Job Costing vs. Actual Template

Job Estimate vs. Actual Tracker

Did the job perform the way you estimated it would?

Winning the job is only the beginning. Once the work starts, labor hours change, material costs fluctuate, additional expenses appear, and actual revenue may differ from the original estimate.

The Job Estimate vs. Actual Tracker helps you compare what you expected a job to cost with what it actually cost—so you can see where your estimates were accurate, where costs changed, and how those differences affected your profit.

Compare Estimate vs. Actual

For each job, enter your original estimates for:

• Labor hours
• Labor cost
• Material cost
• Other job costs
• Revenue

Then update the spreadsheet with your actual:

• Labor hours
• Labor cost
• Material cost
• Other costs
• Revenue

The spreadsheet automatically calculates the differences.

Automatically Calculate Job Performance

For every job, the tracker calculates:

✓ Estimated total cost
✓ Actual total cost
✓ Cost variance
✓ Estimated gross profit
✓ Estimated gross profit percentage
✓ Actual gross profit
✓ Actual gross profit percentage
✓ Profit variance

This allows you to quickly see whether a job came in under or over the original estimate and what that difference did to your profitability.

Job Performance Dashboard

The built-in dashboard gives you an at-a-glance view across all jobs, including:

• Total number of jobs
• Estimated revenue
• Actual revenue
• Estimated costs
• Actual costs
• Estimated gross profit
• Actual gross profit
• Actual gross profit percentage
• Total cost variance
• Total profit variance

Track Job Status

Organize projects by status:

Not Started
In Progress
On Hold
Complete

The dashboard automatically summarizes how many jobs are currently in each stage.

Improve Future Estimates

This tracker isn't just about knowing whether you made money.

Comparing estimates to actual results can help you identify patterns that improve future estimating.

Were labor hours consistently underestimated?

Did material costs run higher than expected?

Were "other" project expenses being missed during estimating?

Did actual revenue change?

Was your expected gross margin realistic?

The more completed jobs you analyze, the more useful your historical information can become when preparing future estimates.

Great For:

Contractors • Construction companies • Restoration businesses • Skilled trades • Service companies • Project-based businesses • Consultants • Small business owners • Estimators • Bookkeepers

What's Included

3 Excel worksheets:

✓ Job Performance Dashboard
✓ Job Estimate vs. Actual Tracker
✓ Setup & Quick Start Guide

Sample job information is included to demonstrate how the spreadsheet works and can be replaced with your own projects.

Digital Product

This is a downloadable Microsoft Excel workbook with built-in formulas and automated calculations. No physical product will be shipped.

Add additional jobs as needed and use the workbook as an ongoing tool for reviewing estimating accuracy and project profitability.

Estimate it. Track it. Compare the results. Improve the next job.

Important: This spreadsheet is provided as a bookkeeping and business-management tool. Results depend on the information entered by the user and do not constitute accounting, tax, legal, or financial advice.