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Job Costing••4 min read

The Remodeler Who Was Allergic to His Own Numbers

A kitchen and bath remodeler operating at $1.4M annual revenue discovered through proper job costing that his bathroom renovations were running at 14% margins instead of the assumed 28%, revealing he'd been underpricing work by approximately $6,000 per project.

Cory Salisbury
Cory Salisbury
Founder & Fractional CFO • Salisbury Bookkeeping

The Remodeler Who Was Allergic to His Own Numbers

Tony thought he was profitable. His QuickBooks had other ideas.

Client: Tony | Industry: Kitchen & Bath Remodeling | Annual Revenue: $1.4 million

The Problem

Tony operated a remodeling business for six years with chaotic accounting—QuickBooks Desktop housed personal purchases alongside business expenses, with no job costing system in place.

What We Fixed

  • Migrated to QuickBooks Online with NAHB-standard chart of accounts
  • CoConstruct integration connected estimates, change orders, and invoices
  • Revealed $14,600 in personal expenses incorrectly categorized as business costs
  • Implemented job costing for every dollar

The Financial Impact

Clean data exposed that Tony's popular $45K-$65K bathroom projects operated at 14% gross margin rather than his assumed 28%—approximately $6,000 underpriced per job. With 18 such projects annually, this represented $108,000 in lost margin.

The ROI

  • Pricing correction: $108,000
  • Avoided underwater projects: $23,000
  • Tax savings: ~$3,500
  • Total measurable impact: ~$134,500
  • Investment: $42,000/year
  • Result: 3.2x ROI in year one
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