You finish the job. You close out the paperwork. And then you see the final job cost report.
And suddenly, it’s clear:
Labor ran over by $28,000
Two change orders were never billed
Materials got delivered twice
The project made far less than expected—or worse, lost money
Sound familiar?
For too many general contractors, job costing is a postmortem—not a management tool. By the time you know where the budget actually landed, it’s too late to fix it.
Here’s the truth: If you’re not tracking job costs in real time, you’re not in control.
That’s not a knock—it’s reality. The problem usually isn’t the people. It’s the lag between the field and the office. Timecards come in late. Invoices get buried. Field updates don’t make it to the system until days (or weeks) later.
But the good news? You don’t need a massive system overhaul to fix it.
You just need real-time job costing—powered by accurate, daily field data that syncs directly into your ERP.
In this article, we’ll show:
Why real-time job costing isn’t just “nice to have”—it’s essential
What it looks like in practice (and how to get there)
How GCs like you are using tools like hh2 to stay ahead of budget risks before they hit
Let’s get into it.
Most contractors don’t realize they’re flying blind—until the final numbers come in. And by then, the damage is already done.
Delayed job costing doesn’t just mean outdated numbers. It means missed decisions, avoidable overruns, and lost profit.
Let’s break it down.
If labor hours are submitted weekly (or worse, at the end of the job), how can you adjust crew size, cost codes, or billing strategy in real time?
Result:
Overruns aren’t spotted until it’s too late
Change orders slip through the cracks
You lose the window to correct—and protect—your margin
Timecards get re-entered manually. Invoices aren’t coded for a week. Daily logs are inconsistent. By the time accounting runs the report, it’s a snapshot of the past—not a tool for managing today.
Result:
PMs make critical decisions with bad or outdated information
Finance has to wait on ops (and ops is waiting on paperwork)
You miss opportunities to bill faster, adjust faster, and forecast better
Without real-time job costing, you’re relying on gut checks and memory. And in construction, “surprise costs” are rarely small ones.
Result:
Missed billing opportunities
Untracked change orders
Unexpected hits to profit at closeout
Executives want to know how jobs are performing. Owners expect budget updates. But when the field and office aren’t in sync, the reports aren’t accurate—and that erodes confidence.
Result:
More time spent explaining numbers
Less time spent managing risk
Pressure from stakeholders who feel left in the dark
Let’s clear something up: real-time job costing doesn’t mean obsessing over numbers every hour. It means knowing—daily—how your job is performing, with no guesswork, no surprises, and no waiting for end-of-week reports.
It’s not complicated. It just requires the right information flowing at the right time—from the field, through your workflows, and into your ERP.
Here’s what that looks like in real life:
Using mobile tools like hh2 Remote Payroll, foremen or individual crew members log their hours each day, tied directly to specific cost codes and activities.
Why it works:
Labor costs are always up to date
Supervisors catch inefficiencies early
Payroll is faster, with fewer errors
Supers fill out quick, structured daily logs—production, weather, photos, notes. PMs and accounting don’t have to guess where things stand.
Why it works:
Visibility into what’s happening now, not last week
Improved communication across teams
Delays or scope changes flagged early
AP teams use hh2 Document Flow to route invoices to the right approver. Once approved, the cost is tagged to the right job and cost code—automatically.
Why it works:
No backlog of unapproved costs
Job budgets stay accurate and current
Easier forecasting for cash flow and billing
All that data—time, materials, invoices, field activity—flows directly into your accounting system (Sage 300 CRE, Vista, Foundation, etc.) with no double entry.
Why it works:
Job cost reports are live and actionable
Executives, PMs, and finance work from the same numbers
You manage jobs proactively, not reactively
With daily job cost updates, your team can catch scope creep, underbilling, or productivity slippage before it cuts into profit.
Why it works:
Real-time data = real-time decisions
More control, less chaos
Fewer unpleasant surprises at closeout
Some jobs feel like they go smoothly. No major delays. Crews stay busy. The client’s happy.
But then the final job cost report lands… and the numbers don’t match the story.
The truth? “On schedule” doesn’t always mean “on budget.”
And without real-time data, you may not notice a slow margin leak until it’s too late to patch it.
Maybe a crew ran a few hours heavy each day. Maybe a material invoice was miscoded. Maybe a change order was never submitted. Individually, it’s small. But across weeks or months? It adds up.
