Job costing Builder and up
See what the job costs while you can still change it.
Budget by cost code, subcontracts and purchase orders as commitments, change orders from potential to approved, and actual costs pulled from your accounting software. One forecast the PM and the accountant both trust.
| Cost code | Budget | Committed | Actual | Pending CO | Projected | Variance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 03-300 Cast-in-place concrete | 286,000 | 271,500 | 198,240 | 0 | 279,800 | +6,200 |
| 05-120 Structural steel | 412,000 | 389,400 | 301,120 | 4,850 | 418,900 | -6,900 |
| 06-100 Rough carpentry | 94,500 | 88,000 | 41,300 | 0 | 92,100 | +2,400 |
| 09-250 Gypsum board | 168,000 | Not bought | 0 | 0 | 168,000 | 0 |
| 22-000 Plumbing | 236,000 | 228,700 | 96,400 | 2,100 | 237,600 | -1,600 |
| Job total | 1,196,500 | 977,600 | 637,060 | 6,950 | 1,196,400 | +100 |
Sample job. Variance = budget minus projected. Red means the code is trending over.
Sample job, built in HTML for this page.
Who does what
Useful on the deck and at the desk.
In the field
- Log quantities and hours against a cost code from the daily log
- Flag extra work with a photo so it becomes a change event, not a memory
- See approved change orders before doing the work
In the office
- Budget vs actual vs committed, by cost code, updated every sync
- Change orders from potential to pending to approved, with the RFI they came from
- Cost-to-complete forecasts the PM updates and the accountant can see
What it does
Job costing, in detail.
- 01Commitments count
- Subcontracts and purchase orders show up as committed cost the day they are signed, not the day the first invoice lands.
- 02Change orders with a trail
- A potential change links to the RFI, the photos and the daily log that started it. Approval moves it into the budget with one click.
- 03Two-way accounting sync
- Cost codes, vendors and commitments go to accounting. Actual costs come back. Nobody keys the same invoice twice.
- 04Forecasts on a schedule
- PMs update cost to complete monthly. Purlin keeps every version, so you can see how the forecast moved and why.
Potential
3
$11,400
Pending
2
$6,950
Approved
9
$48,320
Rework beam pocket at grid C/4
- Daily log flagged the delay Oct 9
- RFI-042 sent to the architect Oct 9
- Steel sub price attached to 05-120 Oct 10
How it works
Four steps, start to finish.
-
STEP 1
Load the budget
Import your estimate as a spreadsheet, mapped to your cost codes.
-
STEP 2
Add commitments
Award subcontracts and POs. Bid leveling hands awarded scope straight in.
-
STEP 3
Track changes
Potential changes open from RFIs and field flags, then move through approval.
-
STEP 4
Sync and forecast
Actuals come in from accounting. The PM updates cost to complete.
Limits
What it does not do.
- Purlin is not your accounting system. Bills get paid and payroll gets run in your accounting software. Purlin shows those costs to the project team by cost code.
- Desktop accounting suites need a small connector app on a computer that stays on. Cloud accounting connects directly.
- Certified payroll and lien waiver rules vary by state. Purlin stores the documents; your accounting and legal teams own the rules.
Questions
Which accounting software does Purlin sync with?
Cloud small-business accounting tools connect directly. Desktop and hosted construction accounting suites connect through a small connector app. Ask us about yours on the demo and we will tell you plainly how well it works.
How often does it sync?
Cloud accounting syncs every 15 minutes. The desktop connector syncs nightly and whenever someone presses Sync now.
Linked modules
Bring one real job to the demo.
Thirty minutes with a former PM or superintendent. We load one of your RFIs and one of your drawings, and show you what your field crew would see tomorrow morning.
- Plans from $199 / month
- Users Unlimited, every plan
- Trial 14 days, no card
- Leaving Export everything, any time