Supply-and-install jobs look profitable on the quote. Few are checked against their actual cost at the end. Here is how to know every job's real margin.
Every supply-and-install job starts with a quote, and every quote has a margin. Windows and doors, water-treatment plants, HVAC, solar: the price is worked out carefully, the client signs, and the job begins.
Then material goes to site, measurements change, fitters spend more days than planned, a second visit is needed to fix a seal. At the end, the job is handed over and the next one starts. Almost nobody goes back to ask whether the job made the margin it was quoted at.
Why the check is skipped
The information is spread across people. The store knows what material went out. The site supervisor knows how many days the team spent. Accounts know what was billed and paid. Putting them together for every job is nobody's job, so it is not done.
Billing has the same problem. Milestones like supply, installation and commissioning are reached on site, but the office hears about them late, so the bill goes out late.
What good looks like
In a well-run installation business, every item sent to site is recorded against the job, every day the team spends is written against it, and at handover the owner sees cost against quote, line by line. Milestones are billed the week they are reached. And after handover, the job becomes a service relationship, with AMC renewals and service visits on a calendar.
How to start without software
Open one sheet for each running job. Every time material leaves the store or a team goes to site, add one line. At handover, put the total next to the quote. Do it for three jobs, and you will know which kind of work earns and which does not.
Where AI helps
- Site measurements and photos become a draft quote with your rates, so quotes go out faster and from real numbers.
- Material to site is recorded against each job, and use beyond the estimate is flagged early.
- Site photos and a voice note become the day's progress, so the office knows when a milestone is reached.
- Milestone bills are drafted as soon as the stage is signed off, and work done but not billed is flagged.
- AMC and warranty renewals are tracked, with the renewal offer drafted ahead of time.
Your team still approves every quote and bill. The AI makes sure every job is measured against its promise.
Where to start
Start with cost against quote on the jobs running now. We have set out how this works for supply-and-install businesses, from quote to handover and service.