Job costing for general contractors

Most of a GC’s cost is subcontractors, and most of a GC’s margin risk is change: owner requests built before they’re priced, and subs billing ahead of the work. JobFigure tracks subs, your own crew, and every change order against the job, without the setup weeks that big construction software needs.

What general contractors track in JobFigure

• Subcontractors against budget. Sub invoices post to the job’s Subcontractors line, so you can compare what they’ve billed to how far along the work is.
• Self-perform labour and burden. Your carpenters clock in on their phones, and labour burden gets its own budget line.
• Change orders into the contract. Every owner change, add or deduct, goes straight into the contract value the day it’s agreed.
• Invoices with holdback. Invoice the owner, track holdback held and payments, and see what’s left to bill.
• Daily logs and photos. Superintendents log work, problems, and weather with photos, and problems show up on the owner’s Home screen the same day.

Set up for general contracting from the first day

When you pick General Contractor as your trade, JobFigure loads these cost categories for budgets, receipts, and job costs. You can rename or add your own at any time.

• Labour
• Subcontractors
• Materials
• Equipment Rental
• Labour Burden
• Permits & Fees
• Disposal
• Fuel
• Insurance
• Overhead
• Other

Bid line items use the units general contracting actually bid in: square feet (SF), linear feet (LF), each (EA), and lump sum (LS).

Example: what a GC job looks like mid-way

A 4,200 sq ft restaurant build-out with your own carpenters, and subs for MEP, kitchen equipment, and finishes. The job is about 55% complete.

Subs are billing right with progress at 56%. Your own materials are a little ahead at 65%, often a sign that owner-requested changes are being built before they’re priced. Log each one as a change order the day it’s agreed, so the contract value grows with the work instead of the margin shrinking.

Invoices the Canadian way

Set your company to Canada and each invoice applies GST, HST, or GST plus PST or QST for the province where the work is, and tracks the 10% holdback. At year end, the subcontractor payments report gives you the totals for T5018 slips. Prices are in Canadian dollars. More in our guide: GST/HST, PST and holdback on construction invoices in Canada.

Guides and tools for general contractors