This guide explains Job Costing in a clear and professional way for owners, managers, and office staff. It focuses on:
How Breezy calculates job profitability
Where each number comes from
What actions are automatic vs. manual
Who can see job costing information
No accounting or technical background is required.
What Is Job Costing?
Job Costing shows how much money you make or lose on each individual job.
For every job, Breezy brings together:
Labor costs based on technician time and hourly wage
Parts and material costs based on invoices
Equipment costs for installed systemsbased on invoices
Additional expenses such as permits or fuel
These costs are compared against the revenue collected from the customer to calculate:
Gross profit (dollars)
Gross margin (percentage)
This allows you to evaluate pricing, control costs, and understand which jobs, job types, or technicians are most profitable.
How Job Costing Works (End-to-End Flow)
Job Costing is built entirely on real activity in Breezy. Nothing is estimated or assumed.
The flow works as follows:
Technicians clock in and out of jobs, creating labor records
Invoices are created on the job, capturing parts and equipment costs
Additional expenses are entered as miscellaneous costs when needed
The customer pays the invoice, creating revenue
Breezy combines revenue and costs to calculate profit and margin
Each step builds on the previous one. When something changes upstream, job costing updates automatically.
Cost Categories Used in Job Costing
Job Costing tracks four cost categories.
Labor Costs
Labor costs are based on technician time, not what you charge the customer.
Included:
On-site work time
Drive time to and from the job
Excluded:
Lunch breaks
Time not clocked in
Labor cost formula: Technician hours × technician hourly wage = labor cost
Labor data comes directly from timesheets.
Parts and Materials
Parts and materials include physical items sold and installed for the customer, such as:
Capacitors
Filters
Refrigerant
Wiring and fittings
These costs are automatically pulled from invoices. Job Costing uses your internal cost, not the customer-facing price.
If a part does not have a cost entered in the pricebook, it will appear as $0 in Job Costing.
Equipment
Equipment includes major installed items such as HVAC systems, furnaces, or water heaters.
Like parts, equipment costs are pulled automatically from invoices and use your internal cost values.
Miscellaneous Costs
Miscellaneous costs cover expenses that are not captured through timesheets or invoices.
Common examples include:
Permit fees
Fuel for special trips
Emergency materials or supplies
These costs are entered manually by technicians or office staff.
How Profit Is Calculated
Job Costing uses the following calculation:
Costs of Goods Sold (COGS) = Labor costs + Parts costs + Equipment costs + Miscellaneous costs
Gross Profit = Revenue - COGS
Gross Margin Percentage = Gross profit ÷ Total Revenue
Example
Customer payment: $1,500
Labor: $120
Parts: $200
Equipment: $400
Permit: $50
Gross Profit: $730
Gross Margin: 48.7%
Where to View Job Costing
Office: Job Details Page → Job Costs Tab
Within any job, the Job Costs tab provides:
Key metrics for that specific job:
Total revenue
Total costs
Gross profit in dollars
Gross margin percentage
Labor Costs table
Parts and Materials table
Equipment table
Miscellaneous table
Office staff can add or adjust manual costs when needed.
Manual labor entries should only be used when time was not clocked
Parts, equipment, and miscellaneous costs can be added with quantity and cost
Office: Dashboard → Gross Profit Dollars per Man Day
The Gross Profit Dollars per Man Day provides a company-wide view of profitability. It includes:
Profit trends over time
Jobs pending verification
Technician profitability comparisons
Gross profit per man-day
This dashboard is best reviewed on a weekly cadence.
Where Each Number Comes From
Labor
Source: Timesheets
Labor is calculated using:
Clock-in and clock-out times
Activity type (drive time or on-site)
Technician hourly wage
Common issues include missing clock-outs or incorrect wage setup.
Parts and Equipment
Source: Invoices
Each invoice line includes:
Customer price
Internal cost
Job Costing only uses the internal cost. Service and labor line items are excluded.
Revenue
Revenue is based on invoices associated with the job:
Paid invoices are used when available
If unpaid, total invoice amounts are used
This ensures profitability reflects real collections.
Pricebook: Bundled and Flat-Rate Pricing
For flat-rate or bundled services, Job Costing expands included parts and materials behind the scenes so true costs are visible. Labor is always tracked separately through timesheets and is not expanded from bundles.
Job Verification Workflow
Verification confirms that all costs on a job have been reviewed and are complete.
Verified jobs:
Produce more accurate reports
Reduce downstream corrections
Improve confidence in profitability data
Permissions and Access
Job Costing visibility is controlled by permissions.
Full Access
All cost details
Technician wage information
Gross profit and margin
View Costs Only
Parts, equipment, and miscellaneous costs
No labor wage visibility
No profit or margin metrics
No Access
Job Costs tab is hidden entirely
Best Practices
Ensure technicians clock in and out consistently
Keep pricebook costs up to date
Train technicians to record miscellaneous expenses
Review low-margin jobs regularly
Verify jobs before relying on reports
Common Questions
Why do parts show as $0?
The item does not have a cost entered in the pricebook.Is Job Costing retroactive? Will it backfill costs from old jobs/invoices?
No. Job Costing is not retroactive. If an invoice was created before Job Costing was turned on, it will not backfill into Job Costing. Once Job Costing is enabled, it applies to invoices created from that point forward.
Do customers see job costing data?
No. Job Costing is internal only.When do parts, materials, and equipment from an invoice show up in Job Costing?
They appear only after the invoice is paid (not before).
So if you add an item to an invoice but it hasn’t been paid yet, you should not expect it to show in the Job Costing tables yet.
Does editing Job Costing update the invoice or QuickBooks sync automatically?
No. Job Costing and invoices are not automatically synced both ways:
Invoice items populate Job Costing after payment (a snapshot).
If you later edit the invoice, Job Costing won’t auto-update.
If you edit Job Costing, the invoice won’t change automatically either.
How does Job Costing handle multiple visits and multiple invoices under one job?
Job Costing is populated at the job level, and it keeps updating as new invoices tied to the same job are created and paid.
Each invoice’s items can appear as separate rows with the invoice number, so you can trace where they came from.
If you add a second invoice weeks later (callback scenario), once that invoice is paid, its costs get added into Job Costing even if the job was already verified.
How should we handle Services if we want their underlying costs to flow into Job Costing?
Use the section named "Service includes":
Attach the specific parts/materials/equipment to the Service using the “Service includes” section (noted as a newer capability).
Then, when you select that Service on an invoice, those linked items can populate Job Costing (because otherwise Breezy can’t know which specific items should count toward cost).
Definitions
Gross profit: Revenue minus direct job costs
Gross margin: Gross profit expressed as a percentage
COGS: Total direct costs for a job
Man-day: One full day of technician labor
Support
For additional help:
Use in-app help resources
Contact Breezy support
Request Job Costing training or onboarding assistance