Understand Costs & Profitability on Jobs

Topic

The Costs & Profitability section helps you track how much a job is costing you and whether you're making or losing money. It shows time and material costs alongside revenue to calculate your profit margin.

Note: All figures shown are tax exclusive. If you see discrepancies between quote amounts and what is in this section, it is likely due to tax. 

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Before you start

You will need the Reports & Financials permission to see profitability information. For more info on the staff permissions and what they mean, see here.

Without this permission, you'll see a simplified "Costs Recorded" view. This shows only the number of material costs added to the job, with a View All link to see the itemised list.

How profitability is calculated

Revenue

• Charge-up jobs: Revenue is the total sell price (tax exclusive) of all your tracked time and material costs.
• Jobs with accepted quotes: Revenue is the total amount (tax exclusive) from your accepted quote.
• Multiple accepted quotes: If a job has multiple accepted quotes, all quote values are added together. For example, if you have two accepted quotes for $2,000 and $1,500, your total quoted revenue will show as $3,500.

Profit calculations

• Gross Profit = Revenue - Total Costs
• Profit Margin = (Gross Profit ÷ Revenue) × 100

What counts as costs

• Time costs: Labour costs from timesheet entries logged to the job (The labour costs based on scheduled appointments is not currently supported). 
• Material costs: All material costs added to the job; price list items or miscellaneous items. 

Note: This section doesn't currently reflect the job invoices. It tracks costs and quotes only.

Charge-up Jobs

For jobs where you're tracking costs as you go (without an accepted quote), you'll see your actual costs and profitability.

• Costs Recorded: Your tracked time (hours worked and labour cost) and materials (number of price list items and miscellaneous cost).
• Totals: Total revenue, total costs, and profit or loss with margin percentage (This section is colour coded, green indicating profit and red indicating loss).

Note: Select on Time Cost or Material Cost to view the full list of timesheet entries or material costs.

Hover over the section and select Show Details. This breaks down profitability into three columns:

1. Time: Hours worked, revenue charged for labour, labour costs, and time-based profit/loss with margin
2. Materials: Number of items, revenue charged for materials, material costs, and materials-based profit/loss with margin
3. Totals: Combined revenue, costs, and overall job profit/loss with margin

This view helps you see which part of the job (labour or materials) is more profitable.

Tracking actual costs against a quote

When a job has at least one accepted quote, you'll see estimated vs actual comparisons. This helps you track how well you're performing against your original quote.

Note: The job must have an accepted quote. If a quote hasn't been accepted yet, you'll see the charge-up view instead. If you have multiple accepted quotes on a job, all quote values are combined in the calculations. 

Summary View (Default)

• Cost Comparison: Shows estimated vs actual for both time costs and material costs
• Financial Performance: Revenue from your quote, costs (estimated or actual), and projected or actual profit with margin

When the view switches to show actual profit:

The summary automatically switches from showing estimated profit to actual profit when:

• Your actual costs exceed your estimated costs, OR
• The job status changes to 'Complete'

This helps you see your real profitability once you've spent more than planned or finished the job, rather than showing optimistic projections.

Details View (Click "Show Details")

The most comprehensive view, showing three columns with full estimate vs actual breakdown:

1. Time Performance:
   • Revenue quoted for labour
   • Estimated labour cost (click to view quotes)
   • Actual labour cost (click to view timesheet entries)
   • Projected vs actual time-based profit with margins
2. Materials Performance:
   • Revenue quoted for materials
   • Estimated material cost (click to view quotes)
   • Actual material cost (click to view material costs list)
   • Projected vs actual materials profit with margins
3. Job Performance Summary:
   • Total quoted revenue
   • Estimated vs actual total costs
   • Projected vs actual overall profit with margins

This view shows exactly how your job is tracking against the quote. It helps you identify where you're over or under budget.

Example: If you quoted $5,000 for a bathroom renovation but your actual material and labour costs total $4,200, your profit margin is 16%. The Details view will show you whether materials or labour contributed most to your profitability or ate into your margin.

FAQ

Can I see profitability for completed jobs?

Yes. The section works the same way for completed jobs. For jobs with quotes, once the status changes to Complete, the summary automatically shows actual profit rather than estimated profit.

Why is my actual profit different from my estimated profit?

This happens when your actual costs differ from what you estimated in your quote. The Details view can help you identify whether labour or materials caused the variance, so you can quote more accurately in future.