Jobber, a Canadian provider of operations management software for home service businesses, announced on June 15 a new job-cost feature for home service businesses — like roofing contractors — to more accurately track and understand job costs and profit margins. 

The company says its new offering delivers increased insight into the labor, material, and miscellaneous expenses associated with a job, allowing principals and accounting departments to understand each job’s actual profitability better. 

"With material and labor costs rising, and pricing pressure increasing from homeowners, it's easy for small businesses to get into situations where jobs become unprofitable," said Sam Pillar, CEO & co-founder of Jobber. "Unknowingly taking a loss on a job due to incorrect costing can have a negative impact on a business; Jobber's new job costing feature simplifies the tracking of input costs and profitability… .” 

In a news release, Jobber said the feature helps ensure that one-off jobs, such as roofing repairs, are profitable by tracking costs and calculating profit margins in real-time, directly on the job page. Service pros can also view these trends in a report to compare profitability for different jobs and get insights to improve future pricing, estimation, and resource allocation. 

The profitability of each job is calculated using data including:

• Timesheets that will factor in the hourly cost of each employee and their time worked on a job
• Line items like materials used on the job, including unit cost and price
• Expenses

"Jobber has done a great job streamlining and organizing my business, and now with the new job costing feature, it has taken our efficiency to the next level," said Scott Geddis, owner of M&M Skylights based in Newton, New Hampshire. 

"We've increased our revenue by 15% to 20% because I can look at the data and determine in real-time what jobs were most profitable, allowing me to price future jobs more accurately,” Geddis said. “The tool is simple to use and helps to ensure we're running a profitable business so we can continue growing and rewarding our staff for their hard work."

The job costing tool joins a suite of other Jobber integrations that may help service pros win more work and generate more revenue. The company says its integration with Thumbtack, for example, helps service pros instantly connect with new customers and book more profitable jobs faster.

For more information, visit jobber.com.