Job Costing Sheet
What a job was quoted at, what it has cost, and whether it is still making money.
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| Job | [job] |
| Customer | [customer] |
| Quoted price | $ [amount] |
| Percentage complete | [%]% |
| As at | October 14, 2026 |
| Cost head | Amount |
|---|---|
| [add one cost head per line] |
What is a Job Costing Sheet?
A job costing sheet sets what a job was quoted at against what it has actually cost in labour, materials, subcontract and overhead, and shows the margin left. It is how a business finds out which jobs make money rather than which ones look busy. Without one, losses hide inside a healthy-looking turnover figure, and the same underpriced job gets quoted again next month at the same number.
Builders, electricians, plumbers, joiners, print shops, engineering workshops, agencies, garages, event companies and anyone quoting fixed prices for bespoke work uses one. It runs from the estimate through to the final account: the estimator's figures go in one column, actual costs land against them as they are incurred, and the variance is read weekly while there is still time to act. At final invoice it becomes the evidence for what a similar job should be priced at, which is the part most businesses skip.
How you treat overhead recovery, and how work in progress is valued in your accounts, follows the reporting framework and tax rules that apply where you file. Long-term contracts in particular may have prescribed revenue recognition treatment, and what counts as a deductible cost is a matter for your tax authority. In construction, retention, variations and payment timing may also be governed by statutory payment rules in your country. Take the accounting policy from your accountant and the contract terms from the contract — the sheet is a management tool, not an accounting standard.
The sheet measures a job, not a business. A job showing a healthy gross margin can still leave the company short if the overhead absorption rate baked into it is wrong or out of date. It is also not a cash flow forecast — a profitable job invoiced on ninety-day terms can put you under before it pays. And it does not price work on its own: cost plus a target margin is a floor, while what the market will pay is a separate question with a different answer.
What to put in a Job Costing Sheet
These are the details this template asks for. Anything left blank is marked in red on the preview so you can see what is still missing.
| Field | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Business name | For example: Barton Supply Co. |
| Your address | For example: Unit 7, Barton Road, Columbus, OH 43212 |
| Customer name | For example: Halliwell Interiors Inc. |
| Job or project | For example: Northgate — Newark fit-out |
| Quoted price | For example: 8,40,000 |
| Percentage complete | For example: 72 |
| Costs to date | One per line: Cost head | Amount |
How to write a Job Costing Sheet
Freeze the quoted figures before work starts
Copy the estimate into the sheet as a locked baseline — labour hours by trade, materials, subcontract, plant, and the margin assumed. If it is edited later to match reality, the sheet can never show a variance and the exercise is pointless. Any change to scope goes in as a variation line beneath, not as an edit to the original.
Cost labour at the real hourly rate
The rate must include employer costs — statutory contributions, holiday and sick pay accrual, insurance — not just the wage. A crew charged into a job at the gross wage will make every job look profitable. Take the loaded rate from your accountant, review it yearly, and record hours per person against the job daily rather than reconstructing them at the end.
Post materials from documents, not memory
Each material line should carry the supplier, the invoice or delivery note number and the date, so the total can be traced. Include waste, delivery charges and anything collected on a trade account. Stock taken from the van needs an issue note too, or it will never appear on the job and will quietly reduce the margin on every job you run.
Add variations as separate priced lines
When the client asks for something extra, record it as its own line with its own quoted price and its own costs, and get the instruction in writing before the work happens. Buried in the main total, extras become invisible and are disputed at the final account. Listed separately, they are a straightforward conversation supported by a document.
Compare and close the job formally
At completion, put quoted against actual line by line, calculate the gross margin in currency and as a percentage, and write one or two sentences saying what caused the biggest variance. Feed that into the next estimate. A closed job with no post-mortem line is the reason the same trade gets underestimated by the same amount for years.
Common mistakes
- Overwriting the original estimate as costs come in destroys the only baseline you had, and the sheet stops being able to show a variance at all.
- Costing labour at the bare wage rather than the fully loaded rate overstates margin on every job, which is why apparently profitable businesses run out of cash.
- Letting stock go out of the van without an issue note leaves materials uncosted, so the loss lands invisibly across every job instead of the one that used them.
- Doing extra work on a verbal instruction with no variation line means the cost is incurred and the argument about paying for it starts at the final account.
- Never comparing the closed job against the estimate means the pricing error that caused the loss is repeated in the next quote for the same kind of work.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between job costing and process costing?
Job costing tracks costs against a specific, identifiable job or order — one house, one print run, one repair. Process costing spreads costs across a continuous output and divides by units produced, which suits refineries, food production or chemicals. If your customer can point at their thing and you can point at the costs of it, you want job costing.
How do I allocate overhead to a job?
Most small firms use a recovery rate — overhead per labour hour, or a percentage on direct cost — calculated from last year's overhead and expected hours. It is an estimate and it goes stale, so review it at least yearly and whenever fixed costs move. Agree the basis with your accountant, because it also affects how work in progress is valued in your accounts.
Should the job costing sheet include my own time?
Yes, if you work on the job. Owner labour left out of the costing makes jobs look profitable that only break even once the owner's time is paid for, and it produces quotes nobody else could deliver at. Charge it at the rate you would have to pay someone to replace you, not at whatever you happen to draw that month.
What margin should I be aiming for?
That is a trade and market question rather than a template one — gross margins differ widely between supply-and-fit trades, labour-only work, print, manufacturing and agency services. What the sheet gives you is your own numbers: run a few closed jobs through it and you will see your real average, which is a far better target than a figure from a forum.
How often should I update the actual costs?
Weekly at minimum on anything running longer than a couple of weeks, and daily for labour hours. The point of the sheet is to catch a job going wrong while there is still scope to change the approach, order differently or raise a variation. Costs posted only at the end turn it into a historical record of a loss you could not prevent.
This page explains general practice and is not legal advice. Requirements differ between countries and, in some cases, between states — check what applies where the document will be used.