We get many wonderful comments from our readers and followers, and we appreciate every single one of them, but I couldn’t resist posting this one simply because I never imagined the power one simple phrase could have on a business struggling to understand how to do job costing in QuickBooks.  Luckily, James started his email with the permission for me to post it:

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(feel free to post this…)

Ruth, thanks a million for your blog. I have pretty significant accounting experience (MBA and IT analyst roles) but, I struggled with QuickBooks job costing for a construction company I purchased two years ago. Despite my efforts, I could not get QuickBooks to provide me with a complete picture of my jobs and P&L.

I read many of your past posts, especially the ones labeled “for Contractors”. They all helped, but there was one offhanded remark that connected EVERYTHING for me:

 In the post: How to Work with Items in QuickBooks Contractors

 “Forget that the Expense tab even exists.”  That little bit of magic connected EVERYTHING I was trying to accomplish in QuickBooks. After realizing this was how QuickBooks works I:

• Added the correct Items to track and control my business inputs 
• Whipped my accounts into shape, including tax line mapping
• And a bonus: Even added some non-posting items (business metrics) to track via time sheets! I just enter hours that I translate down the line to quantities. Not perfect, but it works w/out involving too many steps/external spreadsheets.  

Now I’ve got Job cost information and P&L information in sync and giving me the information to control and analyze my business. 

• Item and Job analysis gives me detailed information for short-term analysis and control
• P&L reporting gives my summary info for external/tax reporting
• And they (now) tie together
  

Now that I’ve got it working and know what I want to see, I can now envision the time when I’ll outsource (or hire) my bookkeeping, freeing me up for better opportunities. (i.e. taking my customers to lunch!).

  Thanks again,

-Jamie Donovan, MBA

H&H Fireproofing, Inc.

Written by +Ruth Perryman, CMA, CFE, CFM, MBA

Ruth is the president of The QB Specialists, an Intuit Premier Reseller that offers huge savings and expert advice on QuickBooks POS and QuickBooks Enterprise. She is an Advanced Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and a member of Intuit’s Trainer/Writer Network. She is also certified in QuickBooks POS and QuickBooks Enterprise and has provided expert QuickBooks help to thousands of businesses all over the world since 1996.

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