Challenge

A growing fabrication shop in North Texas was struggling with:

• Jobs running over budget with no early warning
• Unclear profitability per project
• Manual time tracking leading to billing errors
• No visibility into which jobs tied up resources longest

Solution

We implemented a lightweight job tracking and costing system that:

1. Captured labor hours automatically via simple check-in/check-out
2. Tracked material costs per job with real-time updates
3. Calculated margins on active and completed jobs
4. Flagged over-budget jobs before they spiraled

Outcome

• 20% improvement in margin visibility
• Reduced billing errors by catching time entry mistakes early
• Better resource allocation based on actual vs. estimated hours
• Owner now reviews job profitability weekly instead of quarterly

Key Takeaway

Profitability isn’t just revenue minus costs—it’s knowing which jobs make money and why. Real-time job costing turns reactive firefighting into proactive management.