How To Use QuickBooks For Project Costing?

I've been using QuickBooks for years to manage project costs, and it's a game-changer for keeping track of expenses and profitability. The key is setting up projects as jobs or classes, depending on your version. In QuickBooks Online, you can create a project under the 'Projects' tab, which lets you track income and expenses in one place. I love how it pulls data from invoices, bills, and time entries, so everything stays organized. For example, if you’re a contractor, you can assign materials, labor, and subcontractor costs to a specific project, then compare it to the budget in real time. The reports are super helpful—'Project Profitability' breaks down where your money’s going, and you can even export them to Excel for deeper analysis.

Another trick I swear by is using items and sub-items for detailed cost tracking. Create items for labor, materials, and overhead, then assign them to transactions. This way, when you run a 'Profit and Loss by Job' report, you see exactly which costs are eating into your margins. Time tracking integrations like TSheets or QuickBooks Time are also clutch for capturing labor costs automatically. For subcontractors, I set them up as vendors and tag expenses to the project, so nothing slips through the cracks. The mobile app’s handy for logging receipts on-site—just snap a photo and assign it to the right job. Over time, you’ll spot trends, like certain projects consistently running over budget, and adjust your estimates accordingly.