Job costing for flooring contractors

On a flooring job, the material is often bought and delivered before the first box is opened, so the budget can look almost spent on day one. What decides the margin is install labor and prep. JobMargin shows both so you can tell a normal job from one in trouble.

What flooring contractors track in JobMargin

• Materials and freight, separately. Freight and delivery charges are easy to lose inside a material invoice. Give them their own line and they stop eating your margin quietly.
• Install labor against progress. Crew hours post to the job as they clock out, so you can compare labor spent to how much floor is down.
• Mixed units on one bid. Carpet by the square yard, LVT and tile by the square foot, base by the linear foot, and floor prep as a lump sum, all on one bid.
• Prep surprises. Moisture mitigation or extra leveling found after demo? Write it up as a change order before the work starts.

Set up for flooring from the first day

When you pick Flooring as your trade, JobMargin loads these cost categories for budgets, receipts, and job costs. You can rename or add your own at any time.

• Materials
• Labor
• Freight
• Supplies
• Subcontractor
• Fuel
• Hotel
• Per Diem
• Equipment
• Other

Bid line items use the units flooring actually bid in: square feet (SF), square yards (SY), linear feet (LF), each (EA), and lump sum (LS).

Example: what a flooring job looks like mid-way

All material has been delivered; install is about 40% complete.

Materials are 95% spent, which is normal with everything on site. The number to watch is labor: 45% spent with install about 40% done, close to plan. Freight came in $150 over, a small miss, but one worth fixing in the next estimate.

Guides and tools for flooring contractors