According to the Deloitte's construction industry outlook report for 2024, the construction industry is experiencing volatility in material prices and increasing labor costs. Although using the best construction job costing software doesn’t cushion you from inevitable inflation or rising material costs, it’s indispensable to maintaining healthy profit margins.
For construction firms, significant investment goes into materials and labor. When the costs of material and labor increase, profit margins dwindle. Job costing software helps determine where every penny goes so you can pinpoint jobs that are over budget and determine where cost overruns originate. This way, you can control the actual project costs to maximize profitability.
We’ll reveal the best construction job costing software in 2024. Most job costing tools offer the same key features, but some are better at certain aspects than others. We played around with each solution to reveal its strengths and weaknesses to help you make an informed decision.
Before we get to our list of job costing software, let’s get the basics out of our way.
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Construction job costing is a comprehensive pricing method that looks at granular costs of labor, materials, equipment and applied overhead for each project. The goal is to calculate overall project expenses to control the budget and minimize risks while maximizing profitability.
What is the Best Job Costing Software for Construction?
The best job costing software for construction provides real-time insights into the project’s progress and makes it easy to track the actual costs of construction. Some come with advanced tools that enable you to pinpoint profitable projects for effective bidding and quoting for future projects.
Here’s a lowdown of the best job-costing software solutions for construction:
Timeero — Best Time Tracking Software to Track Labor Costs
Knowify — Best Job Costing Software for Small Businesses
Procore — Construction Management Software for Large Companies
JobTread — Best Construction Estimating Software
Corecon — Construction Management Software
BuilderTrend — Construction Software for Better Communication
Jonas Premier — Best Software for Construction Accounting
Top 7 Job Costing Software for Construction
In this section, we’ll delve into the nitty-gritty details of each job costing software for contractors, builders, and remodelers. We’ll shed light on how the job costing module works, spotlight the standout features, and mention the drawbacks of each solution.
Let’s start with the best job-costing software for construction — Timeero.
Timeero — Best Job Costing Software for Labor Costs
Whether you run a small business with ten employees or a large construction business with hundreds of employees, Timeero will simplify your time and attendance tracking.
Timeero is the best job costing software for contractors, remodelers, and subcontractors who want to track employee time and attendance accurately.
Its intuitive web interface and user-friendly mobile apps offer a frictionless learning curve for all employees, including the non-tech-savvy construction site workers.
Time Tracking
Clocking in and out is as easy as selecting the right job and hitting the clock-in button on an Android or iOS smartphone, and Timeero will track time automatically.
The Timeero mobile app tracks employees' hours, breaks and mileage accurately.
Timeero's geofencing and facial recognition features provide precise labor cost management across various industries. For example, in construction, geofencing can help you ensure workers only clock in when on-site, directly reflecting actual work hours in labor costs.
With Timeero, you can restrict employees from clocking in offsite.
Facial recognition in the Timeero Kiosk app is essential in large-scale projects in construction, preventing time theft like buddy punching. These features ensure that timecards accurately reflect the hours spent at a specific job or client location.
Timeero's customizable overtime and break tracking features accommodate various labor laws, which is crucial for industries operating under strict regulatory environments or in states with stringent legislation. This functionality ensures compliance and precise labor cost calculations.
Timeero: Payroll and Overtime Settings
Construction companies in California can, for example, even use predefined overtime settings and the California break tracking feature to avoid potential lawsuits and hefty fines.
Timeero's signature feature adds a layer of verification and accountability to the time-tracking process. This feature allows employees to manually sign their timesheets, confirming the accuracy of the recorded time, mileage, and breaks.
Get a proof of work with Timeero.
Your workers can also gather clients' signatures, which is particularly useful in scenarios where proof of work or an additional confirmation level is needed, ensuring that the time recorded is accurate and verifiable.
GPS Location Tracking
And then, with GPS location tracking and the Who’s Working feature, you can easily monitor employee whereabouts from the comfort of your office.
Always know where your employees are and what they're working on.
