You finished a kitchen faucet replacement. Charged the customer $580. Spent $75 on copper pipes and fittings. You know the first number — it's on the invoice. Most contractors never track the second number. That's the mistake. Because the difference between those two numbers is the only number that actually matters.
What is a Job Expense?
A job expense is any cost that's directly tied to a specific customer's project. Materials you bought for their job. Parts you installed in their home. Subcontractors you hired to help with their work. These expenses exist because that job exists. If you hadn't taken the job, you wouldn't have spent the money.
Here's what that looks like in practice:
Materials
Copper pipes, PVC fittings, electrical wire, drywall, paint — anything purchased specifically for this customer's project.
Parts
A replacement water heater, new faucet, circuit breaker, door hardware — items installed for this customer.
Subcontractors
You paid another tradesperson $300 to help with a specific job. That cost is tied to that project.
Permits
A $150 permit fee for a particular remodeling job. A direct cost for that customer — it wouldn't exist without that job.
The defining characteristic: this expense wouldn't exist without this specific job. That's what makes it a job expense instead of general overhead.
How CashWrench tracks Job Expenses
When you log a job expense in CashWrench, you're doing more than keeping a receipt for tax time. You're tracking what you actually spent on that specific customer's job — so you can see what you actually made.
Job Expense tracking in CashWrench — link expenses directly to customer jobs
Here's what happens when you create a job expense:
Choose Job Expense — CashWrench asks: is this tied to a specific job, or is it general business overhead? You pick Job Expense.
Add the details — Title (e.g., "Copper pipes for kitchen job"), Amount, Category (Materials, Tools, Subcontractor, or Other), and Date.
Link it to the job — This is the key step. You select which customer and which job this expense belongs to. The expense is now tied to that specific project.
Profit updates automatically — The moment you save the expense, CashWrench recalculates what you made on that job. Not what you charged. What you made after costs.
You don't have to do any math. You don't have to wait until the end of the month. The profit screen updates in real time.
What tracking Job Expenses actually shows you
Here's a real example of what changes when you start tracking job expenses properly.
87% margin — you know this right now, not at tax time
That's an 87% margin. You know this immediately — not at tax time, not when your accountant runs the numbers, but right now while the job is still fresh in your mind.
Now compare that to how most contractors operate: "I charged $580 for the job. I think I spent maybe $50 or $60 on materials? Not sure. I'll figure it out later."
Later never comes. Or when it does, you're trying to reconstruct expenses from three months ago based on vague credit card statements and faded receipts. By then, it's too late to adjust how you price the next job.
"Job expenses aren't just receipts to file at tax time. They're the difference between knowing what you charged and knowing what you made."
Why this matters more than you think
When you track job expenses, you start to see patterns you'd never notice otherwise.
You're underpricing certain types of work
Bathroom jobs consistently have higher material costs than you thought. You're charging $800 but spending $220 on parts — a 72.5% margin. Meanwhile, your water heater replacements are $1,200 with only $150 in parts — an 87.5% margin. You need to either raise bathroom rates or find cheaper suppliers.
Certain customers are less profitable than they seem
A repeat customer always requests last-minute changes. The initial quote looks good — $900 with $100 in materials. But after three extra trips to the supply store, you're at $280 in materials and your margin dropped to 69%. That customer costs you more than you realized.
Small jobs are eating into your hourly rate
You charged $200 for a quick fix. Spent $45 on parts. Made $155. Sounds fine until you realize the job took 3 hours including drive time, and you made $51/hour after materials. That's below your target rate. You either need to raise prices on small jobs or stop taking them.
None of these insights are available if you're just tracking total revenue at the end of the month. Job-level expense tracking shows you exactly where your money is going.
The difference between revenue and profit
Revenue is what you charged. Profit is what you kept. Most contractors confuse the two.
You look at your bank account at the end of the month and see $12,000 came in from jobs. You feel good. Then you realize you spent $3,500 on materials, parts, and subcontractors for those jobs. Your actual profit was $8,500, not $12,000.
You're guessing what you made
Only see the average. Averages hide everything.
You know exactly what you made
Every job has its own profit number. No surprises.
Without job-level expense tracking, you only see the average. And averages hide the jobs that are quietly eating into your margins.
What makes a good job expense system
Not all expense tracking is created equal. Here's what actually matters:
Expenses must link directly to jobs — If you're just logging "Materials - $75" without tying it to a specific customer and job, you're not tracking job expenses. You're creating a list of costs you'll sort out later. Later never works.
Profit should update automatically — You shouldn't have to pull out a calculator every time you log an expense. The system should show you the new profit number immediately.
Categories should be simple — Materials, Tools, Subcontractor, Other. That's it. You don't need 47 expense categories. You need to know what you spent and what job it was for.
It should take 30 seconds to log an expense — If tracking an expense requires 15 fields, you won't do it. The best system is the one you'll actually use — which means it needs to be fast.
CashWrench is built around these principles. Tap the expense. Pick the job. Enter the amount. Done. The profit screen updates. You know what you made.
CashWrench tracks Job Expenses and shows your real profit per job
Log a job expense — materials, parts, subcontractors — and CashWrench immediately calculates what you actually made on that job. Not what you charged. What you made after materials. Every expense is linked to a specific customer and job. Your profit updates in real time. No spreadsheets. No end-of-month math.
$505
real profit
87%
margin
30s
to log it
You charged $580. You spent $75 on copper pipes. The difference is $505. That's your profit on the job. Not revenue. Not what you charged. What you actually made.
Track it. Know it. Price the next job accordingly.
— The CashWrench Team
Know what you made on every job.
Track job expenses. See your real profit after materials. Stop guessing what you made. Know exactly. Two months free, no credit card to start.