Blog

On project finances, purchasing and cash flow

Practical articles for people who run projects.

All articles

Estimated margin£64,400
Forecast margin£43,220
Profit fade11.5% → 7.6%
Project financial managementGuide8 min

Job costing for contractors: from estimate to forecast profit

How to calculate job cost, from estimate and buyout to WIP, profit fade and forecast profit.

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QuickBooks
OnlineJob costing, plan by plan
Accounting integrationsGuide6 min

Job costing in QuickBooks Online: what each plan can do in 2026

What each QuickBooks Online plan can do for job costing, and how to track labour, purchase orders and cost to complete.

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Xero
ProjectsFeatures, pricing and purchase orders
Accounting integrationsGuide5 min

Xero Projects for contractors (2026): features, pricing and purchase orders

What Xero Projects covers for contractors, what it costs and what happens to a purchase order.

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PO · receipt · billThree-way match
Purchasing and invoicingGuide6 min

Purchase order tracking for projects: commitments, three-way match and accruals

How to track purchase order commitments, match orders, receipts and bills, and handle month-end accruals.

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EAC = AC + ETCFour methods, one job
Budgeting and forecastingGuide7 min

Estimate at completion vs estimate to complete: four methods and one contractor example

Four ways to calculate estimate at completion, worked through on one contractor job.

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Estimated profit553,000 · 11.5%
Forecast profit304,200 · 6.2%
Estimate11.5%
Forecast6.2%
Project financial managementGuide11 min

Project accounting: the rules, revenue by progress and managing live projects

When project accounting is required, what it must contain, revenue by progress and how to manage projects that are still running.

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Tripletex
+ ProfitTrackerPurchasing and forecast profit
Accounting integrationsGuide6 min

Project finances with Tripletex: the project module, purchasing and forecast profit

What the project module in Tripletex covers, and how to track purchasing, on-account invoicing and forecast profit per project.

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PowerOffice Go
+ ProfitTrackerBudgets, labour costs and committed costs
Accounting integrationsGuide5 min

Project finances with PowerOffice Go: budgets, labour costs, changes and committed costs

What PowerOffice Go covers for projects: budgets, labour costs, completion rate, changes and committed costs.

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PO-24112-002282,000
Planned→Sent→Part received→Posted
Purchasing and invoicingGuide6 min

Purchase orders in projects: how to track committed costs

Planned, ordered, received and posted. How one cost moves through a project without ever being counted twice.

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−1,130,000Lowest cash position in August, with a positive forecast profit
Budgeting and forecastingGuide6 min

Cash flow budget for projects: the method and a month-by-month worked example

Why a project can turn a profit and still drain your cash, and how to build a cash flow budget month by month.

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