You may be in the middle of your mad rush or just extremely busy right now. Either way, you have jobs in progress or already completed so it’s worth knowing just what job costing data you can pull from QuickBooks. Here are a few job cost reports to help you monitor your progress and profitability – perhaps some you didn’t know existed!
Read more →How did the actual time on the job compare to what you estimated? That’s one of the big things you want do know, right? If job costs run over, it’s usually in the area of labor, not materials. Here’s how you create it.
Read more →When reviewing the job cost reports in QuickBooks and turning on the %, it’s important to know just what percentage you see in the report. Where this really jumps out is comparing the P & L for a particular job to the Job Profitability Detail report. You’ve probably noticed these percentages are not the same
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You probably thought you had your QuickBooks setup for the season but then the pandemic hit. The federal government has rolled out funding options to help businesses through this unprecedented time. It will be extremely important for you to track not only that you received the funding but that you used the funding appropriately. And if you run payroll in QuickBooks, many of you will need to track the new types of medical leave. Below are some ideas to help you setup your QuickBooks so you can track as required by the different programs.
Read more →By now you probably have a good idea of your year-end numbers. As you look back over your year, take the time to list what worked – and what didn’t. Here are a few recommendations to help you review 2019 so you can plan for 2020.
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Your jobs have to generate enough revenue to not only cover the job, but your overhead AND still result in a profit. So, you need to keep those “extra” costs in mind when estimating jobs. Last time, we discussed allocating at the division level (which might get done monthly or quarterly). Today we’re focusing on the job level. You can allocate overhead costs one of two ways: (1) on an account level (you would view in a P & L for the job) and (2) at the Item level (which provides more detail) – you would view these in your Estimated vs Actual Details and Job Profit Profitability Detail reports
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Understanding all the costs that involved with a job is important for contractors. There are the obvious ones such as labor and materials. However, you not only need to cover direct job costs but also the overhead for the business, and still net a profit (or why else be in business?!) A few areas to consider could include office staff/expenses, equipment/vehicle costs (direct and indirect like wear & tear), indirect costs (e.g. fuel), shop staff, repairs & maintenance. There are a variety of ways you can allocate overhead. Today we’ll look at the simplest and fastest method – allocating by division. I’ve broken this up into 2 parts: (1) allocating ALL your overhead expenses and (2) allocating your Indirect Costs
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There are lots of ways to stay on top of your business when it comes to reports and metrics. Personally, I have reports and tasks on my toolbar so they’re one click away and I’m frequently in the Company Snapshot because I can easily see so much in one screen. But I find there are charts and graphs and metrics not in the Snapshot and many are unaware they even exist! So today I’d like to share a few.
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If you have to collect sales tax, then chances are your report form asks you about use tax. Use tax is a sales tax on purchases taxable in your state but for which you were not charged. It’s easier to keep up with tracking as you go along, rather than waiting until the end of the report period, especially if you pay quarterly. So here are the steps to simplify your reporting.
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Who doesn’t like to look at profit?! But I find many have misconceptions about what the Profit & Loss report (or Income Statement) can/should do for them. This is usually due to a lack of knowledge when it comes to accounting. But whether you are the business owner or the bookkeeper you should understand at least a little bit about accounting and your financial reports. So here are some basics that will help you both review your jobs or projects as well as your business.
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