Article · Project costing
Project Costing for Engineering Companies and System Integrators
· RoboCloud
Many engineering companies only learn which job lost money when the year-end accounts close, because materials, labor, travel and subcontract costs sit in different files. These eight points should be tracked while the work is running, not after it ends.
Eight things to track on every project
1. Separate job types from day one
Projects, service and maintenance, and spare-parts sales have different cost structures. Separate them to see which business is profitable.
2. Set the budget and margin at quotation
Quotations should include materials, labor, machine time and subcontracting so you know the margin before accepting the job.
3. Record expenses against the project immediately
Parts, labor, travel and other costs tied to the project when paid, not sorted at month end.
4. Count open purchase orders as commitments
Ordered but unpaid goods are still job cost. Ignore them and the job looks more profitable than it is.
5. Tie billing milestones to progress
Let the system flag when a milestone is ready to invoice so cash is not left uncollected.
6. Deduct partner commission from job profit
Work sold through partners carries commission that belongs to that job, not to overhead.
7. Always work excluding VAT
Calculate profit, margin and cash flow on amounts excluding VAT and show VAT separately, or profit looks 7% higher than it is.
8. Set warnings during the job
Cost over threshold, overdue tasks and overdue milestones should be visible every morning, not at project close.
How CapyM does this
CapyM by RoboCloud was designed from the real work of an engineering company running projects, service and spare-parts sales. It provides profit per project, categorized project expenses, quotation margins that include labor, machine and subcontract cost, milestones tied to tasks that show when work is ready to bill, partner sales with commission, prices shown excluding VAT, and an AI risk summary of every project each morning. From 4,900 THB/month excluding VAT, unlimited users.
How should a system integrator calculate project cost?
Combine materials, labor, travel, subcontracting and open purchase orders against the project, compare with the selling price excluding VAT and deduct partner commission. Track it while the job runs.
What software tracks profit per project for engineering companies?
Choose a system that keeps quotations, expenses, billing milestones and accounting together, such as CapyM by RoboCloud with profit per project, milestones tied to tasks and daily AI risk alerts.
Why do profitable-looking jobs end up losing money?
Common causes are ignoring open purchase orders, forgetting partner commission, or calculating profit on VAT-inclusive totals.