Job costing for HVAC contractors

On an HVAC install, the equipment can be half the cost of the job, and its price can change between the bid and the order. The rest of the margin is in install labour and ductwork. JobFigure tracks both against the job so a price bump or a slow rough-in doesn’t hide until the end.

What HVAC contractors track in JobFigure

• Units and equipment, separately. Big-ticket equipment gets its own category, so a price increase between quote and order is obvious.
• Ductwork and sheet metal. Fabricated or bought, it posts against its own budget.
• Refrigerant, permits, and crane days. The costs that are easy to forget on the bid each have a place to land.
• Bids by the ton or by the piece. Price equipment by tonnage (TON), registers and grilles by each, and duct runs by the linear foot.

Set up for HVAC from the first day

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

• Units & Equipment
• Labour
• Ductwork & Sheet Metal
• Materials
• Refrigerant
• Permits
• Tool Rental
• Fuel
• Subcontractor
• Other

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

Example: what a HVAC job looks like mid-way

Both units are set (one crane day), and duct rough-in is about half done.

The units came in $1,220 over the bid because of a price increase between the quote and the order. That’s worth checking against your supplier quote dates on the next bid. Labour is 47% spent with rough-in about half done, right on plan.

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 HVAC contractors