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Construction job costing

Compare each job's budget to its actual cost. See the variance and variance percent for each job from your QuickBooks exports.

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Someone typed

“compare each job's total budget to its total actual cost (labor, materials and subcontractors added up) and show the variance and variance percent by job”

The agent read it as

Compare each job's total budget from QuickBooks job budgets to its total actual cost (labor, materials and subcontractors added up) from QuickBooks job cost detail and show the variance and variance percent by job, using actual minus budget and percent of budget.

What the agent built

3 steps, each one an ordinary Mammoth step you can open and change.

File

QuickBooks job budgets

CSV export · 8 rows

File

QuickBooks job cost detail

CSV export · 36 rows

Step

Total actual cost by job

Step 1

Join

Bring in actual costs

8 of 8 paired

Step

Calculate job variances

Step 3

Result

Job Budget Variance

8 rows

Schedule

Runs when you say

Proposed

File
QuickBooks job budgets
CSV export · 8 rows
File
QuickBooks job cost detail
CSV export · 36 rows
Step
Total actual cost by job
Step 1
Join
Bring in actual costs
8 of 8 paired
Step
Calculate job variances
Step 3
Result
Job Budget Variance
8 rows
Schedule
Runs when you say
Proposed

Checked on the sample files: every step ran, 8 rows came out, and the join paired 8 of 8 rows.

Download QuickBooks job budgets sample (8 rows)QuickBooks: Reports > Jobs, Time & Mileage > Job Profitability Summary > Export
Download QuickBooks job cost detail sample (36 rows)QuickBooks: Reports > Jobs, Time & Mileage > Job Profitability Detail > Export

What you get back

The result of that run, the rows to look at first.

Job Budget VarianceSample data8 rows

Job	Variance	Variance percent	Total budget	Actual cost
Oak Ridge School	-49,500	-41.25	120,000	70,500
Maple View Clinic	-5,700	-6.63	86,000	80,300
Cedar Point Renovation	-45,700	-31.52	145,000	99,300
Harbor Lofts Buildout	-18,600	-18.98	98,000	79,400
Willow Creek Garage	6,250	11.57	54,000	60,250
Pinecrest Fire Repair	-3,600	-4.74	76,000	72,400
Elm Street Addition	-48,400	-36.67	132,000	83,600
Birch Hollow Deck	7,800	16.60	47,000	54,800

8 rows in the result. Sample data: illustrative figures, not business results.

How do you compare each job's budget to actual cost?

Export your job budgets from QuickBooks and your job cost detail for labor, materials, and subcontractors. Mammoth totals the actual cost by job, compares it with the budget, and shows the variance and variance percent for each job. The variance is actual minus budget, and the percent is based on budget.

How it works

How to use the Job Budget Variance workflow

1Get early accessWe invite people in small batches, job by job. You'll land on this workflow, already built and checked on the sample files.
2Swap in your exportsUpload your own files as they come out of your tools. The agent checks the workflow on your rows.
3Change it in words, then turn it onSay what to change and see the new result before anything saves. Then choose when it runs.

Job Budget Variance: questions

What export should you use from QuickBooks?

Use a job budgets export for the budget side and a job cost detail export for the actuals side. Both should include a job name or job ID so rows can be matched.

What happens to rows that do not match a job?

Rows that do not match a job in the other file are left out of the job comparison. You can review them separately and decide whether to fix the source data or add a matching rule.

How do you change the rules in words?

You edit the steps in plain language. For example, you can change how jobs are matched, which cost types are included, or how the variance and variance percent are calculated.