Bookkeeping & Payroll

Job Costing for Service Businesses

Know what the work takes before pricing the next job.

Job costing connects estimated labor and materials with the costs recorded for a service or project. We define allocation assumptions, organize the supporting records and set a review routine that helps owners compare planned work with actual effort and expense.

Discuss this serviceExplore the scopeExplore Strategy & Business Operations

Compare the plan with the recorded work.

Cost sources and allocation choices remain visible in each review.

  1. Scope and estimate
  2. Record labor and materials
  3. Apply agreed allocations
  4. Review plan and actuals

Assumptions and open items stay attached to the comparison.

Washington Contractor Network home page with service and location search for Washington contractorsWashington Contractor Network
William Smith's hand-coloured 1816 sketch of the succession of strata, from the granite of Snowdon to the chalk of the Thames valley
Above, Washington Contractor Network. Below, William Smith, Sketch of the Succession of Strata and their relative Altitudes, 1816. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Unearth at the physical layer.

Job Costing & Project Margins works in the physical layer. Strata Modus raises the information floor, from the physical layer to the digital surface.

  1. Convert
    The digital surface

    Where buyers search, ask AI and decide who to call: your website, Google, AI answers and campaigns.

    Marketing & AdvertisingWeb Design, Development & CRO
  2. Connect
    The signal layer

    How an inquiry reaches a person: AI voice, missed-call text back, intake, CRM and follow-up.

    AI & Business Automation
  3. Build
    The operating structure

    The systems the work runs on: strategy, software, technology and the integrations between them.

    Strategy & Fractional LeadershipCustom Software & IntegrationsTechnology Consulting
  4. Unearth
    The physical layer

    The work itself: crews, jobs, records, compliance and the numbers behind them.

    Compliance & Operational ReadinessBookkeeping & Payroll

The person accountable for the work

Led by Allana Steele.

Portrait of Allana Steele wearing a navy dress and pearl necklace.

Allana Steele, MBA

Director of Compliance & Automation Controls

Allana brings experience in internal controls, data governance and reporting automation at J.P. Morgan Chase, alongside public-sector risk and compliance work. She applies that background to organized records, documented approvals and reliable bookkeeping and payroll routines for your business.

Your consultation defines the accounts, workforce, systems and support you need. We agree on delivery responsibilities, review dates and pricing before work begins.

Meet Allana and explore her experience ↗
Discuss your financial operations ↗

The business opportunity

Job Costing & Project Margins,
with a clear purpose.

An invoice may show revenue while labor, materials and other costs sit in different records. Without an agreed way to assign those costs, a business can have trouble seeing which jobs used more time or expense than planned.

See which work earns its margin, where estimates slip and what to change before the next quote. We connect project costs with pricing and scope decisions so you can pursue more of the work that pays.

Choose the work
worth pursuing.

A full calendar can still leave you stretched thin. Travel between projects, repeated setup and time spent chasing details can eat into the margin on work that looked worthwhile. Some work makes better use of your team’s strengths. Some customers value your expertise more. Some locations let you spend more of the day working and less of it driving.

Job costing and profitability reporting help you see which work is worth pursuing. Business Intelligence & Dashboards connects those numbers with the decisions behind your next move.

Build growth you keep.

Start with our infrastructure. Strengthen the assets in your business.

Strata tools & networks
Your retained assets

Your financial records, reporting and documented routines.

See the ownership pathway

Shared Strata networks remain Strata-owned. Your commissioned assets and access are documented in the scope.

The engagement

What we build
with your business.

A defined scope gives your team a clear picture of the work and what it needs to operate.

01

Costing model

Agree on the labor, materials and other cost categories that matter for the services or projects in scope.

02

Allocation assumptions

Document how labor time, shared costs and incomplete records are handled in each comparison.

03

Job and margin view

Prepare a repeatable report that compares planned and recorded costs against service or project revenue.

04

Review and correction workflow

Set owners for missing cost data, unusual variances and updates to the costing method.

From first conversation to working system

How the work moves.

  1. 01

    Choose the work to compare

    Select representative services or projects and review how they are currently estimated and recorded.

  2. 02

    Map cost sources

    Identify time, payroll, material and other records, along with gaps that affect the comparison.

  3. 03

    Agree on allocation rules

    Set and document the assumptions before building the report.

  4. 04

    Review the results

    Walk through exceptions and decide who maintains the records and costing method.

Before we begin

Useful questions.

We’ll refine the details around your business in the first conversation.

How do you assign labor to a job?

We use the time and payroll records available and agree on an allocation method with you. The report documents that method and identifies estimates or missing information.

Does job costing replace bookkeeping?

No. Job costing organizes records for service or project comparisons and works alongside your bookkeeping process. It does not replace account reconciliations or professional accounting advice.

Can it show which services have better margins?

It can compare recorded revenue and costs when the source data and allocation assumptions support that view. Business Intelligence can bring the agreed measures into a wider operating report.

How is the work scoped and priced?

We set scope after consultation based on service lines, cost sources, data cleanup, reporting detail and the implementation or ongoing help you need.

Make the next decision with context

From the service to your business decision.

Explore the business growth FAQ ↗

Connected services

The next layer.

Explore this layer
01

Business Intelligence & Dashboards

Business intelligence gives owners a working view of sales, delivery, cash flow and margin signals. We agree on useful measures, connect available records, then configure a reporting tool or build a focused view and help your team use it.

Explore the service
02

CRM & Sales Operations

CRM and sales operations organize inquiries from first contact through qualification, proposal, follow-up and handoff. We configure an agreed system or build a focused tool when the workflow calls for it, then help staff run the process with people owning customer decisions and exceptions.

Explore the service
03

Bookkeeping

Our small business bookkeeping services keep transactions, reconciliations and monthly reports organized. Led by Allana Steele, we help service-business owners spend less time chasing receipts and get a clearer view of income, expenses and outstanding payments.

Explore the service
04

Payroll Services

Our payroll services help small businesses organize employee records, approved hours and recurring pay runs. Led by Allana Steele, we coordinate payroll processing through your agreed provider, with clear approvals, exception handling and reporting back to your books.

Explore the service
05

Fractional COO

Fractional COO support helps service-business owners free time for customers and key decisions by putting operating priorities into a steady rhythm. We strengthen coordination and follow-through across inquiry response, delivery and closeout.

Explore the service

Meet the people.
Define the work.

Consultation-scoped pricing

This work is scoped separately after consultation. Your proposal defines implementation, responsibilities and any ongoing support.

Read the pricing and scope termsDiscuss the work for your business

Start with your business

Put Job Costing & Project Margins to work.

Tell us what needs to improve and what you use today. We can help plan the change, build the solution and provide ongoing support, with responsibilities and pricing agreed in your proposal.

Let’s talk