Every job came in on budget. The year didn't.
On paper it all worked. The bank account disagrees. Somewhere between the estimate and the invoice, the margin left — and nothing in the system is set up to tell you where.
Tell us which jobs you're unsure about
What you make, how you quote it, and where you suspect the money goes. A person reads it and a person replies.
Would rather talk it through? Pick a time — half an hour is usually enough.
What it usually turns out to be
- The estimate uses last year's costs. Steel moved, freight moved, wages moved. The sheet didn't. You are winning work you would rather have lost.
- Rework never lands on the job. It gets written off at the end of the month instead, so the job that caused it still looks profitable.
- Nobody knows what an hour of capacity costs. If that number takes a week to produce, every quote is priced by feel and the good ones are luck.
- Your biggest customer may be your worst. Volume hides the cost of serving it — the rush orders, the returns, the payment terms.
What we'd actually do
Take four jobs you already finished — two you were happy with, two you weren't — and rebuild what each one really cost. That comparison usually answers the question on its own, and it uses data you already have rather than a system you'd have to buy first.
If your costing is sound and the problem is pricing or mix, we'll tell you that instead. Judge that against what we've fixed before.