- Sitework is an equipment business — production rate decides the margin.
- Compare units per hour with the estimate by activity, daily.
- Charge owned equipment to jobs, including idle time.
- Reconcile unit-price quantities with what the owner pays.
Where excavation and sitework contractor jobs make and lose money
- Production rates. Cubic yards moved per hour against the estimate.
- Equipment cost. Owned-equipment rates charged to jobs, idle time, repairs.
- Quantities. Unit-price work paid on measured quantities — overruns and underruns change revenue too.
- Weather. Lost days and rework.
Key terms: Cost code · Estimate at completion (EAC) · Productivity factor
A worked example
Mass excavation moved 14,200 cubic yards in 380 hours against an estimate of 42 yards an hour, with crew and equipment costing $610 an hour:
A production rate 11% under estimate is invisible in hours worked. In cost per yard it is $1.80 on every yard left to move.
The excavation and sitework contractor software stack
Most contractors in this trade run four or five systems. The names below are common examples, not a ranking.
HCSS HeavyBidB2WHCSS HeavyJobtelematics from equipment makersFoundationSage 300 CREThe numbers worth tracking weekly
- Production rate against the estimate, by activity
- Equipment hours and idle time
- Unit-price quantities against bid quantities
- Cost per unit
- Forecast at completion
How to choose excavation and sitework contractor software
Five questions to ask any vendor before a trial — each is about whether the software fits how this trade actually makes money.
- Does estimating work by crew, equipment and production rate?
- Can field staff record quantities and equipment hours daily?
- Does it reconcile unit-price quantities with what the owner pays for?
- Are owned-equipment costs charged to jobs, including idle time?
- Can it tell you which machines and which jobs actually make money?
Then trial it on a finished job where you already know the answer. The construction tech stack guide covers how the pieces connect.
Where Constructelligence fits
Constructelligence sits on top of the accounting system you already run — Sage 300 CRE and QuickBooks Desktop are connected today, with Viewpoint, Sage Intacct and others in build — and forecasts every job weekly by cost code, so a production rate falling behind the estimate shows up in the week it starts. It reads read-only, installs on your own infrastructure and replaces none of the tools above. See it in the demo.
Software for other trades
Daily production by activity: quantity, crew and equipment hours, units per hour calculated against the estimate.
9 columns: 8 you fill in and 1 calculated by formula and filled down 200 rows, so nothing is worked out by hand. In the Excel version, 5 columns reject entries of the wrong type (a date column only takes dates, an amount column only numbers), the header row stays frozen with filters on it, and the workbook opens on an Instructions sheet that lists every column below.
Every column, and how it is captured
| Column | Type | What goes in it |
|---|---|---|
| Job | Text | Job number exactly as in your accounting system (e.g. J-1104), so rows join to job cost. |
| Date | Date | Date of the entry. |
| Activity | Text | The schedule activity or scope of work. |
| Quantity | Number | Enter a number. |
| Unit | Text | Unit of measure (EA, LF, SF, CY, HR, LS). |
| Crew hours | Number | Enter a number. |
| Equipment hours | Number | Enter a number. |
| Units per hour | Calculated | Calculated: [Quantity] ÷ [Crew hours] |
| Estimated units per hour | Number | Enter a number. |
See it on real-looking numbers
Constructelligence is a construction intelligence platform: it reads your ERP, project and field systems read-only and does this arithmetic every week, for every job. The demo runs it on a sample eight-job portfolio.
Try the demoJoin the private betaFrequently asked questions
What software do excavation contractors use?
Heavy civil estimating (such as HCSS HeavyBid or B2W), field time and quantity tracking (such as HCSS HeavyJob), equipment telematics, machine control, and construction accounting such as Viewpoint, Foundation or Sage 300 CRE.
How do sitework contractors track job cost?
By activity and unit: crew and equipment hours against quantities installed, compared with the estimate's production rates, with owned equipment charged to jobs at internal rates.
Why do equipment rates matter?
Owned equipment is a real cost even when it is paid off. Charging jobs an internal hourly rate is how a contractor sees which jobs and which machines actually make money.
How do excavation contractors estimate production rates?
From equipment capacity, haul distance, material and site conditions — and, best of all, from their own completed jobs' actual units per hour for similar work.
What is the difference between owned and rented equipment cost?
Rented equipment arrives with an invoice; owned equipment needs an internal hourly rate (ownership plus operating cost) charged to jobs, or its cost never reaches the jobs that use it.
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