Short answer: margin by job needs three things most businesses have but don't connect: jobs coded in the ledger, hours logged against the quote, and materials filed to the job. Connect them and you see it monthly instead of yearly.
Why you can't see it
Invoices go out by client, not by job. Timesheets are in one app and costs in another. Materials are bought on one account for three jobs. The P&L is true and useless for this question.
What works
A job code on every invoice, bill and timesheet (most job platforms do this if it is switched on). Hours-over-quote alerts at 80 and 100 percent while the job is still running. A monthly table: revenue, labour, materials, margin, per job, with the ones under target on top.
What Stewart Systems builds
The Jobs and Money modules on the Board (Board), reading ServiceM8, Tradify, Simpro or AroFlo and Xero or MYOB. The Snapshot checks your coding first; if the data isn't there, it says so.
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Written by Christian Stewart, Stewart Systems, Wollongong. Published 2026-09-29. Records and flags, not legal, WHS or insurance advice; rules change, check the regulator for the current one.