Construction job costing software
Find out in week three, not in March
Most small contractors learn whether a job made money once the accountant closes the year — by which point the same mistake has been repeated on four more jobs. BuiltSum keeps actual cost against the estimate’s budgeted cost while the work is running, in the same place the estimate and the pay applications already live.
Budget means cost, not contract
This is the distinction that decides whether job costing is useful. A $120,000 job bid at a 25% markup has a $96,000 cost budget. Spend $110,000 and you are still “under contract” — and you have lost $14,000 of the $24,000 you were working for. BuiltSum measures against the cost, shows how much of the budget is gone, and reports the margin that would remain if the job stopped today.
Categories that match how you buy
Labor, material, subcontractor, equipment and other — entered in seconds, with arithmetic allowed in the amount field so a stack of receipts is one line.
Hours, not just dollars
Labor entries carry hours, so you can see whether the production rate you bid was real. That is the number that improves the next estimate.
Won work sets the budget
Only accepted estimates count as budget, so an unsigned quote sitting on the project cannot quietly inflate what you think you have to spend.
It starts with the estimate, which is free to try — build one in the estimate builder, mark it won when the client accepts, and the budget is set. Bill against the same numbers with AIA-style pay applications.
Frequently asked questions
What is job costing in construction?
Tracking what a specific job actually costs — labor with burden, material, subcontractors, equipment — against what it was estimated to cost, while the work is still running. The point is not bookkeeping; it is finding out that framing is 40% over budget in week three, when the remaining scope can still be managed, rather than in March.
Should I compare actual cost to the bid price or the estimated cost?
To the estimated cost, always. Comparing spend against the bid price counts your markup as room to spend: a job at 80% of the contract amount sounds healthy while it may already have consumed every dollar of profit. BuiltSum budgets from the estimate's cost, and shows the margin separately so both truths are visible.
Do I need accounting software for job costing?
For the books, yes — this is not a general ledger and does not try to be. What it does is answer 'is this job making money right now', which most small contractors cannot answer until the accountant closes the year. Costs entered here sit against the estimate and the pay applications for the same project, so the picture is one place.
How much work is it to keep up to date?
A few entries a week: material invoices as they arrive, crew hours as they are logged, sub invoices when approved. Amount fields take arithmetic, so a stack of receipts is one line. The discipline that pays is entering labor hours as well as dollars — hours are what tell you whether the production rate you bid was real, and that is what corrects your next estimate.
Know which jobs make money while you can still act
Job costing, estimating and AIA-style billing on every plan — from $49/mo.
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