Construction project cost tracking is the estimate followed through the life of the job rather than checked at the end: each phase's cost code carries its budget, what has been committed to it, what has been spent, and what the phase is now expected to finish at. The construction cost tracking page on this site works the four columns on a single line; this page is the whole project, the rhythm of keeping it, and the forecast that turns tracking into a decision, worked on the $449,075 build used across this site. The construction project billing software guide covers the draws billed from the same codes; DrawScheduleWorks Pro keeps them as one record.
Cost codes: one per phase, matching the estimate and the draw
The project is coded by phase or trade, and the codes are the estimate's lines: foundation, framing, roofing, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, drywall, finishes, site work, with contingency and markup as their own codes. The same codes are the schedule of values the owner's draw bills against, so an invoice, a purchase order and a draw line all land on the same code. On the worked build the framing code carries the $90,000 subcontract and the lumber purchase orders; the drywall code carries the drywall sub and the board. A project coded one way for the estimate and another for the books is a project nobody can reconcile, and the Census Bureau's construction spending series, linked below, is the reminder that the industry reports by exactly these categories.
The weekly rhythm: commit, post, read
Once a week, three things. Commit: every subcontract and purchase order signed that week is posted to its code, so committed is current before any invoice exists. Post: every invoice approved is posted to its code as spent. Read: every code's left column, budget less the larger of committed and spent, and any code where left has gone negative or where committed has run past budget. On the worked build the framing code reads $2,000 over on the day the sub's contract is signed against an $88,000 budget, and the weekly read is where the contractor decides whether that comes from contingency or from a change order. A monthly rhythm finds the same number four weeks later.
Forecast at completion: what each code will finish at
Tracking says where the code is; the forecast says where it will end. For a code under subcontract the forecast is the subcontract sum plus approved changes plus anything the GC buys for that trade. For a code the GC self-performs it is spent to date plus the cost to finish, from the share complete and the rate. The project's forecast at completion is the codes added up, and the margin forecast is the contract sum plus changes less it. On the worked build a forecast that reads $451,000 against a $449,075 estimate with contingency unspent is a job on track; the same forecast with contingency gone is a job that needs a conversation with the owner about the next change.
The one-page report, and the draw that comes from the same codes
The report is one line per code with budget, committed, spent, left, forecast at completion and variance, a total line, and the contingency drawdown. It is read weekly inside the company and shared with the owner in whatever form the contract requires, and the owner's draw for the period is generated from the same codes by share complete, less retainage. DrawScheduleWorks Pro keeps the codes, the commitments, the invoices and the draws as one record and prints the report and the pay application from it, so the tracking the contractor reads and the draw the owner pays never disagree. FAR part 32, linked below, is the public model of the progress financing those draws follow. The construction cost tracker page on this site is the sheet version for a contractor starting by hand.
Questions people ask about construction project cost tracking
How do you track costs on a construction project?
Code the estimate's lines, post every subcontract and purchase order to its code as committed when signed, post every approved invoice as spent, and read the left column weekly. Forecast each code's completion and add them up against the contract sum.
What is the difference between committed and spent?
Committed is the value of contracts and purchase orders signed against a code, spent is the invoices approved. An overrun shows in committed on the day a contract is signed, months before it shows in spent.
What is forecast at completion?
What each code is now expected to finish at: subcontract sum plus changes for a subbed trade, spent plus cost to finish for self-performed work. The codes added up against the contract sum is the margin forecast, read weekly.