Job Costing
The Job Costing tab tracks the financial health of every project: what you budgeted, what it has actually cost, and what you have billed. It also houses the advanced construction-accounting operations - retainage, work-in-progress, cost allocations, and the reporting engine.
Open Accounting > Job Costing. The header reads "Job Costing - Project cost tracking, WIP, retainage, AIA billing & Phase 2 operations."
Job cost summary
Five cards at the top give you the portfolio picture, and they load automatically:
| Card | Shows |
|---|---|
| Total Budget | Combined budget across jobs |
| Actual Costs | Combined actual cost to date |
| Total Billed | Combined amount billed |
| WIP Balance | Net work-in-progress balance |
| Over Budget | Count of jobs over budget (turns red when above zero) |
Below the cards, a table lists every project. Type in Search jobs... to filter by project name, number, or customer.
| Column | Shows |
|---|---|
| Project | Project name and number |
| Customer | Customer name |
| Budget | Budgeted cost |
| Actual | Actual cost to date |
| Variance | Budget minus actual, with a percentage |
| Billed | Amount billed |
| Remaining | Budget remaining |
| Progress | Percent complete, with a progress bar |
| Status | On Track, Complete, or Over Budget |
A Totals row sums budget, actual, variance, billed, and remaining across all jobs.
A job shows Over Budget when actual cost exceeds budget, Complete when it reaches 100% progress, and On Track otherwise. Variance is simply budget minus actual - a negative variance means the job has run over.
Phase 2 operations
Below the summary is a set of advanced, accordion-style operations for construction accounting. These are power-user workflows for office and accounting staff; each section produces detailed output you can review before committing an action.
Retainage
Manage amounts held back on a contract until completion.
- Enter a Project ID and click Load Terms (or Load Summary / Aging).
- Set the Retainage %, Cap %, Effective Date, and Release Trigger (manual, substantial completion, or date-based), then click Save Terms.
- To release retainage, set the counterparty, Release Date, Amount, and source (invoice, AIA draw, bill, or manual adjustment), then click Release.
AIA Billing
Contracts, Schedule of Values, applications, and G702/G703 documents can be driven from here, but the guided workspace for progress billing is the dedicated AIA Billing tab - use that for day-to-day pay applications.
WIP + over/under billing
Compute a work-in-progress snapshot for a date, review the proposed adjustment, finalize it, and post the adjustment batch to the ledger.
Allocations + dimensions
Define allocation templates (by equal split, fixed percent, or a driver such as revenue, hours, or footage), manage Class and Location dimensions, then preview and post allocation batches.
Reporting engine, exports, and CPA package
Run construction reports - P&L Comparative, WIP Summary, Retainage Rollforward, and Over/Under Billing - drill into a project, and create export jobs in CSV, PDF, XLSX, or ZIP. You can also schedule recurring reports (weekly or monthly, emailed to a recipient list) and generate a CPA package for a period.
Releasing retainage, finalizing WIP, and posting allocation or adjustment batches create real ledger entries. Review each section's output before running committal actions.
Related topics
- AIA Billing - guided G702/G703 progress billing
- Payables - vendor bills that contribute to job cost
- Reports - financial statements and construction controls