Job costing software for drywall contractors
Drywall bills by area or floor and has finish levels to track. Callbacks and change orders cost money. CFOS ties QuickBooks Online costs to your estimate so you can see which jobs paid.
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How drywall bills and where the money leaks
Drywall subcontracts usually bill by area or by floor on a schedule of values, with a pay app each month, change orders and retainage. The phases are framing, hanging, taping and finishing, and each one can be billed as it's completed. Unit price work bills by the square foot or the sheet, and that suits tenant improvement and repeat work.
The leaks are small until you add them up. Your crew goes back to the same area many times for punch and patching, and no one signs a ticket for it. A finish level upgraded after the walls are primed turns into extra labor no one priced. Waiting on rough-in inspection, or on another trade's work, means paying a crew that can't hang a sheet. Material is bought on one quote and the job goes on for months.
How drywall costs split and what CFOS tracks
Drywall cost is mostly labor, and the rest is board, studs, track, mud, tape, insulation and equipment. Piece rate and hourly labor can be mixed on the same job, so it helps to track hours and production by area and phase. Hanging, taping and finishing rarely cost the same per square foot, and the numbers you need are split that way.
CFOS compares your estimate by cost code against actual cost from QuickBooks Online every hour. Time is entered in the field, approved, and posted by job and cost code, with labor burden by class. Vendor bills emailed to your bills inbox are read, coded and checked against the PO, so a board delivery is charged to the right floor of the right job.
Workflow from the field to the office
The foreman files a daily with the crew, equipment and photos, which documents delays caused by other trades and the date an area was ready. If the GC wants extra work or a finish level changed, the T&M ticket rides on the daily and the GC signs it on site. It becomes a change order draft for the next pay app.
Time is approved and goes to QuickBooks Payroll. The PM bills by area or floor on the schedule of values, and the pay app holds retainage and stored material where the contract allows. Punch items are tracked, so callbacks are counted on the job, not lost.
What the owner sees every month
Each month the PM enters cost to complete on open jobs, and it gets approved. The WIP schedule shows over and under billing, so you can tell if a job is billed before the work is done or after it. The master WIP shows the whole company.
Your CEO Report grades gross margin, overhead and net profit before taxes against the published average and CFOS target for drywall at your size. The 13 week cash forecast reads your pay apps and marks the lowest week. Callback cost shows on the jobs that caused it, so you can price the next one better.
Drywall cost codes, matched to QuickBooks
Each group below is one set of cost codes in CFOS. Bills, time and equipment post to them. QuickBooks keeps the books underneath, so your bookkeeper sees the same numbers.
| Cost code group | What goes on it |
|---|---|
| Metal framing and track | Studs, track, soffits and furring, labor and material by area. |
| Board hanging | Labor and board for walls and ceilings, including specialty board. |
| Taping and finishing | Mud, tape and finish labor, tracked by finish level. |
| Insulation and acoustical | Batts, sound attenuation and acoustical sealant where in scope. |
| Specialty board and shielding | Moisture resistant, fire rated or lead lined board, with deposits and lead times. |
| Texture and spray | Texture, primer and spray finishes. |
| Equipment and scaffolding | Lifts, stilts, scaffolds, mixers and trucks charged to the job. |
| Delivery and cleanup | Material drops, stocking floors and debris removal. |
| Punch and callbacks | Return trips, patching and warranty work, kept so you can see their cost. |
| Change orders and T&M | Added scope coded separately, tied to the signed ticket. |
How drywall contractors do, by revenue
Each row shows the all-trade average, this trade's average and the CFOS target where one is published. These are the numbers your own job costing gets graded against. Net profit is before taxes in every row.
| Revenue | Overhead | Gross margin | Net profit, before taxes |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1M to $5M | 15.1% all-trade average 13% Drywall 14.1% CFOS target | 22.1% all-trade average 19% Drywall 25% CFOS target | 7% all-trade average 6% Drywall 11% CFOS target |
| $5M to $10M | 14.1% all-trade average 12% Drywall 13.1% CFOS target | 23.4% all-trade average 21% Drywall 26% CFOS target | 9.4% all-trade average 9% Drywall 12.9% CFOS target |
| $10M to $25M | 13.1% all-trade average 11% Drywall 12.1% CFOS target | 24.6% all-trade average 22% Drywall 27.1% CFOS target | 11.5% all-trade average 11% Drywall 15% CFOS target |
| $25M to $50M | 12.1% all-trade average 10% Drywall | 25.7% all-trade average 23% Drywall | 13.7% all-trade average 13% Drywall |
Gross margin and overhead come from figures CFMA, Jones Maresca and other sources publish by trade and size. Net profit is computed, not surveyed: net profit = gross margin minus overhead. Nothing comes out for taxes, interest or other income and expense, so it is a before tax figure, on the same basis as CFMA's net income before taxes.
CFMA's 2025 medians are 7.1 percent before interest and taxes and 6.7 percent net income before taxes. Gross margin minus overhead leaves out interest and other income and expense, so a figure here can come in a little above or below a reported net income on the same business.
Above the $10M to $25M band the gross margin and overhead rows are a modeled extension of the same curves. They have not been reconciled against the licensed CFMA Benchmarker, so read those bands as a model and not as a survey result.
Problems drywall contractors write to us about
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We email you when CFOS for QuickBooks opens, plus a few updates before then. Your address stays with Run On CFOS. One click unsubscribes.
30 days free, a 90-day money-back guarantee, and cancel anytime. It opens January 2027. We email you the day it opens.
What drywall contractors ask
Can I bill drywall by floor or area?
Yes. Your schedule of values can have a line for each floor or area, and the pay app bills the percent complete with retainage. Unit price pay apps are supported too.
How do I track finish levels?
Use cost codes under taping and finishing for each level, and import your estimate as the budget. When a level changes mid job, a signed T&M ticket keeps the added cost visible. It becomes a change order draft for the next pay app.
Can CFOS handle piece rate and hourly crews on the same job?
Time entry captures hours by job and cost code. You can track production by area against the budget. That lets you compare piece rate and hourly work on the same basis.
What about callbacks after the job closes?
Code punch and warranty work to its own cost code or job so the cost is visible. The daily and the photos keep a record of what was done. They also show when it was done.
Does CFOS replace QuickBooks Online?
No. It works on top of QuickBooks Online, which keeps the books. Intuit bills QuickBooks Online separately.
- Job costing software that runs on QuickBooks
- One price. Every module. Priced by your revenue.
- Use all of it, or just the part you need
- Job costing software that runs on QuickBooks
- One price. Every module. Priced by your revenue.
- Use all of it, or just the part you need
- Drywall benchmarks
QuickBooks is a trademark of Intuit Inc. Run On CFOS isn't affiliated with Intuit.