Construction
Construction job cost: the bid, the change, and the open job
Builders lose the job between the bid, the change order, and the purchases that were never in the estimate. The crew’s hours show up in payroll. The margin shows up when the job is already closed and the owner asks why cash does not match the profit.
General contractors, custom home builders, specialty trades, and remodelers are doing the same work a millwork shop does when the estimate and the job stop describing the same thing. The field just has more ways for a cost to miss the job.
Keep the bid where the costs land
- Leave the original estimate on the job. Later costs need a number to miss. A job with no bid attached cannot tell you it is over.
- Price the change. Added scope, the revised price, and the cost that comes with it are recorded together. Work that was built and never priced is how a job that looked fine loses money.
- Tie purchases to the job, including what was ordered, received, and used, and the purchases that were not in the estimate.
- Put crew hours on the job while it is open, not only in a payroll export after the week. That is the construction version of seeing the work while you can still act.
The next similar bid should inherit what this job recorded, the same way a batch plant’s next quote should inherit what the last run consumed. A single “we were over” does not say whether the standard was wrong or a change was never priced.
MFGMAX Construction keeps the bid, the change orders, the purchases, and the hours on the same job so margin is visible before the job closes. Accounting can stay in QuickBooks. MFGMAX keeps the job, the inventory, the price, and the balance on one record. Your accountant still closes the books. This is the history of what changed, not an audit opinion.
Questions plants ask
What should stay attached to a construction job?
The original estimate, added scope with a revised price, what was ordered, received, and used, and the crew hours. A job with no bid on it cannot tell you it is over.
Where do construction jobs lose the estimate?
Field scope that is built and never priced, purchases that hit a card and never land on the job, and hours that show up in payroll after the draw. Each one leaves the original contract number looking intact.
Is this an audit of the job?
No. MFGMAX keeps the job, the inventory, the price, and the balance on one record. Your accountant still closes the books. This is the history of what changed, not an audit opinion.
| Seen when the job is closed | Seen while the job is open | |
|---|---|---|
| Changes | Built, never priced | Scope, price, and cost recorded together |
| Purchases | On the card, not on the job | Ordered, received, and used against the estimate |
| Hours | A payroll export after the week | Crew time on the job before the draw |