Every estimate is a prediction. Job costing is how you find out whether the prediction was right — by tracking what a job actually cost against what you quoted. Skip it, and you're guessing forever with no feedback.
What to track
- Actual materials used vs estimated.
- Actual labour hours vs estimated.
- Extras and rework that never made the original estimate.
The gap between estimate and actual is the most valuable number in your business.
The feedback loop
Job costing isn't bookkeeping for its own sake — it's how estimates improve. If a certain task always runs 20% over, your rate for it is wrong. Feed the actuals back into your rate library and the next estimate is sharper. Do this consistently and your quoting quietly becomes a competitive advantage.
Without job costing, a profitable-looking estimate and an actually-profitable job are two different things you can't tell apart.
EstiWright keeps your estimates and rates connected, so the lessons from finished jobs sharpen the next quote.