Overview
Projected Costs show the expected profit on a work order before the job is done. The section estimates your labor and material costs, then compares them against the work order total to show your projected gross profit and profit margin.
Material costs are calculated automatically from PriceBook items on the proposal, and you can adjust any value by hand. This feature is available on the Web App and on the work order overview.
Before you begin: Projected Costs must be turned on in your business settings, and only users with the right permission can see the section. See Turn On Projected Costs below.
When to Use This Feature
You want to know how much profit a job should make before you send a crew out.
You are reviewing a large proposal (e.g., a full HVAC system install) and want to confirm the margin is healthy.
You need a quick labor and material estimate to set expectations with an owner or office manager.
You want a baseline to compare against actual costs once the job is complete.
How It Works
Projected Costs use a simple formula:
Expected Revenue — the total amount of the work order, which you expect to collect in full.
Total Projected Cost — your estimated labor cost plus your estimated material cost.
Projected Gross Profit — Expected Revenue minus Total Projected Cost.
Projected Profit Margin — gross profit shown as a percentage of revenue.
The Material cost starts as an automatic estimate. MotionOps adds up the unit cost of each PriceBook item on the proposal, multiplied by its quantity. Custom line items that are typed in by hand are not included in this estimate.
A tooltip next to the Projected Costs title explains this on hover: "Auto-calculated from PriceBook items only. Custom items are excluded. Manual edits override the calculation going forward."
[Screenshot: The Projected Costs section on a work order overview, showing Expected Revenue, Labor, Material, Total Projected Cost, Projected Gross Profit, and Projected Profit Margin. Highlight the tooltip icon next to the section title.]
Turn On Projected Costs
Two things must be in place before the section appears.
1. Enable the setting
An admin turns on Projected Costs in Business Settings > Configurations > Job Profitability Settings [confirm: exact toggle label for "show expected job costs"]. When this setting is off, the section is hidden for everyone.
2. Set user permissions
Even when the setting is on, a user only sees Projected Costs if their role has the right permission. In Roles & Permissions, the Job Costing permission group has three options:
Manage Job Costs — can view Projected Costs and edit the values.
View Job Costs — can view Projected Costs but cannot edit them.
None — cannot see or manage Projected Costs.
[Screenshot: The Job Costing permission group in Roles & Permissions, showing the Manage, View, and None options.]
View and Edit Projected Costs — Web App
Once the setting and your permission are in place, follow these steps.
Open the work order you want to review.
Go to the work order overview and find the Projected Costs section.
[Screenshot: The Projected Costs section on the work order overview.]
Review the estimated values. Material is filled in automatically from the PriceBook items on the proposal. The other values are calculated from there.
To change an estimate, open the edit view [confirm: exact label of the edit button or icon]. The form opens pre-filled with the current calculated values.
[Screenshot: The edit form for Projected Costs, pre-filled with Labor and Material values.]
Enter your own Labor and Material amounts, then save.
Once saved, the Total Projected Cost, Projected Gross Profit, and Projected Profit Margin update right away.
Tips & Best Practices
Build your PriceBook first. Adding a unit cost to your PriceBook items lets MotionOps estimate material costs for you, so you do less manual entry on every job.
Check the margin before you schedule. A quick look at Projected Profit Margin can flag a job that is priced too low before the crew is on site.
Enter labor manually for accuracy. If you have a good sense of crew hours and pay rates, set the Labor estimate by hand for a more realistic margin.
Edit only when needed. Once you change a value by hand, that value stays fixed and no longer updates from the PriceBook. Leave the estimate as-is if you want it to keep tracking your line items.
Things to Know
Projected Costs are available on the Web App only.
The section is hidden unless it is enabled in Business Settings and your role has the View Job Costs or Manage Job Costs permission.
You need the Manage Job Costs permission to edit values. View Job Costs is read-only.
The automatic Material estimate only counts PriceBook items that have a unit cost. Custom line items entered by hand are not included.
Once you manually edit a value, your entered amount is used from then on. The automatic calculation no longer overrides it.
Projected Costs are estimates of expected profit. They are separate from the actual costs recorded once the job is done.
Troubleshooting
I don't see the Projected Costs section.
It must be enabled in Business Settings > Configurations > Job Profitability Settings, and your role must have the View Job Costs or Manage Job Costs permission. Check both with an admin.
I can see Projected Costs but can't edit them.
Editing requires the Manage Job Costs permission. The View Job Costs permission is read-only.
The Material cost shows $0 or looks too low.
Only PriceBook items with a unit cost are counted. Custom line items typed in by hand are excluded. Add the items to your PriceBook with a unit cost, or enter the Material amount manually.
My values won't update after I changed the proposal.
Once you edit a value by hand, it stays fixed and no longer recalculates from the PriceBook. This is expected. Edit the value again to match your latest estimate.
Have questions? Reach out via the support chat or email support@motionops.com.