Job Costing Services for Project-Based Businesses
Job costing services from Ledger & Logic track revenue and costs against each project, so you can see how each job performed without having to work it out afterward.
Job costing takes deliberate setup in QuickBooks Online, and the ongoing coding comes as part of an ongoing bookkeeping plan rather than on its own.
Setting it up, and keeping it going
Job costing tracks revenue and costs against each project, so you can see each job’s profitability.
It takes deliberate setup in QuickBooks Online, and it works best when costs are coded to jobs as they happen. We will walk through that part with you.
Once it is running, materials, subcontractor costs and labor are coded to the appropriate job as they are entered, where job costing is included in your plan.
Who job costing helps
You are in the right place if any of these are familiar:
- You bill by the job and want to see what each one earned
- Your profit and loss statement shows the month as a whole, and you would like to see it job by job
- You would like to price new work from what your finished jobs cost
- Materials and subcontractor costs arrive after the job has finished
- You run change orders and want them recorded against the original job
- You would like to see labor on a job as well as materials
- You are quoting more work and want to know which kind of job pays
We are in Lorton, Virginia, and work with small businesses across Northern Virginia. Because the work happens in your cloud-based QuickBooks file, we can support clients anywhere in the country.
We work with construction, landscaping, remodeling and other project-based businesses, where the work is organized by job rather than by month.
Sound like your business?
How job costing services work
A personal consultation
Tell us how you price and bill your work, and what you would like to see for each job. From that, we can usually give you a broad range on the call itself.
A review of your books
We review what you have now, so the plan we quote fits what is there.
Your plan and fee
You receive a clear scope and price before work begins, including the setup and what is coded each month.
Access
We help you grant accountant access to QuickBooks Online and, where available, read-only access to your business bank and credit card accounts so we can retrieve statements directly. If your financial institution does not offer that access, you can share statements through QuickBooks Online or a shared Google Drive folder.
Your job costing setup
We review how your jobs, cost categories, and billed items are structured in QuickBooks Online and set up what is needed within the agreed scope. Where your chart of accounts needs work first, we will tell you.
Each month
We code costs to the appropriate job as they are entered, and your job reporting comes with your monthly reports.
What job costing includes
- Jobs and cost categories reviewed and set up in QuickBooks Online as needed within the agreed scope
- Materials and subcontractor costs coded to the appropriate job as each bill is entered, where job costing is included in your plan
- Labor allocated to the appropriate job where the payroll information is available and your agreed scope supports job-level labor tracking
- Customer deposits and progress payments associated with the appropriate job and recorded according to the applicable accounting treatment
- Change orders recorded against the original job, where you work that way
- Job profitability reporting, where that is included in your plan
Where the file itself needs restructuring before any of this can run, that is QuickBooks setup, and we scope the two together.
What this gives you
You can see how each job performed rather than only seeing the business as a whole.
You can price the next one from figures rather than from memory.
You can see how a job is doing while it is still running, not only once it is finished.
How job costing is priced
When job costing is set up as part of a QuickBooks project, we quote the setup as a fixed fee based on your needs and a review of your file.
Ongoing coding is added to your bookkeeping plan rather than purchased separately, so it is covered by your personalized monthly amount.
Your personalized plan outlines the work and level of support included. If your needs change, we discuss any adjustments with you before changing the scope or fee.
Your plan runs month to month, with no long-term commitment. A written service agreement outlines the scope, fees, responsibilities, and cancellation process, including any required notice.
Want to know what the setup would involve?
What we need from you
We’ll need to understand what counts as a job in your business and how job-related costs reach your books.
Once access is set up, we retrieve bank and credit card statements directly where available. You provide receipts, supporting documents, and details about transactions that need clarification through QuickBooks Online or a shared Google Drive folder. We group questions where practical to make responding easier.
Job costing works when the coding happens as the work does, so we will agree how your suppliers, your crew, and your invoices feed it. If something reaches us without a job attached, we will ask rather than guessing.
Frequently asked questions
Can you add job costing to books that are already running?
Yes, and it usually starts with a look at your chart of accounts and how your jobs are structured now. We will tell you what the setup involves before anything changes.
Will I see labor on each job?
Where the payroll information is available and your agreed scope supports job-level labor tracking, wages can be allocated to the appropriate job. Otherwise, job costing can still track materials, subcontractors, and other job-related costs recorded in the books.
What if my jobs run across several months?
That is normal for project work, and it is one of the reasons job costing exists. Costs and revenue stay with the job rather than being read month by month.
Not seeing your question? Read the full FAQAsk Kris on a call
See what each job is earning.
Book a personal consultation. We’ll discuss your needs, provide a broad pricing range when possible, and explain the next steps toward a formal quote.