Job costing for low-voltage and security contractors

Low-voltage jobs are mostly labor, and most of that labor is pulling cable through buildings that fight back. JobMargin shows cable and tech hours against progress, so you know whether the rough-in ate the budget meant for devices and programming.

What low-voltage contractors track in JobMargin

• Cable, devices, and programming separately. Rough-in, trim-out, and programming each get their own budget, so you can see which phase ran long.
• Scope by device count. Line items like “Card readers, 48 EA” or “Cameras, 64 EA” become the job’s scope, and progress is logged by the each.
• Tech hours by job. Techs clock in on their phones at each building, so multi-site jobs keep their hours straight.
• Daily logs with photos. Photos of terminations and head-end racks are saved with the day’s log for the closeout package.

Set up for low-voltage from the first day

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

• Devices & Hardware
• Labor
• Cable & Wire
• Programming
• Permits
• Equipment Rental
• Fuel
• Subcontractor
• Other

Bid line items use the units low-voltage actually bid in: each (EA), linear feet (LF), and lump sum (LS).

Example: what a low-voltage job looks like mid-way

48 card readers, 64 cameras, and the cabling for both across two buildings. Cable is pulled in one building and about half of the second.

Cable is 79% spent with about 75% of it pulled, which is close. Labor is ahead of the work: 67% of the labor budget is gone, but only a quarter of the devices are in and programming hasn’t started. Pulling cable through an occupied school took longer than the bid assumed, and this job’s margin is thin, so the device installs and programming need to come in tight.

Guides and tools for low-voltage and security contractors