> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.inventory-hq.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Job Tracking and Job Costing Overview | InventoryHQ

> Learn how InventoryHQ connects job tracking, material usage, and real-time cost data so you always know your margins before the invoice goes out.

In InventoryHQ, a **Job** is the central unit of work. It ties together the materials your crew uses, the costs those materials carry, and the field activity logged by your team — all in one place. Instead of reconciling job costs after the fact from memory and receipts, you build a complete cost picture in real time as work happens.

## What a Job is in InventoryHQ

A Job represents a single unit of billable work — typically a roofing project, service call, or installation. Each job has a name, a customer or location, and an associated record of every material used on site. As your crew logs material usage from the field, those items are deducted from the relevant truck or warehouse inventory and added to the job's cost ledger automatically.

Jobs are the anchor point for three interconnected data streams:

* **Materials used** — what your crew pulled from trucks or the warehouse on site
* **Costs incurred** — the unit cost of each material, summed to a total job cost
* **Field activity** — who logged what, when, and from which inventory location

## The job costing workflow

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create a job">
    Open **Jobs → New Job** and enter the job name, customer, location, and any relevant notes. Once saved, the job is ready to receive material usage entries.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Log materials used">
    As work proceeds, your crew logs the materials they use directly from the mobile app or from the dashboard. Each entry ties a quantity of a specific item to the job and deducts it from the truck or warehouse inventory.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review job costs">
    Open the job's **Costing Report** at any time to see a full breakdown of materials used, unit costs, total cost to date, and estimated margin. No spreadsheet required.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Why job costing accuracy matters

Imprecise job costing doesn't just affect your reports — it affects your payroll. When material usage goes untracked, job costs appear lower than they actually are, which inflates perceived margin and leads to commission overpayments. It also masks material shrinkage and equipment loss that quietly erodes profitability over time.

<Note>
  According to the **Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA)**, job costing mistakes average **3–6% of project cost** specifically due to inadequate inventory tracking. For a $50,000 roofing job, that's up to $3,000 in unrecovered cost per project.
</Note>

InventoryHQ closes that gap by making material logging fast enough that field techs actually do it — and by making the cost data visible in real time so you can catch problems before the job is invoiced.

## Explore job workflows

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Logging Material Usage" icon="pen-to-square" href="/jobs/logging-material-usage">
    Log what your crew uses on site from the mobile app or dashboard. Quantities deduct from inventory automatically and flow to the job cost record.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Job Costing Reports" icon="chart-bar" href="/jobs/job-costing-reports">
    View a full cost breakdown for any job, track margins in real time, and export data for your CRM or accounting software.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>