How to track a job against its budget

What the Cost plan is

When a customer says yes, the budget you priced the job from is frozen. That is the number the job was won on, and it does not move again.

The Cost plan sets that budget beside three other things: what the customer pays, what your subs bid, and what the job is expected to cost now. One look tells you how much, and whether it is on track.

It tracks money, not the calendar. For the order the work happens in, see Job plans.

Step by step

1. 1

   Open the fourth tab

   Open an estimate from Estimates. It has four tabs: Budget, Proposal, Sub bids and Cost plan. The Cost plan is empty until the customer signs. Once the job is won, the Budget tab locks, and a button on its locked line takes you straight here.
   BudgetProposalSub bidsCost plan

   Starts when the job is wonThe budget it was won on becomes the plan, and picked bids update it.

   Won on Rev 2. This is the number it was won on.Cost plan
2. 2

   Read the four figures across the top

   Contract is what the customer signed for.

   Working costis what the job is expected to cost you now: every division’s number now, plus overhead.

   Contingency left is how much of your cushion is still unspent. It starts at the contingency in the budget and moves with every bid you pick.

   Profit is the contract minus the working cost. Beside it sit two percents: the one you are heading for now, and the one you planned. Cushion you have not spent counts as profit, so the percent now starts above the planned one. It turns bronze if it drops below the plan.

   Contract$401,900

   Working cost$332,200

   Contingency left$14,300 of $16,500

   Profit$69,700 17.3% · planned 13.8%
3. 3

   Read the table, one row per division

   Each division of the job gets one row. Budget is the direct cost it was won on. Proposal is what the customer pays for that division. Bids shows where its sub stands. Working is the number now, and vs budget is the gap between the two.

   Under Working, a small word tells you where the number came from: “budget” while it is still your own estimate, or “bid” and the amount once a sub is picked. The bottom row adds the divisions up.

   Division	Budget	Proposal	Bids	Working	vs budget
   Site work	$46,000	$61,600	In-house	$46,000 budget	—
   Framing	$88,000	$117,900	In-house	$88,000 budget	—
   Plumbing	$18,500	$24,800	Cove Plumbing	$17,200 bid $17,200	−$1,300 · 7%
   Electrical	$24,000	$32,200	Lantern Electric	$27,500 bid $27,500	+$3,500 · 15%
   Roofing	$31,000	$41,500	2 of 3 in	$31,000 budget	—
   Heating and cooling	$21,500	$28,800	Not sent	$21,500 budget	—
   Finishes	$71,000	$95,100	In-house	$71,000 budget	—
   Direct cost	$300,000	$401,900		$302,200	+$2,200 · 1%

4. 4

   Check the Bids column

   It says one of four things. “In-house” means your own crew does that work, so there is nothing to bid out. “Not sent” means the scope has not gone out to subs yet. A count like “2 of 3 in” means bids are coming back, and it turns bronze when it is time to pick one. Once you pick, it shows the sub’s name in green. Click any of them to open that scope on Sub bids.
   Bids

   FramingIn-houseYour own crew

   Heating and coolingNot sentNot out to subs yet

   Roofing2 of 3 inBids coming back

   PlumbingCove PlumbingSub picked
5. 5

   Pick a sub and watch Working change

   When you pick a sub, their bid takes the place of your own sub number in Working. Your labor and materials for that division stay as they were. If the sub left something out and you priced it back in on Sub bids, that extra is part of the bid here too. Then vs budget shows the difference: green when the bid came in under, bronze when it came in over, and “on budget” when it is within a dollar.
   PlumbingCove Plumbing

   Budget$18,500

   Working$17,200bid $17,200

   vs budget−$1,300 · 7%

   ElectricalLantern Electric

   Budget$24,000

   Working$27,500bid $27,500

   vs budget+$3,500 · 15%
6. 6

   Keep an eye on contingency

   Contingency is the cushion you built into the budget. A bid over budget draws it down, and a bid under budget gives some back. While you are over on the whole, the figure reads as what is left of what you started with. When your bids come in under on the whole, it reads as the amount and how far under budget you are. If the overruns ever eat the whole cushion, the number goes below zero and turns red.
   Plumbing under, Electrical over

   Contingency left$14,300 of $16,500

   Only Plumbing picked

   Contingency left$17,800 · $1,300 under budget
7. 7

   Know who sees what

   Costs and margin follow your team’s permissions. Profit shows to the owner, to the person leading the estimate and to whoever formats its proposals. A teammate outside that group sees a lock in its place. A teammate who is not allowed to see costs at all sees a dash in place of every amount, but still sees the Bids column.
   Owner or lead

   Profit$69,70017.3% · planned 13.8%

   Teammate without margin

   Profit

   Teammate without costs

   Working cost—