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How to Analyze Estimates for Job Costing

When reviewing your estimates for an overall standing of your contract jobs (estimates), it is recommended to Run the Estimate Over/Under Details CDV (Reports | Custom Data Views | Data Views). In this CDV, you can review summary information to analyze your profit/loss on a job (estimate).

To help isolate records which need to be reviewed, create filters to analyze the following information:

  1. Missing Contract Prices
  2. Questionable Change Orders
  3. Missing Estimated Material Costs
  4. Missing Estimated Labor Costs
  5. Missing Estimated Revenues
  6. Missing Material Cost to Date
  7. Missing Labor Cost to Date
  8. Review Percentage of Completion
  9. Missing Revenue to Date
  10. Review Billings Over/Under Dollars
  11. Review Low/High Gross Profit Dollars/Percentages

Missing Contract Prices

Review any estimates with a zero retail price for the Original Contract Price.  This price is populated from the Projected Total on the Job Info Tab of the job record. Review and select the estimate to load this value into the Projected Total.  You may also manually enter this value.

Questionable Change Orders

Review these to determine if the Change Orders total is legitimate for the estimate.  Many times, change orders are added to estimates when the estimate is being modified to add more details that are not actual changes to the original estimate.  Anytime you make changes to the estimate and save, you are prompted to enter changes as a change order.  Only those change orders approved by the customer which alter the original contract total are to be added to the estimate.

If you find the change orders were entered in error, right click on the estimate then and choose the Change Orders option from the menu.  Delete any change order that is not needed.

Missing Estimated Material Costs

Review materials costs in the Estimated Cost column which are not included in the estimate.  Material cost is calculated as the sum of all costs listed on the estimate where the items are not service item types marked as Used for Labor Only.

Missing Estimated Labor Costs

Review labor costs in the Estimated Labor Cost column which are not included in the estimate.  Labor cost is calculated as the sum of all costs listed on the estimate where the items are a service item type marked as Used for Labor Only.

Missing Estimated Revenues

Review estimates to ensure there is a value in the Estimated Revenue column. The total of the estimate will appear in the CDV as the amount.  It will match the Revised Contract Price unless there are data issues which need to be addressed.  If you are missing revenue, this may mean the estimate is not complete.  At a minimum, it is recommended to have a single line with the anticipated value of the estimate as a placeholder.

Missing Material Cost to Date

Review the Cost to Date column to make sure the invoices created to date for the contract reflect the cost for everything except labor.  The invoice must be created from the estimate.

If the invoice is not created from the estimate, you will have to complete the following:

  1. Open the originating estimate.
    TIP: You can drill down to the estimate from the CDV by double clicking to edit.
  2. Within the estimate, right click and choose the option Customer:Job | History to review the customer account. You will need to have copies of the original invoices handy to replicate in the next steps. It is recommended to change the original invoice number to include a ‘v’ at the end so you can reuse the number.
  3. From the estimate, right click and choose the option Create | Invoice.
  4. When the progressing invoice appears, choose the second option. Do not enter a value in the percentage. Click OK to proceed to the invoice form.
  5. On the invoice, change the suggested number to the original invoice number.
  6. Enter the quantities and values of the original invoice. Make sure the bottom-line totals match.
    NOTE: If the original invoice includes inventory and/or serialized parts, you will need to void the original invoice to reselect the serial number and allocate inventory appropriately.
  7. Save the invoice and repeat for each invoice previously created for the estimate which is not progressively billed from the estimate.
  8. Review the CDV to make sure Cost to Date is now populating.

Missing Labor Cost to Date

Review the Labor Cost to Date column to make sure the invoices created to date for the contract reflect the cost for actual labor.  This labor is calculated from the timesheet entries for the Customer:Job. For the labor to calculate, the following criteria must be met:

  1. The invoice must be created from the estimate.
  2. The estimate and the invoice must be tied to the same work order the work was completed on.
  3. The work order must be tied to a timesheet entry.
  4. The employee’s payroll earning items must have been setup with an amount at the time the time sheet was created.

If the labor cost is not showing, you will have to complete the following:

  1. Open the originating estimate.
    TIP: You can drill down to the estimate from the CDV by double clicking to edit.
  2. Within the estimate, right click and choose the option Customer:Job | History to review the customer account. Click on Timesheet tab to review the entries for the Customer:Job.
  3. Click on the Work Order tab to review work completed.
  4. Edit the work order(s) for the job. Right on the work order and choose Select Invoices/Sales/Estimates. Make sure both the estimate and invoice(s) associated with work order are selected.
  5. Review the CDV to make sure Labor Cost to Date is now populating.

Review Percentage of Completion

Review those jobs which have a low or high percentage of completion.  This threshold would be determined by your office to identify jobs which are missing billings or have been over billed.  If you know you completed a job six months ago and it is only showing 16% completed, you are likely missing invoices being attached to the estimate.  If you have billed too many invoices, the percentage completed may be over 100%. Reviewing sections above will also help with minimizing these results.

Missing Revenue to Date

Review the total revenue earned to date in the Revenue to Date column.  This amount is calculated as the Estimated Revenue times the Percentage of Completion.  A low revenue number indicates missing invoices.  An extremely high number may indicate invoices with excess cost or missing cost on estimates. Reviewing sections above will also help with minimizing these results.

Review Billings Over/Under Dollars

Reviewing the amounts recorded in the Billings Over/Under helps isolate potential issues in bookkeeping and/or an inflation of estimated expenses. This amount is calculated by taking the total Billed to Date less the Revenue to Date.  A number less than zero indicates you are Over your anticipated billing amount.  A number over zero reflects the amount left to bill.  If you are 65% completed and only have $32 in the Billings Over/Under, you have $32 in expenses left to bill out before you are Over your cost projections. This means you will want to make sure you are able to fund the remaining project without getting more funds from the customer.  Your anticipated Gross Profit will also be decreased by going over the anticipated billings.

Review Low/High Gross Profit Dollars/Percentages

Reviewing the amounts recorded in the Estimated Gross Profit and Percentage of Gross Profit also help isolate potential issues in bookkeeping and/or an inflation of estimated expenses. The Estimated Gross Profit Dollars is calculated from Estimated Revenue minus the Estimated Total Cost.  The percentage is the Estimated Gross Profit divided by the Estimated Revenue. A high percentage may indicate you are missing vital costing information like labor and materials.  A low percentage may indicate you are not charging enough for the job due to inflation or deflated labor.

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