Estimate, committed, actual
The chips at the top of the Coststab read left to right like the story of the job: what it costs you, what you sold it for, what you've promised suppliers, and what has actually gone out.
Base cost & Sell — the promise you priced
Your private build-up from the price book, plus your markup. Base cost is what the work costs you; Sell (quoted) is what the customer is paying. The gap between them is your margin, and the customer never sees either number — they only ever see the quote.
The estimate freezes when the quote is accepted
The moment the customer accepts, the estimate locks as the baseline. Everything that follows is measured against what you actually sold, so later edits can't quietly move the goalposts.
Committed — ordered, not yet billed
Sent purchase orders. The boiler's ordered and the money is spoken for, even though no bill exists yet — without this column a job looks healthier than it is for weeks at a time.
Spent — money that’s actually gone
Receipts, supplier bills, mileage and labour logged against the job. Add them in the Expensesledger at the bottom of the tab — it's built for speed: type, press Enter, next.
Read it by category
The table lines up every category — Materials, Labour, Plant, Subcontract — with its cost, markup, sell, committed and spent side by side. Open a row and you get the priced lines and the logged expenses behind the number, so “why is materials over?” has an answer in two clicks.
| Category | Cost | Markup | Sell | Committed | Spent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Materials | £1,900 | 30% | £2,470 | £1,400 | £248 |
| Labour | £1,100 | 30% | £1,430 | — | £124 |
One pound, one column
Money moves between columns, it's never counted twice. Receive a purchase order and its value converts from committed to spent, penny for penny — so the numbers always add up.
More in Job costing
- Purchase orders — Record what you have ordered the moment you order it, not when the bill lands.
- Expenses — Log receipts, mileage and labour against a job, a project or the business itself.
- Suppliers — The merchants you buy from, and how every pound rolls up against their name.
See what else Job costing can do, or browse all guides. Still stuck? Email support@jobivo.co.uk.