Job Costing Software for Trades | Xero & MYOB Setup

Most trades businesses lose money on at least one job category — they just can’t see which one. Job costing software, properly set up in Xero or MYOB, fixes that within 90 days. We’re a specialist accounting firm for outdoor trades (arborists, landscapers, excavation contractors, fencers, lawn care) and job costing setup is the single highest-ROI service we offer.

What is job costing for a trades business?

Job costing is the practice of allocating every dollar of cost — labour hours, materials, equipment time, subcontractors, fuel, consumables — to the specific job that incurred it. The result is a per-job profit and loss that tells you the gross margin on each project, not just on the business overall.

Without it, your annual P&L might show a 22% net margin and you feel fine. With it, you discover that 18% of jobs (usually small reactive work) run at -8% margin, while 12% of jobs (large planned installs) run at +41%. Reallocating capacity to the profitable categories often adds 6–14 percentage points to net margin within six months.

Xero Projects vs MYOB Job Tracking — which is better for trades?

Xero Projects: $10/month per active user. Strong for service-led trades (arborists, landscapers, fencers). Mobile time tracking, easy invoicing from project, decent reporting. Best for businesses with 1–25 staff.
MYOB Job Tracking: Built into MYOB Business and AccountRight. No per-user fee. Stronger for trades businesses already on MYOB or with deeper inventory needs. Slightly clunkier mobile workflow.
WorkflowMax / Tradify / ServiceM8: Dedicated trades job management platforms that integrate with Xero. Better for businesses with 5+ field staff and a heavy service workload — but cost $30–$70/user/month.

For 80% of outdoor trades businesses we work with, Xero Projects is the right starting point. We migrate to Tradify or WorkflowMax when the field team grows beyond 5–6 people or the scheduling complexity demands it.

How we set up job costing for trades businesses

Our standard implementation is a 4-week sprint. Fixed price, fully managed:

Week 1: Audit current chart of accounts. Define job categories (e.g. tree removal, pruning, stump grinding for arborists; mowing, install, maintenance, irrigation for landscapers). Set labour cost rates per worker including on-costs.
Week 2: Configure Xero Projects or MYOB Jobs. Build cost code template. Connect timesheet app (Deputy, Tanda or native). Train admin team on job creation and invoicing workflow.
Week 3: Run first 5–10 jobs end to end with the field team. Tune the workflow. Document standard operating procedure.
Week 4: Build live job profitability dashboard. Set KPIs. Hand over with a 30-day support window.

Fixed price: $2,950 + GST for Xero Projects setup, $3,450 + GST for MYOB or trades-specific platforms. ROI typically lands within 60–90 days.

What good job costing tells you

Gross margin per job, per job category, per crew, per client
True hourly cost of each worker (including super, leave, workcover, downtime)
Equipment utilisation — is that $90,000 chipper actually paying for itself?
Material waste rates and supplier price drift
Quote-to-actual variance — are you systematically under-quoting one job type?
Customer profitability — which clients are you actually making money from?

Common job costing mistakes trades businesses make

Using the wrong labour cost rate. If you charge a worker out at $85/hour and pay them $35/hour, the true cost is $48–$52/hour once you load in super, workcover, leave and downtime. Costing at $35 makes every job look ~30% more profitable than it really is.
Forgetting equipment time. A chipper costs ~$45/hour to own and run when amortised. If you don’t allocate that to jobs, the equipment-heavy jobs look artificially profitable.
Not tracking fuel by job. You can use simple flat rates (e.g. $15/job for travel, $25/job for equipment fuel) — much better than nothing.
Not closing jobs. A job sitting “open” for 4 months distorts every report. We build a weekly close process.
Not reviewing the data. Setup is the easy bit. Looking at the numbers monthly is what changes outcomes.

Why have an accountant set up job costing rather than DIY?

We’ve seen dozens of DIY job costing setups. They usually fail for one of three reasons: the chart of accounts isn’t structured to support it, labour rates are wrong, or the field team isn’t trained on the workflow. An accountant who specialises in trades fixes all three at once and ties the job costing back to your tax return, BAS and management reports — so you only have one source of truth.

Related resources

Frequently asked questions

How much does job costing software cost for a small trades business?

Xero Projects costs $10/month per active user on top of your Xero Business subscription. MYOB Job Tracking is included in MYOB Business plans. Dedicated trades platforms like Tradify or WorkflowMax range $30–$70/user/month. For most outdoor trades businesses with 1–10 staff, total software cost lands between $50 and $250/month.

How long does job costing implementation take?

Our standard sprint is 4 weeks from kickoff to handover, including team training and 30-day support. DIY implementations typically take 3–6 months and often need rework. The fastest ROI comes from getting setup right first time.

Will job costing slow my field team down?

Done well, no — total field time spent on costing should be under 5 minutes per job per worker (clock on, clock off, note materials used). Done badly, it can add 20+ minutes per job, which the team will rebel against. The difference is workflow design, which is why we run a 4-week sprint rather than just installing the software.

Can job costing integrate with my quoting and invoicing?

Yes. In Xero Projects you can build a quote, convert it to a project, track actual costs, and then invoice from the same project — closing the loop between quoted, costed and invoiced. Quote-to-actual variance reports become trivial. MYOB and Tradify offer similar workflows.

Is job costing tax deductible?

Yes — both the software subscriptions and the implementation fees are fully deductible business expenses. Implementation is generally treated as an operating expense rather than a capital cost, so the full amount is deductible in the year it’s incurred.

Get job costing set up properly

If you’re tired of guessing which jobs make money, book a free 30-minute consultation. We’ll review your current setup and quote a fixed-price implementation if it makes sense.