Free job costing spreadsheet template

A free Excel spreadsheet for tracking one job’s costs against its budget. Log crew hours and receipts as they happen, and the summary shows what’s left in each budget line, your profit so far, and the margin you’re heading for. It also opens in Google Sheets and Numbers. No email or sign-up needed.

Download the template

Excel file (.xlsx), 43 KB. Six tabs, one job per file. Save a copy for each job.

Download the job costing spreadsheet

Free to use and share. Works in Excel, Google Sheets (File → Import) and Apple Numbers.

What’s in the spreadsheet

Tab	What you do there
Job	Type the contract amount, a budget for each cost category, your labor burden, and how far along the job is. The rest fills in.
Labor	One row per person per day: hours and pay rate. Labor cost adds your burden (payroll taxes, workers’ comp) for you.
Costs	One row per receipt, invoice, or bill, with a category so it lands in the right budget line.
Change orders	Extra work, with Approved and Billed columns. Approved work adds to the contract. Anything approved but not billed turns pink.
Pricing	Enter a cost and the margin you want to get the price to charge, or check the margin on a price you already have.

What the job summary looks like

Here’s the example job that comes filled in, a $48,000 kitchen remodel with one approved $650 change order. Type over the example numbers with your own.

Cost category	Budget	Actual	Left
Labor	$16,000	$280	$15,720
Materials	$14,500	$412	$14,088
Subcontractors	$6,000	$0	$6,000
Equipment	$1,500	$0	$1,500
Other	$1,000	$0	$1,000
Total	$39,000	$692	$38,308

On a $48,650 revised contract and a $39,000 budget, the job is set up for $9,650 of gross profit: a 19.8% margin, or a 24.7% markup on cost.

How the projection works

Projected cost at the finish = Cost so far ÷ % complete

If you’ve spent $20,000 and the job is 40% done, you’re on pace for $50,000. When that’s over your budget, you find out with time left to fix it, not after the last invoice. Update the % complete each week.

Common questions

What is labor burden, and what should I enter?

It’s what you pay on top of each hour of wages: payroll taxes, workers’ comp, and other insurance. It differs by state, trade, and insurer, so ask your accountant or agent for your number. The template’s 25% is only an example.

Why is my margin lower than my markup?

Margin is profit divided by the price; markup is profit divided by your cost. On the same job, markup is always the bigger number. Our margin vs. markup guide has a conversion chart.

When does a spreadsheet stop working?

When it’s out of date. A spreadsheet only knows what someone typed in, and hours usually arrive on Friday from memory while receipts sit in the truck. Once you’re running several jobs with a crew, see job costing software vs. spreadsheets.

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