How to Use QuickBooks for Job Costing: Working with Estimates

Many businesses think estimating is useful to only construction companies. But any company that produces estimates, quotes, bids, and proposals can use QuickBooks to get a handle on their job costing. The accuracy of your estimating process can make or break your project success. It is critical because if your estimate is too high you might lose the job, while estimates that are too low can reduce your profits or even make you lose money on a job.

However, you can reduce your risk and increase profits by using QuickBooks for estimating. Even if you don't provide your clients with estimates, you need to enter them in order to get the most out of the QuickBooks job costing reports. These reports, especially the Job Estimates vs. Actuals reports, are the key to making sure your existing job budgets are on track. They are also important when evaluating the accuracy of your estimates so you can make adjustments for future projects. They are also required if you want to do progress invoicing.

This is the second of a four-part series about how to use QuickBooks for job costing. Intuit, the creators of QuickBooks, has also asked me to present a series of free Small Business Town Hall covering the same topics every Tuesday this month. This is your chance to get your job costing questions answered live. You can get more information here: