QuickBooks
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Job Costing in QuickBooks Online: How To Do It
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Job costing in QuickBooks Online means tracking income and expenses by job (or project), then comparing actuals to estimates so you know which jobs are profitable. QBO is not a full construction ERP, but contractors use Customers/sub-customers, Projects, Products & Services, Classes, and Locations to run job costing in QuickBooks Online day to day.
This guide covers what job costing in QuickBooks Online is, why it matters for construction, and how to do job costing in QuickBooks Online step by step—plus where LiveFlow and Flow help when you need live job reports, WIP, or multi-entity views beyond native QBO.
What is job costing in QuickBooks Online?
Job costing is allocating labor, materials, equipment, and subcontractor costs to a specific job and comparing those costs to the estimate and billings. In QuickBooks Online, a “job” is usually a customer, a sub-customer under a parent customer, or a Project that groups transactions for that work.
Done well, job costing in QuickBooks Online answers: What did this job cost? What did we bill? Are we over or under budget? For percentage-of-completion work, pair job totals with a WIP schedule in QuickBooks Online so earned revenue stays aligned with costs.
Why job costing in QuickBooks Online matters for contractors
Clean job costing is the foundation—use the list below to tighten visibility.
See labor, materials, and overhead by job—not only company-wide P&L.
Spot overruns early and tighten estimates on the next bid.
Support draw requests, change orders, and lender or bonding conversations with job-level numbers.
Feed accurate inputs into project P&L and a construction profit and loss template.
How to do job costing in QuickBooks Online (step by step)
Follow the points below so the workflow stays clear and audit-ready.
Turn on expense tracking by customer. In Company Settings (Account and settings → Expenses), enable tracking expenses and items by customer so every bill, check, and expense can land on a job.
Set up jobs as customers, sub-customers, or Projects. Create a parent customer for the client, then a sub-customer (or Project) per job. Bill and cost to the job record—not only the parent—so reports stay clean.
Configure Products & Services for cost codes. Map labor, materials, equipment, and subcontract lines so purchases and invoices hit the right income and COGS accounts by job.
Use Classes and Locations when you need another cut. Classes can represent cost types or divisions; Locations can represent jobs or sites when that fits your chart of accounts better than sub-customers alone.
Create estimates, convert to invoices, and post costs to the same job. Approve the estimate, convert to an invoice when you bill, and code AP, payroll, and expenses to the same job so estimate vs. actual is meaningful.
Run job profitability reports. Use Profit and Loss by Customer, Estimates vs. Actuals, and Project reports (where available) to review margin by job. Specialty trades often need clearer cost-vs-estimate views—see job costing reporting for specialty trade contractors.
Construction job costing methods in QuickBooks Online
Contractors typically combine a few QBO patterns:
Sub-customer as job — Simple, works on most plans, and supports P&L by customer/job.
Projects — Groups estimates, invoices, expenses, and time under one project hub (plan-dependent).
Classes and locations — Extra reporting dimensions when one customer has many sites or when you allocate overhead by division.
Native QBO job costing has limits for multi-entity GCs, automated WIP, and live spreadsheet reporting. LiveFlow syncs QBO to Sheets/Excel for live job and WIP views; Flow is LiveFlow’s AI-native ERP path when you’ve outgrown QBO for consolidation and job costing together. Explore more on our construction industry page.
FAQs: job costing in QuickBooks Online
Quick answers to the questions contractors ask most about this topic.
Is job costing available in QuickBooks Online?
Yes. QuickBooks Online supports job costing through customers/sub-customers, Projects, Products & Services, and optional Classes/Locations—even though it is not a dedicated construction job-cost ERP. Contractors use the same job totals to calculate over- and under-billing.
How do I create a job cost in QuickBooks Online?
Enable customer tracking on expenses, create a job (sub-customer or Project), set up Products & Services, then post estimates, invoices, and costs to that job. Review Profit and Loss by Customer or Project reports for actual vs. estimate.
Can you add jobs in QuickBooks Online?
Yes. Add a sub-customer under the client customer, or create a Project and assign transactions to it. Keep naming consistent (job number + short name) so reports stay readable.
How do I track labor costs in QuickBooks Online?
Track labor with service items or payroll items coded to the job, plus time activities where your plan supports them. Allocate burden consistently so job margin isn’t understated.
Related reading
Here’s what to know about Related reading.
Next steps
Start with clean job records and consistent coding in QuickBooks Online. When you need live job P&L, WIP, or multi-company views without rebuilding spreadsheets every month, use LiveFlow on top of QBO—or evaluate Flow when you’re ready for native consolidation and job costing in one system.
Supercharge your financial reporting