JobSnap — job costing and books for subcontractors

JobSnap is software for the trades that quote, supply, install and bill in draws — flooring and coating applicators, waterproofing crews, and specialty subcontractors generally. It covers estimating, invoicing, purchase orders, supplier bills, job costing and the books, in one place.

What it does

• Estimates priced by cost and markup, with the margin showing as you build the number — and a report afterwards comparing what you quoted against what the job actually delivered.
• Awards tracked properly. Mark an estimate won and it becomes the contract, LOI or purchase order you bill against, so every job shows what is left to bill.
• Invoices on your letterhead with line items, GST, and holdback deducted the way a BC progress invoice reads.
• Purchase orders and supplier bills with part numbers, so committed cost and actual cost are both visible per job.
• Canadian sales tax handled correctly, including the rule that matters most to installers: no PST charged on an improvement to real property, with the PST you paid on materials landing in job cost instead.
• Real double-entry books underneath, so job costing and the profit and loss are built from the same entries and cannot disagree.

Who built it and why

It was built by the owner of Canopus Supply, who also runs a specialty construction business installing expansion joint and coating systems — originally to run those jobs, because nothing on the market fitted the way supply-and-install work is actually quoted, billed and costed in British Columbia.

JobSnap is a separate business from Canopus Supply, under common ownership. Each company's records are locked to that company in the database itself, so no other business — Canopus included — can see your jobs, your suppliers or your numbers. We mention it here because our customers are the people it was built for, not because buying from us has anything to do with using it.

Try it

There is a working demo loaded with sample jobs, invoices and books that you can click through without signing up for anything. It installs on a Mac, a Windows machine, an iPhone or an Android phone straight from the web — no app store and no download — and works on site with no signal.

Open JobSnap

Questions

Do I have to move off QuickBooks? No. Plenty of contractors will use it for estimating, jobs and job costing and leave their accountant where they are — everything exports to Excel and CSV.

Does it file my GST return? It prepares the figures, including a separate PST return. You or your bookkeeper file them. Confirm the treatment of supply versus installation with your accountant before relying on it.

Can my crew use it? Yes — they join your company with a six-character code and see the same jobs and schedule, and can photograph supplier invoices straight onto a job from a phone.