Job Costing Software for Canadian Contractors

Job costing tracks what each job actually costs by coding labour, materials, plant and subcontractor spend to the job and cost code that caused it, as the cost is incurred. Compared against the budget the winning estimate created, it shows the true position per job while the work is still running, not after final billing.

The winning estimate becomes the cost-coded job budget, and from that point every timesheet, purchase order, subcontract and invoice lands on its cost code. Committed cost posts when an order is raised, actuals post when invoices are matched, and WIP reporting shows budget, committed, actual and forecast together per job and across the portfolio.

Site timesheets carry cost rates, so recorded hours become labour cost on the right job and cost code the day they are worked rather than when payroll closes the month. Expenses and plant time are recorded with the same work.

Committed cost is money you have promised: purchase orders and subcontract packages post to the job the moment they are raised. Actual cost is money invoiced against those commitments. Archdesk keeps both visible per cost code, so a job’s true position is known months before the invoices arrive.

Yes. Every job closes with a complete actual-cost record per cost code, so estimators price the next bid from what jobs really cost. Because the estimate, the budget and the actuals share the same cost codes, the comparison needs no re-keying.

In Canadian practice, paying a subcontractor runs on the progress draw cycle under provincial lien legislation: holdback is retained and released on statutory timelines, often with lien waivers exchanged along the way. Documents, approvals and payment records live on the same job record in Archdesk, so the paper trail sits with the job cost numbers.

Holdback is tracked per subcontract alongside the job cost record, so balances and release timing stay visible next to the costs they belong to. Under Canadian construction contracts the holdback follows the job through to release, and here it follows it in the same numbers rather than a side spreadsheet.

Yes. WIP reporting is produced from the same live commitment, cost and billing records job costing runs on, per job and across the portfolio, so over- and under-billing positions read from current numbers.

Yes. Archdesk integrates with QuickBooks Online, so job cost records and the ledger stay in step without double entry and finance keeps its own system.

Progress draws sit on the same project records as commitments and costs, so drawn, billed and actual cost positions read together per job, from the first draw to the final one.