Friday Profit Check

How job costing works in 15 minutes a week

Every Friday you update each job, check cash and price any variation. The maths is simple on purpose, so you can check it yourself.

Step 1: update each job

For every active job you enter three things: what you have paid or committed to so far, how far along the job is, and the contract price. The app does the rest.

The formulas

  • Projected cost = (paid + committed) ÷ percent complete.
  • Forecast margin = (contract price − projected cost) ÷ contract price.
  • Overrun = projected cost − the cost you budgeted.

Worked example: a A$400,000 job with a A$340,000 budget, A$180,000 spent and committed, and 50% complete. Projected cost is A$360,000, forecast margin is 10%, and the overrun is A$20,000.

The traffic light

The light compares forecast margin with the margin you quoted. By default green means within 2 percentage points, amber means 2 to 5 points below, and red means more than 5 points below or a loss. These limits are our defaults, and you can change them in Settings.

When the forecast is unreliable

Percent complete is your estimate. Under 20% complete the app marks the result as unstable, because a small error in a small number moves the forecast a lot.

Step 2: check 13-week cash

The forecast adds stage claims after a bank delay, subcontractor payments, weekly wages, super with each pay run, monthly overhead and your BAS. It shows the lowest balance, the week it happens and three things you can move: bring a claim forward, defer a payment, or plan the overdraft you will need. See why cash runs short between stages.

Step 3: price any variation

Enter your cost and the margin you want. The price is cost ÷ (1 − margin), plus GST, with a short message to send. Margin and markup are different numbers; a 25% markup is a 20% margin. The variation pricing guide explains why it matters.

After the job: quotes and reviews

Log each quote and whether you won it to see your win rate. When a job closes, a short review records the margin you delivered against the margin you quoted, so the next quote starts from your own history.

What stays on your phone

All job and cash data is stored on your device. You can export an encrypted backup file and restore it on another device. Read the privacy policy, then open the demo.