You’ll get real-time insights into where each employee is, the task they’re working on, and the time spent on each task. You can import these timesheets into your go-to accounting system for fair remuneration.
The file and photo attachment streamline communication. Employees can capture photos of receipts to help you track expenses, and managers can upload photos to help clients track project progress.
For sectors like construction, where teams and equipment are constantly moving, Timeero's GPS location tracking proves invaluable. It allows for effective management and deployment of resources, improving job site efficiency and directly influencing project costs.
Mileage Tracking
The software’s mileage tracking capability is vital for businesses with mobile employees. It accurately logs work-related mileage, which supports fair reimbursement. Moreover, when using the standard IRS mileage rates, it ensures compliance with the official guidelines.
See actual vs. suggested route
Features like Commuter Mileage and Suggested Route help reduce mileage costs and improve accountability.
Segmented Tracking
Timeero's segmented tracking feature simplifies tracking time spent at various job sites without needing multiple clock-ins and clock-outs.
This feature automatically captures every travel, and every location or job visited during a shift and logs the time spent on each, offering a granular view of how labor time is distributed.
Gain instant insight into your employees’ workday.
This gives the company precise data on how much time is spent on each job, allowing for accurate job costing and efficient resource allocation. It also ensures that the company can bill clients accurately for the time spent on their specific service, improving transparency and client satisfaction.
Job Management
Lastly, not all construction jobs have the same wage and benefits rate. Timeero lets you create a list of tasks your employees do at the job site and stipulate the wage rate for each task.
Employees can switch between tasks on the go, and Timeero attributes their hours to the tasks they’re working on to accurately compute the actual labor costs.
Moreover, Timeero’s management features will save you numerous hours traveling between job sites to check on your employees. The scheduling tool lets you create a detailed schedule, assigning each employee a shift in a specific job site.
Timeero Pricing
starts from $4 per user per month
Timeero Integrations
With great integration capabilities, Timeero seamlessly works with major accounting and payroll software. This integration is key to managing labor costs efficiently, ensuring streamlined payroll and reimbursement processes.
QuickBooks Online/Desktop
Gusto
Rippling
Viventium
Xero
Paychex
Paylocity
ADP
Integrates with construction software through Zapier
Knowify — Best Job Costing Software for Material Costs
Knowify is a comprehensive software suite with job costing, estimating, and CRM modules
Knowify is a comprehensive software suite with job costing, estimating, and CRM modules.
Knowify is a cloud-based job costing solution for electrical, plumbing, concrete, remodeling, and HVAC construction companies. Like Timeero, it boasts a reliable time-tracking module with GPS tracking and geo-fencing capability.
However, it’s not as easy for employees to switch between tasks; hence, they’re prone to work classification and wage determination errors. Additionally, it lacks facial recognition features, meaning that rogue employees could clock in on behalf of others.
The niggles aside, Knowify comes to its own when tracking material costs, thanks to a powerful purchase module. Besides material tracking costs for primary supplies, this job costing software lets you track easy-to-forget expenses such as adhesive or fasteners that employees must collect from the hardware without seeking your pre-approval.
What sets Knowify apart from the crowd is that employees only need to take pictures of receipts of things they buy on the go. Once they submit the receipts, Knowify automatically uploads them to the Knowify Cloud and assigns the costs to the job at hand for accurate material cost calculation.
Reporting is Knowify’s real forte. Knowify gives you detailed insights for accurate decision-making in the estimating, mid-project, or post-project phases. For example, it integrates purchase orders, timekeeping, and other project costs to help you track project progress against the proposed budget.
Knowify Pricing:
Starting from $186 / month + $10 / month per additional user
Knowify Integrations:
QuickBooks Accounting
QuickBooks Time
Square Payments
PaySimple
Lendflow
Paychex
Procore — Construction Management Solution
Procore has the features you need to simplify construction job management from start to finish
Procore has features that simplify construction job management from start to finish.
