours and cost per tech over a date range
- Monthly Margin Trend — Gross margin per week/month over time
- Materials Spend Report — Total materials by vendor, project, or time period
- Estimate vs. Actual — Estimated cost vs. real cost per project (requires estimate line items)
Rate Configuration
Employee labor rates:
- Set in Settings → Team → each team member's profile
- Rates are versioned — historical time entries use the rate that was active at the time
- Rates are private by default (encrypted at the field level — bookkeepers and owners only)
Overhead percentage:
- Optional flat overhead % added to every project's cost calculation
- Covers fixed costs (insurance, truck, tools) not captured per-job
- Configurable in Settings → Job Costing → Overhead Rate
Subcontractors:
- Logged as a lump-sum expense on the project
- No hourly rate — enter total amount paid
- Subcontractor name, amount, and date stored for reporting
Access Control
| Role | Can View Cost Data | Can Set Employee Rates | Can Export |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner | All projects | ✓ | ✓ |
| Manager | All projects | ✗ | ✓ |
| Bookkeeper | All projects | ✗ | ✓ |
| Dispatcher | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Technician | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
Rate privacy note: Employee hourly rates are encrypted at the field level. Only Owner and Bookkeeper roles can see rate values. The job cost report shows dollar totals (which are visible to Manager) but not the per-hour rate breakdown.