Would you run your company without the necessary data to ensure its success? In today’s world, it would be impossible to run a company without knowing job costs, labor hours, and time restraints. By not tracking jobs or accounting for job costs, contractors would not know how well/fast a job was done or how much money went towards the project.
Working blindly certainly isn’t a cost-effective or advantageous strategy. By using a construction management software like JobNimbus, you can track jobs and update all costs to make more money. Job cost information also helps managers. Managers can make fast decisions with the ability to review what strategies work and adjust areas that need improvement.
Keep Accurate and Updated Job Cost Reports
One way to start your construction job cost tracking report is by putting your budget and actual costs into JobNimbus. You can create a spreadsheet and divide it into columns including Cost Code, Trade Description, Contract Budget, Committed Subcontracts, Non-Committed Cost to Date, Estimated Cost to Complete, Estimated Final Cost, and Estimated Variance. JobNimbus lets you update and track job costs from start to end of a construction project.
When using our construction estimating software, you first analyze your bid estimate. Then, begin planning monthly updates, which includes any approved changes for the project budget. Next you would track committed subcontracts, which are firm costs that are not subject to change. Non-committed costs like labor, equipment, and materials should also be tracked as the project proceeds.
Project managers would then determine how much money, if any, is needed for non-committed costs to complete the project. This estimate would go into the spreadsheet under Estimated Cost to Complete, and the Estimated Final Cost would be calculated. After adding the Estimated Variance entries, you’ll be able to tell if you went over or under your initial budget.
Regularly Track and Share Your Data
Companies that track their job costs are essentially gaining the knowledge they need to accomplish their goals. Without knowing project results, there is no way to know how to improve and no incentive to work toward.
For best results, your company should regularly record job costs on a weekly basis and share them with your contractors. This will provide the information everyone needs to know and show whether production strategies need to shift in order to reach your goal.
By taking the time to determine all the actual and estimated costs for each project, you can understand how each project is performing and motivate your crew to keep focused on getting results. This process also tells if a project is staying on the right timeline and if you are keeping within your budget. If not, it’s not too late to assess what adjustments need to be made so that you make money rather than lose money.
Job cost updates do not take much time to do. It should only take a few minutes per project to finish. Especially with the help of a job management software like JobNimbus, this process is a simple, accessible, and effective way for professionals to keep track of job costs and earn money. A few minutes out of your day can save you thousands of dollars on every project.
Try a free trial with JobNimbus to start tracking your job costs and set your team up for success.
