Back costing. It’s not something most tradies have heard of, but if you want to know whether you're actually making money on your jobs—or just spinning your wheels—this is the stuff that separates the novices from the pros.
Most tradies don’t realise how crucial back costing is until it’s too late. You smash out job after job, thinking you’ve estimated correctly, only to sit down with the accountant at the end of the financial year and get hit with the hard truth: your "good year" profits barely cover coffee for the next smoko.
Sound familiar? Don’t worry—you’re not alone. Plenty of tradies rely on their accountant to tell them if they’ve turned a profit after the fact. But here’s the kicker: by that point, it’s too late to fix the jobs you underquoted, and you’re just hoping the big one you nailed makes up for it.
That’s where backcosting comes in—tracking your actuals against your estimates in real time.
What Is Back Costing?
Back costing is all about comparing what you thought a job would cost (your estimate) with what it actually cost (your actuals). It means tracking everything—labour, materials, disbursements, subcontractors, even that extra bag of rapid set you grabbed last-minute.
If your concrete allowance blew out because the slab wasn’t quite level, or you ended up with twice as many hours on site because the sparkies didn’t show, back costing helps you pinpoint the problem.
When you know what went wrong (and where), you can adjust how you quote for the next one—or at least figure out where to claw back a bit of margin elsewhere in the project.
Why Most Tradies Miss the Mark
Here’s the truth: most tradies are legends on the tools but don’t have the time—or the headspace—to keep tabs on every dollar spent while they’re knee-deep in work. So, they wait until the job’s done (or until tax time rolls around) to figure out if they’ve made a profit.
The problem? By the time you get that info, the job’s over, the invoice has been sent, and you’ve already spent the cash on a new ute. You can’t go back and fix anything, and you’re left scratching your head, wondering why your bank account doesn’t match up with how hard you’ve been working.
But the good news? It doesn’t have to be this way.
Real-Time Back Costing: Why It’s a Game-Changer
What if you didn’t have to wait until tax time to know where your money’s going? What if you could see, in real time, how a job’s tracking?
This is where a tool like NextMinute saves your bacon. With NextMinute, you can track every cost—labour, materials, invoices, and all the little extras—as the job progresses. You can compare your actuals to your estimate at every stage of the project, so you know exactly where you stand.
Blown the budget on the footings? At least you’ll know straight away, so you can adjust the rest of the job to make up for it. It’s not about pointing fingers or stressing out—it’s about giving you control so you can keep your business running lean and mean.
Better Pricing Starts with Better Tracking
Ever heard the phrase, "you can’t manage what you don’t measure"? Well, that’s exactly what back costing is about. If you don’t know where you’re going over budget, how can you fix it for the next job?
For example:
- Labour: Maybe you’ve underestimated how long it takes to finish a particular type of job, or you’ve got blokes standing around waiting for the materials to show up.
- Materials: Did the price of timber creep up again? Or maybe the subbie ordered a bit more than you’d planned for?
- Extras: Fuel, tools, rentals, dump fees—they all add up if you’re not watching.
With NextMinute, you’ve got all your costs in one spot, tracked in real time. That means no more guesstimating or waiting for the accountant to give you a wake-up call.
Get Ahead of the Game
At the end of the day, you’re not just on the tools—you’re running a business. And if you’re serious about making good coin, you need to know where it’s coming from—and where it’s disappearing.
NextMinute makes back costing simple. Whether it’s timesheets for the crew, logging receipts, or managing variations, the app gives you the tools to stay on top of every dollar. That way, you’re not left wondering why you’re flat out working, but still feeling broke.
Plus, the more you back cost, the better you’ll get at quoting jobs properly. You’ll know when to add a buffer for certain tasks or materials, and you’ll stop undercutting yourself just to win jobs.
Make Every Job Count
If you want to stop relying on your accountant to tell you whether you’ve made a profit, it’s time to get on top of your back costing. Tools like NextMinute take the guesswork out of tracking your costs and give you the confidence to make smarter decisions.
Every job is a lesson—and with real-time tracking, you’ll actually learn from them. So, the next time you’re pricing up a deck or a reno, you’ll know exactly what to charge to make sure you come out ahead.
Don’t let your hard yakka go to waste. Start tracking, start learning, and start nailing those profits today.
