Job Costing

Event planning often includes additional expenses like labor, travel, and unexpected costs. Job Costing helps you compare these expenses against your revenue so you can quickly see if you are making or losing money.

You can create templates, build jobs, adjust expenses, and review your margins in real time—all from the Job Costing dashboard. 

Topics Included in This Article

• Enable and Access Job Costing

• Set and Use Job Numbers

• Create and Manage Templates

• Create and View Jobs

• Adjust Job Expenses

• Track Job Margins and Job Storage

Enable and Access Job Costing

1. Enable Job Costing in Browser Security. Follow the steps below to enable the feature. Please note that there are no additional security roles—access is all-or-nothing. 

   • Press the Gear Icon > Press Security > Under Left Menu > Job Costing. You can also search "job costing" using the search bar.

     
        
2. Once enabled, go to the Left Menu.
   
   

3. Select Tools.
   
   

4. Click Job Costing.
   
   
   

5. Job Costing opens in your system browser.
   

Set and Use Job Numbers

The Job Number field is the most important piece of information needed for the module. Use it to link all transactions for a job. When creating a job, this number will be used to link all of the relevant transactions. This is required for Job Costing to connect contracts and expenses.

Go to the Information tab on the contract to view, modify, or enter a Job Number. The number must match on every transaction related to the same job.

Create and Manage Templates

1. Once you have a Job Number, open Job Costing.
   

   • All existing templates display automatically.
       

2. To create a new template:

   1. Click Edit & Create Templates at the top-left.
      
       

   2. A blank template opens. Enter a Template Name, select a revenue type for the template, and enter the standard expenses.
      

    

3. To edit an existing template:

   • Select a template from the list.

   • Update revenue types or default expenses as needed.

Create and View Jobs

1. Select Start a New Job.

   
    

2. The Job Number and template provide the framework for the initial costs associated with a job.
   
   
   

3. Click Save to create the job. Once saved, a card will display the basic breakdown. 
   

4. Select the job from the dashboard for more details. This opens the full job view.
   

Adjust Job Expenses

1. Once a job has been created, in the job view, you can manually update any expense. Any changes are automatically recalculated. For example, if you need to override a per diem, Job Costing automatically recalculates the expense.
   
    

2. Enter unexpected costs in the Other section. Use this for uncategorized or last-minute expenses. 
   
   
   

3. Save or discard your changes using the buttons in the top-right. This is helpful when testing hypothetical scenarios (e.g., “What happens if I send 10 crew vs. 12?”).
   
   
   

Track Job Margins and Job Storage

1. As you adjust expenses, margins update in real time.

   • This makes it easy to evaluate job profitability at a glance.
     
     

2. Jobs and templates live only inside Job Costing.

   • Transactions remain unchanged in Rental Elite.
     
     

3. There are no Job Costing reports at this time.

   • You can search for jobs by job name, job number, customer, or location.

More Information / FAQ

Why does Job Costing require SSO?

SSO ensures the correct access level. Since Job Costing access is all-or-nothing, SSO verifies the user identity and security settings.

Can I limit what a user can do within Job Costing?

No. Access is determined only by whether Job Costing security is enabled.

Does changing expenses affect Elite transactions?

No. Job Costing is separate. All Elite transactions continue normally.

Can I report on Job Costing data?

No. Job records remain available only within the Job Costing dashboard.