You finished a commercial wiring job last month. Four days, three electricians, a lot of material and two unplanned site visits. You billed the customer. Did the job make money?
If the honest answer is “probably, I think so”, that is the problem. Margins on bid work are thin enough that a few unbilled hours can turn a good job into a loss, and most contractors find out months later, if ever.
Free: the Job Profit and Fast Invoicing Checklist. Bill every job within a day and know what each one earned. Get the checklist
What guessing costs you
A job that lost money looks the same as one that made money until you compare the numbers. If you do not compare, you bid the next one the same way and repeat the loss.
Why the numbers never meet
The estimate lives in a spreadsheet. The actual hours live in timesheets, the materials in supplier invoices, and the rest in memory. No one puts them side by side while the job is still running and there is time to react.
The process: four steps from estimate to profit
1. Set a budget before the work starts
Write down the budgeted hours and materials from the accepted quote and the timeline.
Example: “Budget: 96 hours, 4,200 in materials, 4 days.”
Pro tip: Keep the budget where the crew can see it.
2. Log time and tag costs to the job as you go
Have the crew log hours to the job daily, and tag every supplier bill to the same job.
Example: “60 hours logged, 3,100 in materials billed to date.”
Pro tip: Halfway through, compare budget to actual. That is when you can still change something.
Free: the Job Profit and Fast Invoicing Checklist. Bill every job within a day and know what each one earned. Get the checklist
3. Quote from a standard list
Keep your labour rates and common materials in one list and build every quote from it.
Example: “Journeyman rate, standard conduit, listed travel.”
Pro tip: Consistent quotes are faster to build and easier to compare to actual cost.
4. Review profit by job and by customer
At the end of each job, record margin. Over time, see which customers pay on time and which expand scope.
Example: “Customer A: steady margin. Customer B: scope creep every job.”
Pro tip: Use the review to decide who gets your best price on the next bid.
Where this runs
The four steps work with a spreadsheet. In the business system we set up for clients (Odoo Community), an accepted quote creates a project with a budget, the crew logs time to the project, supplier bills are tagged to it, and you see budget against actual at any point. The process is the point. The tool just keeps it going when you are busy.
Your next step
Take your last finished job and compare the estimate to what it actually cost. If you want to see how a clear quote is built, the free 7-Day Growth Challenge on quotes shows you.
Free: the Job Profit and Fast Invoicing Checklist. Bill every job within a day and know what each one earned. Get the checklist