Procore is a cloud-based enterprise resource management (ERP) software for general contractors, owners, and subcontractors. If all you need is software to loop you in on construction project progress, Procore is worth a shot. Besides keeping you updated on where projects stand, the software enables you to create project estimates and convert them into workable budgets with a click without switching between multiple apps.
Procore’s job costing module gives Knowify a run for its money. Besides enabling you to compare job costs against budget, it lets you drill down into specific transactions to see when each penny goes. Plus, if a job is over the budget, you can use the forecasting tools to take cost control measures to compensate for overspending — a great way to maintain healthy profit margins.
Beyond the job costing module, Procore offers a reliable change order management functionality. It facilitates better communication and streamlines approvals to help your team members easily manage changes as they occur on the job site. Office teams have better visibility on changes and real-time financial data they need to prevent potential costs from slipping through the cracks.
Procore pricing:
Customizable pricing
Procore Integrations:
QuickBooks Time
Smart Building Tracker
Hypercast
GoToMeeting
DocuSign
JobTread — Best Construction Estimating Software
JobTread makes it easy to create construction estimates for your main contracts and subcontracts
JobTread makes creating construction estimates for your main contracts and subcontracts easy.
JobTread is right up your alley to improve construction estimating or streamline end-to-end construction project management. It’s a reliable software for pool builders, remodelers, home builders, general contractors, outdoor living creators, and specialty contractors who want to streamline processes, from estimating and costing to project management.
It’s possible to track labor costs with JobTread's time-tracking feature. It also lets you monitor employee location from the comfort of your office and lets employees switch between tasks for effective work classification and wage determination. Sadly, it doesn’t support geofencing or comes with face recognition.
JobTread is on our list due to its stellar construction estimating capability. Regardless of how you calculate the final price, it supports cost-plus, fixed pricing, or time-and-material pricing. You can create the estimate from scratch or use pre-built templates to expedite estimating and ensure the estimate meets projected profit goals.
The inevitability of change in the construction industry is one of the reasons many companies struggle to finish projects on budget and on time. Thankfully, JobTread's construction change orders improve the probability of staying on budget and schedule even when unexpected issues or changes occur.
JobTread pricing
starting from $119 per month for one user; additional users cost $20 per month.
JobTread Integrations
QuickBooks Accounting
Stripe
Slack
Acorn Finance
Zapier
Corecon — Construction Management Software
Corecon is a reliable field service management solution that gives you a bird’s-eye view of the construction lifecycle
Corecon is a reliable field service management solution that gives you a bird’s-eye view of the construction lifecycle.
Like Procore, Corecon is an all-in-one construction management software for custom home builders, subcontractors, heavy highway contractors, and engineering firms. The tool focuses on helping contractors win projects, connect teams to improve productivity, and maximize profits through proper job costing.
Time tracking is Corecon's major frailty because it relies on labor time cards. Since employees have to track time manually, it becomes difficult to accurately track time and attribute hours to the project an employee is working on. Manual time tracking complicates work classification and wage determination, leading to inaccurate labor cost calculation.
Corecon makes up for its lack of a tracking tool with powerful equipment cost-tracking features. If you’re struggling to keep up with equipment expense tracking needs, Corecon should be a priority. It lets you track various rates for equipment idle time, downtime, and run-time and factor in the costs in your total job cost.
You even get equipment analysis dashboards to forecast cost overruns and spotlight future savings. In addition, you get more than 50 insightful dashboards to increase visibility into cash flow. To improve your financial management, you can compare active projects against their corresponding budgets to see potential profits. Other notable business intelligence reports include projected costs at completion and work-in-progress (WIP).
Corecon pricing
Customizable pricing
Corecon Integrations
QuickBooks Time
QuickBooks Online
Xero
ExakTime
Sage Accounting
BuilderTrend — Construction Software for Better Communication
BuilderTrend has many helpful features, but the lack of time tracking functionality puts a damper on its capability
BuilderTrend has many helpful features, but the lack of time-tracking functionality damages its capability.
