Track Every Dollar Before It’s Too Late
Stop discovering you lost money after the job’s done. BuildFolio tracks materials, labor, equipment, and subcontractor costs in real-time—so you know where you stand before it’s too late to fix.
Quick Answer
BuildFolio’s cost tracking lets you log materials, labor, equipment, and subcontractor costs as they happen. You see real-time comparisons against your original estimate, with alerts when you’re going over budget. Takes about 15 minutes a day to stay on top of job costs.
Why track job costs?
Without job cost tracking, you’re flying blind. You know what you quoted. You know what you invoiced. But you don’t know what happened in between—and that’s where money disappears.
The discovery problem
Most contractors only discover cost issues after it’s too late:
- Materials overruns get buried in credit card statements
- Labor overages aren’t noticed until payroll hits
- Sub invoices arrive weeks after the job closed
- Equipment costs disappear into overhead
By then, the job is done. The customer is invoiced. There’s nothing you can do except absorb the loss—and maybe not even notice it.
The end-of-month surprise
A contractor finishes 10 jobs in a month expecting 22% margins. End of month, the accountant says actual margins were 14%. Where did that 8% go? Without job cost tracking, you’ll never know which jobs lost money or why.
The four cost categories
BuildFolio tracks every type of cost that affects your job margins:
Materials
Track every material purchase against the job. Lumber, shingles, fixtures, fasteners—log it when you buy it. Attach receipts, track quantities, see running totals vs estimate.
Labor
Track crew hours by job. Compare actual vs estimated hours. Apply labor rates (including burden) to calculate true labor cost per job.
Equipment
Log equipment rentals against jobs. Optionally allocate owned equipment usage with internal rates. Track costs that would otherwise be invisible overhead.
Subcontractors
Record sub invoices when they arrive. Compare sub costs to your estimates. Build a history of which subs are reliable on pricing.
Why these categories matter
These four categories cover essentially all variable costs on a job. By tracking them, you can:
- See exactly where you’re over/under budget
- Identify patterns (e.g., “Labor always runs 15% over on bathrooms”)
- Adjust future estimates based on actual data
- Catch problems while you can still course-correct
How cost tracking works
BuildFolio’s cost tracking is built into your job workflow. Here’s the daily process:
Open Job
Navigate to the active job
Add Costs
Log materials, labor, equipment, subs
Attach Receipts
Upload or photo receipt (optional)
See Status
View running totals vs estimate
Real-time comparison
As you log costs, BuildFolio instantly shows:
- Category totals: How much you’ve spent on materials, labor, etc.
- Estimate comparison: Actual vs estimated for each category
- Overall status: Total costs vs total estimate, remaining budget
- Projected margin: What your margin will be if current trends continue
Make it a daily habit
The most successful contractors log costs at the end of each day—takes 10-15 minutes. Waiting until end of week means lost receipts and forgotten details. Daily logging keeps you accurate and ahead of problems.
Mobile cost entry
Cost tracking only works if it’s easy. That’s why BuildFolio has full mobile support:
Photo Receipts
Snap a photo of a receipt in the field. Tag the job, enter the amount, and it’s logged. No paper to lose, no end-of-week data entry.
Quick Time Entry
Log crew hours in the field. Start/stop timer or enter hours directly. Associate time with the right job instantly.
Works Offline
Log costs even without cell service. Data syncs when you’re back online. Never lose entries due to connectivity.
Crew Access
Give crew members limited access to log time and materials. They see only what they need—you maintain full control.
Budget overrun alerts
Cost tracking is useless if you only look at it after the job’s done. BuildFolio proactively alerts you to problems:
- Category overrun alerts: “Materials are now 20% over estimate on Kitchen Remodel #143”
- Margin threshold alerts: “Bathroom renovation margin dropped to 12%, below your 18% target”
- Labor hour warnings: “50% of estimated labor hours used with 30% of work complete”
- Daily digest: Optional summary of all jobs with budget concerns
Catch it early
The whole point of alerts is to give you time to react. When you see materials running over mid-job, you can source alternatives, adjust scope, or have a conversation with the customer. After the job closes, it’s too late.
QuickBooks integration
BuildFolio’s cost tracking integrates with QuickBooks Online so your job data and accounting stay in sync:
- Expense sync: Push job costs to QuickBooks expense accounts
- Vendor mapping: Associate vendors with expense categories
- Invoice import: Pull vendor invoices into BuildFolio
- Account matching: Map cost categories to your chart of accounts
The integration means you don’t have to enter costs twice. Log it in BuildFolio on the job, and it flows to QuickBooks for your accountant.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to log costs?
Most contractors spend 10-15 minutes at the end of each day logging costs. The mobile app makes it fast—snap a receipt photo, enter an amount, done. Waiting until end of week takes longer because you have to remember details.
Can I track costs after a job is complete?
Yes. You can add costs at any time, even after invoicing. This is useful for sub invoices that arrive late. BuildFolio recalculates margins when you add costs.
Do I have to upload receipts?
No, receipt uploads are optional. You can log costs with just an amount and description. But attaching receipts helps with record-keeping and disputes.
Can my crew log costs?
Yes. You can give crew members limited mobile access to log time and material purchases against jobs. They can’t see financial summaries or other sensitive data.
How do I categorize labor costs?
You enter labor as hours per crew member per job. BuildFolio calculates cost using labor rates you configure (including burden if desired). You can set different rates for different roles.
What about equipment I own?
For owned equipment, you can optionally set internal rates (e.g., “skid steer = $50/day”). When you log equipment usage against a job, BuildFolio applies the rate. This helps you see true job costs including equipment wear.
Does it integrate with QuickBooks?
Yes. BuildFolio syncs with QuickBooks Online. Job costs can be pushed to expense accounts, and vendor invoices can be imported. Your accountant sees the same data.
What reports can I run?
You can generate cost reports by job, job type, date range, vendor, or cost category. Export to CSV or PDF. See which jobs cost the most, which vendors you spend the most with, and more.
Is this different from profit tracking?
Cost tracking logs what you spend. Profit tracking compares that to what you charged (revenue – costs = profit). BuildFolio does both—cost tracking feeds into profit intelligence. Learn more about Profit Intelligence.
What if I forget to log something?
You can always add costs later. BuildFolio also shows “incomplete” warnings on jobs that have invoices but minimal logged costs—prompting you to add missing data.
Related Resources
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