What Is Job Costing? A Contractor's Plain-English Guide
Job costing is tracking every dollar a job costs you — labor, materials, subs, fees — so you know your real margin, not just the company average.
Chris Sibley ·
The Job Cost Pro blog
Job costing, margins, and the paperwork side of contracting — written plainly, by a contractor.
Job Costing Software for Contractors: What Actually Matters
Most job costing software is built for the office. A contractor breaks down the five things that matter in the field — and what you can skip.
Chris Sibley ·
Construction Job Costing: How to Do It Right
A working contractor’s method for construction job costing: cost codes that fit on one hand, loaded labor rates, and capturing costs the day they happen.
Chris Sibley ·
Contractor Expense Tracking That Doesn't Eat Your Evenings
A contractor’s system for tracking expenses without Sunday-night data entry: capture at the point of spend, auto-file to the job, and let the totals build themselves.
Chris Sibley ·
Free Construction Job Costing Spreadsheet (Excel + Google Sheets)
A free, working construction job costing spreadsheet: budget vs actual by category, a cost log with live totals, auto margin — plus when you'll outgrow it. No email gate.
Chris Sibley ·
Job Costing in QuickBooks: The Complete Contractor Guide
How to set up job costing in QuickBooks Online and Desktop, do it without payroll, read the right reports, and fix the field-capture gap that starves the numbers.
Chris Sibley ·
QuickBooks for Contractors: What It Does, Where It Breaks
A working contractor’s honest read on QuickBooks: what it handles well, which version you actually need, where it falls apart on job costing, and what to pair with it.
Chris Sibley ·
Job Costing in QuickBooks Online: Setup, Steps, and Limits
Step-by-step job costing in QuickBooks Online: turning on Projects, getting every cost onto the job, the report that matters, and the field gap QBO cannot close.
Chris Sibley ·
QuickBooks Job Costing Reports: The Ones That Matter
The QuickBooks job costing reports worth opening — Project profitability in QBO, Job Profitability and Estimates vs. Actuals in Desktop — and what each one answers.
Chris Sibley ·
QuickBooks Classes vs Projects: Which One Tracks Jobs?
Classes and Projects answer different questions in QuickBooks. A contractor’s plain-English rule for which to use, a decision table, and one worked remodel example.
Chris Sibley ·
QuickBooks Desktop vs Online for Contractors in 2026
Desktop still job-costs deeper; Online is where Intuit is pushing everyone. What contractors gain and lose in the move, scoped to job costing — plus a migration checklist.
Chris Sibley ·
How to Export Receipts to QuickBooks (CSV and IIF)
Three real ways to get jobsite receipts into QuickBooks — the built-in snap, manual entry, and a field-capture export — with the exact file formats accountants want.
Chris Sibley ·
QuickBooks Receipt Scanner: What It Does, What It Misses
How QuickBooks receipt capture actually works, where it thins out on a jobsite, and the field-scanner pairing contractors use to keep every receipt on the right job.
Chris Sibley ·
What's a Good Profit Margin for a Construction Company?
Real numbers on construction profit margins: NAHB’s 2024 remodeler data (29.9% gross, 6.3% net), why gross and net get confused, and how to know your own.
Chris Sibley ·
Job Costing Example: A Real $42,000 Bathroom Remodel
A worked job costing example with real numbers: how a $42,000 bathroom remodel bid at 30% margin came back from the accountant at 12% — and the math behind it.
Chris Sibley ·
How to Job Cost HVAC Work (Installs and Service Calls)
How to job cost HVAC work, step by step: the cost buckets per install, why service calls hide inside a monthly P&L, and how per-job tracking shows which work pays.
Chris Sibley ·
Job Cost Tracking Apps vs. Spreadsheets: When to Switch
Spreadsheets do real job costing — until capture falls behind. A contractor’s honest line for when to switch to a job cost tracking app, and what to pick.
Chris Sibley ·
How I Job-Cost My Own Remodeling Jobs (Case Study)
The builder of Job Cost Pro runs a Fort Worth remodeling company. Here’s the exact per-job workflow he uses on his own bathrooms and kitchens, dogfooded daily.
Chris Sibley ·
Markup vs Margin: The Difference, in Contractor Math
Markup is figured on cost; margin is figured on price. Same dollars, two percentages — and bids die in the gap. The formulas, the conversion table, and one worked job.
Chris Sibley ·
How to Write a Contractor Invoice That Gets Paid
What goes on a contractor invoice line by line, how to number them, payment terms that work, deposits and progress billing, and when to send it. With a free template.
Chris Sibley ·
Construction Bookkeeping: A Contractor's Plain-English Guide
Construction bookkeeping is ordinary bookkeeping plus job costing — and that half decides whether you are profitable. The accounts, the monthly close, and what a bookkeeper costs.
Chris Sibley ·
Job Cost Sheet: What Goes On It + a Free Construction Template
What belongs on a job cost sheet, a free construction template with working formulas, and a real $42,000 bathroom filled in so you can see the variance column work.
Chris Sibley ·
How to Organize Receipts for Taxes (Without a Shoebox)
A receipt system that survives a busy year: capture at the counter, sort into Schedule C categories, keep digital copies, and know the $75 rule and the $2,500 rule before April.
Chris Sibley ·
Tax Deductions for Construction Contractors (2026 Checklist)
The write-offs that actually apply to the trades — tools, the truck, subs, permits, dump fees — plus the ones that are not, and the receipt rule behind all of them.
Chris Sibley ·
Construction Overhead: What It Is and How to Price It In
Construction overhead is every cost of staying open that no single job pays for — the truck, insurance, software, unbilled hours. How to find your rate and price it into every bid.
Chris Sibley ·