You handed over a house last month. Framing ran two weeks long because the trusses landed late. The client asked for a wider deck and you said yes on site, with no paperwork. Three subtrade invoices arrived after you sent the final bill.
You know the job closed. You do not know what it earned. For most general contractors the estimate lives in a spreadsheet and the real cost in a pile of supplier invoices, and the two only meet months later, when it is too late to do anything.
Free: the Job Profit and Fast Invoicing Checklist. Bill every job within a day and know what each one earned. Get the checklist
What the late answer costs you
A margin you learn about after the fact cannot be fixed. The overrun, the unbilled change and the late supplier cost have already come out of your pocket.
Why it happens
Four ordinary things: nobody compares budget to actual while the job runs, changes agreed on site never reach an invoice, subtrade costs arrive after you have billed, and progress billing is built by hand so it goes out late.
The process: four steps from signed job to known margin
1. Compare budget to actual while the job runs
Turn the accepted quote into a budget with hours and costs, and record actuals against it every week.
Example: “Week 3: 42% of budget spent, 40% of the work done.”
Pro tip: Pick a day each week to look. Week three tells you about an overrun; week fourteen does not.
2. Write change orders down on the day
When the client asks for something extra, add the line, the price and the material, and have them confirm it.
Example: “Wider deck, confirmed by email Thursday.”
Pro tip: Never start the extra work before the confirmation is sent.
Free: the Job Profit and Fast Invoicing Checklist. Bill every job within a day and know what each one earned. Get the checklist
3. Commit costs when you order, not when the bill arrives
Issue a purchase order for each supplier and subtrade against the job so the cost shows right away.
Example: “PO for the electrician, tagged to this job.”
Pro tip: Match the bill to the order when it arrives. It catches double billing.
4. Bill in stages, on schedule
Invoice a percentage or fixed amount for each completed stage, and track what has been billed.
Example: “Framing complete: invoice 30% of the contract.”
Pro tip: Put each stage billing date on the calendar at the start of the job.
Where this runs
The four steps work with a spreadsheet. In the business system we set up for clients (Odoo Community), the accepted quote creates a project with a budget, crews log hours to it, purchase orders and supplier bills tag to the job, and invoices are created from the sales order for a percentage or fixed amount so nothing is billed twice or missed. The process is the point. The tool just keeps it going when you are busy.
Your next step
Open your last job and ask which of the four steps would have changed the result. If you want to see a clean quote built, the free 7-Day Growth Challenge on quotes shows you.
Free: the Job Profit and Fast Invoicing Checklist. Bill every job within a day and know what each one earned. Get the checklist