Job Costing Estimate

The Job Costing form is used to enter the estimated costs expected for the Job.  These estimated amounts are used to compare to the actual costs as they are posted to the Job.

The Job Costing form is divided into three columns; Estimated Costs, Actual Costs and WIP.  Part of the initial Job data entry is to enter the estimated costs for the job.  As actual costs are incurred and posted to the Job, these amounts are displayed in the WIP column if your company is using Work in Process accounts or in the Actual Costs column if not using WIP.

Users with access to the Job Costing form may view the Job Costs any time while the job is in progress to see how the job is performing compared to the estimated costs.

The estimated costs entered by the User are divided into five elements; Parts, Labor, Overhead, Other and Commissions.  Auto calculate buttons are available for the Parts, Labor and Commission fields.  

Once an Invoice has been created for the Job, the Estimated Costs column will be locked down and no modifications may be made.
Parts
When clicking the Calculate Cost Estimate button to the right of the Parts field, the application will multiply the part quantity times the standard cost of the part (if using standard costing) or the current average cost of the part (if using average costing) to arrive at estimated parts cost for the Job.  If you do not want the application to auto-calc the estimated parts cost, you may manually type in the appropriate value into this field.
Labor
There are two Calculate Cost Estimate buttons to the right of the Labor field.  When the   button is clicked, the application will multiply the total labor units entered on Install Charge Lines and any labor units from the Materials list times the estimated labor units factor on the Job Type setup to arrive at a total estimated labor dollars for the Job.  If you do not want the application to auto-calc the estimated labor cost, you may manually type in the appropriate value into this field.
Clicking the   button will open the Job Labor Tasks form.  This form is used to breakdown the estimated labor costs into separate Labor Task lines.  If this form is setup, your company will be able to compare the estimated costs by labor type to the actual costs entered on Labor Timesheets.

Commissions
When clicking the button to the right of the Commissions field, the application will automatically calculate the estimated commissions based on the commission setup assigned to the Job Type for the Salesperson selected on the Job Work Order form.  Commissions may be manually manipulated by using the Commissions form (accessed from the Commissions button on the Job Toolbar); any amounts entered on the Commissions form will automatically update the Estimated Commission amount field of the Job Costing form.

If you will be manipulating or adding additional commissions, use the data entry process for the Job Commissions form.

Overhead
If your company is automatically applying Overhead, if the auto calc button is clicked for the Labor field, the Overhead estimate will automatically fill in.
Other
The Other field is used to enter the total of any miscellaneous job expenses such as permits/fees, equipment rentals, subcontract labor, etc.
You may manually type in estimates or use the auto calc buttons.

Click on the link for the next data entry form, Job Commissions.