Find out which jobs are Actually making you money
Punch in your last job's numbers. Get a clear picture of what you actually kept.
No accounting knowledge needed. Takes 2 minutes.
Here's exactly what you'll see.
Why "busy" and "profitable" aren't the same thing
Most contractors don't lose money because they're bad at the work. They lose money because they're pricing off a gut feeling instead of real numbers.
You quote a job. You do the work. Money comes in. Feels good. But between materials, labor, gas, disposal fees, permits, and the hours nobody billed, that job might have made you $40 an hour or it might have made you nothing at all. Without breaking it down job by job, you can't tell the difference.
That's the trap. You stay busy, jobs keep coming in, and your bank account barely moves. Meanwhile one job is quietly funding the business and another is quietly draining it, and you have no idea which is which.
What job costing actually tells you
Job costing means tracking what each job really costs you, not just what it costs on paper. Materials. Labor, including the guys who showed up but didn't bill their hours right. Mileage. Permits. Disposal. Every dollar that left your pocket to get that job done.
Once you see it laid out, the picture gets obvious fast. You'll spot the job type that always runs thin. You'll see which crew combinations cost more than they should. You'll know exactly what to charge next time instead of guessing and hoping it works out.
Why most contractors never see this
Your bank account tells you what came in and went out. It doesn't tell you which job did which. Your invoicing software tells you what you billed. It doesn't tell you what you spent to earn it. You need both put together, job by job, to actually know your numbers.
That's what the Snapshot above shows you. Punch in one job's real numbers and see, in black and white, what you actually kept.
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Based in Los Angeles, CA