Inside Job Costing, you can filter and view expenses by type:
Material: If selected, it will show a list of expenses incurred for materials for the project.
Labor: Is selected, it will show the labor cost spent on the project so far. This is based on the time spent on the project by the labor and calculated through the Time Tracking feature in ZevBit
Subcontractor: It will show the amount spent on the subcontractors during the project.
Equipment: It will show the expenses incurred to rent or purchase equipment for the project.
Why contractors use filters
“Show only materials expenses so I can see if we’re out of control.”
“Show subcontractor spend because we’re using too many subs.”
“Show labor costs only, because hours are climbing.”
Two expense lists you’ll see
Overall Project Expenses
Everything allocated to the overall project (not tied to a specific line item or task).
Specific Line Item Expenses
Expenses tied to particular estimate line items or tasks, so you can see the true breakdown by task/category.
Contractor tip:
If you want to improve estimating, line-item allocation is where you learn the most.
Change Orders keep job costing honest
If the scope changes after the job starts, issue a change order by editing the estimate. Approved change orders automatically update the estimated numbers inside Job Costing, so your budget tracking stays accurate.
If you do extra work and never change the order, Job Costing will show you losing money — because the budget never increased.