BuilderTrend is a cloud-based construction management software for builders and remodelers looking to improve estimating, scheduling, and client communication. It’s similar to Procore in streamlining the construction process from bid management to post-construction analysis. However, BuilderTrend comes into its element during the actual project execution.
It tracks labor costs, change orders, and purchase orders in real-time. This way, it provides real-time insights into project finances, allowing you to adjust for timely and cost-effective project completion. You can also compare estimated project costs against actual costs and allocate accurate budgets to sidestep unexpected delays.
BuildTrend is one of the best tools for communication between construction teams, subcontractors, and project owners. It lets you provide project owners with progress photos and enables them to make changes and comments to project plans. Field teams receive instant notification when you make job-specific comments so that they can effect changes instantly for quality project delivery.
BuilderTrend pricing
Starting at $499 per month
BuilderTrend Integrations
QuickBooks Online
Xero
Gusto
ProEst
Square Takeoff
Jonas Premier — Best Software for Construction Accounting
Jonas Premier is an apt construction accounting software for firms that want to control accounts receivable and accounts payable
Jonas Premier is a full-service construction project management software for electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and mechanical businesses. It streamlines the construction workflows, but it’s much more effective for teams that want to get construction accounting and compliance in order. Jonas Premier offers cloud-based and on-premise implementation, unlike other tools on our list.
It automates the construction accounting process, saving you time while improving accuracy. For example, it’s easy for accounting teams to update commitments and enter accounts payable invoices. What sets Jonas Premier is that it instantly notifies you in case an invoice exceeds the set budget. Moreover, the software simplifies inter-company transactions while eliminating costly manual data entry.
When it comes to job costing, Jonas Premier has unique features. The job dashboard is your central hub for details related to project costs, with complete billing information and contact details. The multi-level job cost breakdowns enable you to drill down into each item to understand the job cost, cost items, phase, cost type, CSI division code, and more.
Jonas Premier simplifies work classification and wage determination but still leaves room for time theft. It doesn’t support geofencing and face recognition; hence it could cause accountability issues such as buddy punching and off-site punching.
Jonas Premier pricing
Starting at $299 per user per month billed annually, plus a $15,000 implementation fee
Jonas Premier Integrations
QuickBooks Online
ProEst
Teamline
FiledPlus
Pick The Best Job Costing For Construction
There’s job costing software to meet your most immediate construction needs. As we mentioned earlier, construction costs emanate from the material, labor, equipment, and overhead costs. The software you pick should help you solve the problem your company (big or small) is struggling with.
Procore is a safe bet for large companies that are managing multiple construction companies. It helps track all projects on a centralized dashboard, drill down on construction costs, and implement budgetary controls to maximize profits. On the other hand, Knowify is ideal for small companies looking to control material and labor costs to improve profitability.
Lastly, if you're struggling to calculate labor costs accurately, Timeero will undoubtedly get you out of the quicksand. Construction firms like Crest Contracting and Atterholt Construction are reaping the low-hanging fruits of accurate time tracking with Timeero. Your construction company can benefit, too.
You don’t have to take a plunge immediately; subscribe for a 14-day free trial and take Timeero for a spin. The trial is unfettered - you’ll have a chance to test all of Timeero’s features, get to know the excellent customer support team, and see how they suit your construction company’s needs.
The best job costing software for construction is Timeero. The software is as good as it gets when it comes to tracking labor costs for hourly, contract, and salaried construction workers.
What is the construction job costing system?
The total labor cost is equal to material cost, labor costs, equipment costs, and applied overhead costs.
Which costing is used in the construction industry?
When it comes to cost in the construction industry, there are two unique accounting options: process costing and job costing. In job costing, you break down the project into specific tasks and compute the labor and material cost for each task. In process costing, you divide the project into stages and calculate the cost of each step.
Samson is a mathematician turned content marketer specializing in SaaS and Tech content. He focuses on the practical aspects of software systems while keeping abreast of the industry’s cutting-edge principles to create informative and engaging content. When he’s not writing, Samson spends time playing or watching soccer.
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