Without real-time visibility:
These issues stay hidden
You miss the opportunity to course-correct
You close out a job that should’ve been more profitable
Even your best teams can run hot if they’re moving too fast to document time properly or communicate field changes. And when job costing is delayed, those cost overruns don’t surface until the budget’s already blown.
You’re not managing—you're reacting.
Without daily insight into labor, materials, and production, you lose the ability to:
Reallocate resources midstream
Adjust timelines to match cost trends
Spot scope creep before it turns into margin bleed
Closing out a project shouldn’t feel like an audit. It should feel like confirming what you already know.
But if your data is delayed, incomplete, or inaccurate, closeout becomes an expensive guessing game.
Real-time job costing makes closeout a non-event—not a scramble.
Real-time job costing doesn’t happen just because you want it—it happens when your field data flows cleanly, consistently, and directly into your ERP.
That’s exactly what hh2 is built for.
hh2 connects your jobsite and back office so that time, costs, and production data move automatically—without needing more admin, more apps, or more headaches.
Here’s how hh2 makes real-time job costing possible (and easy):
Crews or foremen log time from their phones. Hours are tagged by cost code and job, approved on the spot, and synced straight into your payroll and job cost reports.
Why it matters:
No more delayed or inaccurate timecards
Job cost reports update daily
Works for union, prevailing wage, and certified payroll too
Invoices are uploaded, routed, approved, and coded digitally. You always know which costs have hit your jobs—no waiting, no re-entry.
Why it matters:
PMs and AP stay aligned
Every cost is tracked to the right job in real time
ERP sync keeps reports clean and current
👉 Automate AP with hh2 Document Flow
Superintendents submit quick daily logs—crew count, weather, delays, notes, photos—right from the jobsite. Data flows instantly to PMs and finance.
Why it matters:
See what’s happening before it becomes a problem
Keep project managers ahead of cost and production trends
Faster decisions = tighter control
👉 Get the most out of field reporting
hh2 connects directly to your ERP to eliminate double entry, batch uploads, or “we’ll catch it later” data gaps.
Why it matters:
Your job cost report is always up to date
Finance and field work from the same numbers
Everyone sees what’s happening—while it’s still happening
👉 See all supported ERP integrations
If you’re still waiting days—or weeks—for job cost updates, you’re managing in the dark.
And in today’s fast-paced construction environment, that’s not just risky—it’s expensive.
Real-time job costing doesn’t require a new ERP.
It doesn’t require retraining your crews.
It just requires smarter tools that make field-to-office communication seamless.
hh2 gives you:
✅ Daily labor cost visibility
✅ Synced, coded invoices in real time
✅ Live field reporting that keeps PMs ahead of problems
✅ Clean, automated ERP integration—no re-entry, no delays
You don’t need more spreadsheets. You need better signals—and a system that talks to itself.
👉 Talk to hh2
👉 Request a Free Demo
Let’s stop guessing. Let’s start managing—job by job, day by day.
Real-time job costing means having live visibility into how labor, materials, and equipment are impacting a job’s budget—day by day. It relies on field data (like timecards and invoices) flowing immediately into your ERP or job cost report, so you can make decisions before issues grow.
Because construction margins are thin and problems escalate fast. If you’re waiting until the end of the week—or the end of the job—to see your numbers, you’ve already lost time and possibly profit. Real-time job costing lets you adjust labor, catch overruns, and spot delays early.
hh2 captures labor data, field reports, and invoice approvals from the field and syncs them directly to your ERP (like Sage 300, Vista, or Foundation). This provides up-to-date job cost reports without manual re-entry or delayed batch uploads.
No. hh2 integrates with your existing ERP system. Whether you use Sage 100/300 CRE, Vista, or Foundation, hh2 acts as a bridge—streamlining field data and making your current platform smarter and more responsive.
Yes—if it’s simple. hh2 was designed for the field first. Tools like Remote Payroll and mobile daily reports are easy to use, require minimal training, and work offline. That means your crews stay focused on building—not data entry.
At minimum:
Daily labor hours by cost code
Timely invoice approvals
Accurate field updates on production or delays
hh2 helps automate and standardize this input so it flows naturally with your daily operations.
No. It’s especially valuable for small and mid-sized GCs managing multiple projects with lean teams. Real-time insights help you stay agile, competitive, and profitable—without needing to scale your back office.