Catch a losing job while there's still time to fix it
JobWatch is a monthly check for subcontractors. Paste in this month's job costs from QuickBooks or Excel, and it shows which jobs are slipping below the profit you bid. It builds the WIP schedule your bank and surety ask for from the same numbers.
Five jobs at August month-end
Sample subcontractor, made-up numbersOne of these jobs is about to lose $95,000 of its profit. Can you tell which?
Every job on one sheet, every month-end
The same numbers give you two views. One shows you which jobs need a conversation this month. The other is the WIP schedule your bank and surety ask for.
Profit that keeps slipping
Marked the month the drop starts, while there's work left to fix it.
Estimates nobody updated
A cost to finish that hasn't moved while money keeps going out.
Billing out of step
Work done but not billed, and jobs billed ahead of the work.
The WIP schedule, built for you
Ready for your bank and surety, with no extra spreadsheet.
See it in 90 seconds
The hospital job, start to finish: pasting the costs, the one question for each project manager, the flag, and the WIP report.
English narration with captions. All numbers are made up.
Month-end, in three steps
Try the middle step yourself. Change the project manager's answer and watch what happens to the job.
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1
Paste this month's job costs
Copy them from QuickBooks or Excel. No setup, and no accounts to connect.
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2
Ask each PM one question
JobWatch drafts it. You type in what they say.
To the PM on 24-108, Hospital wing electricalHow much more will this job cost to finish?Drag to change the answer -
3
See where the job stands
Contract $2,000,000. Cost to date $1,345,000. Profit you bid $200,000.
Expected profit
Check one of your jobs now
Type in four numbers from a job that's running. You'll see where its profit stands against the bid, how much of the work is left to act on, and whether billing is keeping up.
On this page, slipping means expected profit is 5% or more below the profit you bid. Percent complete is cost to date divided by total expected cost.
Want every job checked like this, every month?
Book a free look-backYour numbers stay with you
- JobWatch runs on your own computer. Your job costs are not uploaded to us.
- We never ask you to send files, books or bank details.
- For the free look-back, percentages are fine and nothing leaves your screen.
A free look-back on one of your finished jobs
Pick a job that ended worse than it looked along the way. On a 20-minute screen-share we enter its month-end numbers, and you see which month JobWatch would have flagged it.
- Time
- 20 minutes, on a screen-share
- Your numbers
- Percentages are fine. No files sent.
- Setup
- Nothing to install
- Cost
- Free while in early testing
Questions owners ask
Why not just keep doing this in Excel?
You can, if someone updates every job's cost to finish every month and compares it with last month. That's the step that slips when everyone is busy. JobWatch does it for you: it asks each PM one question, keeps the month-by-month history and marks the job that's slipping.
Do I have to upload my books?
No. JobWatch runs on your computer and reads only what you paste in. Nothing is uploaded to us.
Which accounting software does it work with?
Anything you can copy or export into Excel, including QuickBooks. There's nothing to install and no accounts to connect.
What happens on the free look-back?
You pick a finished job that ended worse than it looked. On a 20-minute screen-share we enter its month-end numbers, as percentages if you prefer, and you see the month JobWatch would have flagged it.
What does it cost?
It's free while JobWatch is in early testing.
Who is behind JobWatch?
Jacob Lee, the founder, based in Hong Kong. Every email from JobWatch comes from him, and he reads and answers every reply himself.
A note from the founder
I'm building JobWatch for subcontractors in Hong Kong and the US. If a job has ever surprised you at close-out, I'd like to show you the month it would have been caught.Jacob Lee Founder, JobWatch. jacob@tryjobwatch.com