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- Service and construction are two businesses — keep their margins separate.
- Cost construction jobs by phase: underground, rough-in, trim.
- Construction work bills on a schedule of values, often with 5–10% retainage.
- Compare phase hours with the estimate weekly, not at close-out.
Where plumbing contractor jobs make and lose money
- Construction labor. Rough-in and trim hours against the estimate, by phase.
- Material. Fixtures and pipe committed against the estimate; owner-supplied changes.
- Retainage and billing. Construction work is billed on a schedule of values; retainage can be 5–10% for months. See retainage.
- Service mixed with construction. Keep them in separate divisions or classes, or neither margin is readable.
Key terms: Retainage · Schedule of values (SOV) · Productivity factor · Cost code
A worked example
Rough-in budgeted at 900 hours is 55% complete with 610 hours spent:
Caught at 55%, trim can be re-planned and the remaining crew hours protected. Caught at close-out, it is just the answer.
The plumbing contractor software stack
Most contractors in this trade run four or five systems. The names below are common examples, not a ranking.
Housecall ProJJobbereSUBProcoreFoundationThe best plumbing software for each kind of plumbing business
There is no single best plumbing software, because a two-truck residential service shop and a 60-person commercial plumbing contractor need different things. Start from the work you do most:
| Your business | What matters most | Software it usually runs |
|---|---|---|
| Residential service & repair | Dispatch, a flat-rate pricebook, quoting and taking payment on site, memberships | Field service software such as ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, Jobber or FieldEdge, with QuickBooks for the books |
| Remodel & residential new build | Estimates, schedules shared with the builder, change orders, progress invoices | A residential project tool such as JobTread or Buildertrend (often the builder's), plus QuickBooks |
| Commercial construction | Takeoff, phase job costing, schedule of values billing, retainage, certified payroll | Trade estimating, project management such as eSUB or Procore, construction accounting such as Sage 300 CRE or Foundation |
| Service and construction | Both of the above, with each side's margin reported separately | Field service software for service, construction accounting for projects, and reporting across both |
Whatever you choose, test it on the job type that makes you the most money, and check that a finished job's actual hours can be compared with the estimate without a spreadsheet. The construction invoice template shows what a progress invoice to a general contractor has to carry; the estimating software guide covers takeoff tools.
The numbers worth tracking weekly
- Construction and service margin, separately
- Labor hours by phase against the estimate
- Forecast at completion per construction job
- Retainage held and aged
- Change orders unsigned
How to choose plumbing contractor software
Five questions to ask any vendor before a trial — each is about whether the software fits how this trade actually makes money.
- Can service and construction be separated cleanly — divisions, classes or systems?
- Does construction job cost track underground, rough-in and trim as phases?
- Does billing handle a schedule of values and retainage for GC work?
- Can technicians' service tickets reach accounting without re-keying?
- Can you see construction margin on its own, not blended with service?
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 construction job running over on labor 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
Labor by phase: budgeted hours and percent complete, with earned hours, the productivity factor and forecast hours calculated.
8 columns: 5 you fill in and 3 calculated by formula and filled down 200 rows, so nothing is worked out by hand. In the Excel version, 3 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. |
| Phase | Text | Phase of the work (e.g. underground, rough-in, trim). |
| Budgeted hours | Number | Hours in the estimate for the line. |
| % complete | Percent | Physical percent complete, 0–100, from the field — not cost spent. |
| Earned hours | Calculated | Calculated: [Budgeted hours] × [% complete] ÷ 100 |
| Actual hours | Number | Hours charged to the line from timecards. |
| Factor | Calculated | Calculated: [Actual hours] ÷ [Earned hours] |
| Forecast hours | Calculated | Calculated: [Budgeted hours] × [Factor] |
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 plumbing contractors use?
For service work, field service and dispatch software such as ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro or Jobber. For construction work, trade project management (such as eSUB), estimating, and accounting with job costing such as QuickBooks, Sage 300 CRE or Foundation.
How should a plumbing contractor do job costing?
Separate service from construction, cost construction jobs by phase (underground, rough-in, trim) and cost type, compare hours with the estimate weekly, and forecast each job's cost at completion.
Can one system handle plumbing service and construction?
Some try, but service and construction have different pricing, billing and cash cycles. Many contractors run field service software for service and construction accounting for projects, and report on both together.
How should a plumbing contractor set up cost codes?
By phase (underground, rough-in, trim, fixtures) and cost type (labor, material, subcontract, equipment), matching the estimate so budget and actual compare line by line.
Do plumbing contractors need separate service software?
Most with a service division use field service software for dispatch, pricing and invoicing, and construction accounting for projects. Reporting across both is what shows which side makes the money.
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Free tools for this topic: Construction markup vs margin calculator · Construction labor burden calculator · Contractor overhead recovery and break-even calculator
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