Job costing software for scaffolding contractors
Scaffolding bills an erect and dismantle price plus rental for every period the scaffold stays up. The dismantle cost comes last. CFOS ties QuickBooks Online costs to your estimate so you can see what each job earned.
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How scaffolding bills and where the money leaks
A scaffold contract usually has three parts: erect, rent and dismantle. Erect and dismantle are priced as a lump sum or by the square foot of face, and rental bills every month or period the scaffold stays up. Moves, modifications and added lifts for other trades bill as T&M or as change orders, and commercial jobs put all of it on a schedule of values with retainage.
The first leak is rental that stops getting billed. A job planned for one season goes long, and if the extra months never go on a pay app, your scaffold is on the building at no charge. Rental is a small line each month, so a missed period is easy to overlook.
The second leak is dismantle and modifications. Dismantle happens after most of the money has been billed, so the crew, trucks and yard time to bring it home cost money on a job that looks finished. Moving a section for the mason or adding a platform for the glazier takes a crew a day, and without a signed ticket that day is unpaid. Lost and damaged components add to it.
How scaffolding costs split and what CFOS tracks
Scaffolding cost splits into erect labor, dismantle labor, modification labor, trucking, yard handling, inspections, and components you rent from others or own. Erect and dismantle belong on different codes, because the dismantle budget gets spent months after the erect budget. Components rented from a supplier come in as bills like any other job cost.
CFOS compares your estimate by cost code to actual cost from QuickBooks Online every hour. Bills emailed to your bills inbox are read, coded to the job and checked against the PO, so a sub-rental invoice or a trucking bill goes to the right job. Equipment daily rates charge your trucks, forklifts and lifts to the job on the days they're on a daily.
Field time is entered by job and cost code, approved, and sent to QuickBooks Payroll with labor burden by class. Erectors, laborers and drivers can be on different classes so the burden is right. At closeout you can compare erect, dismantle and moves to the bid.
Workflow from the field to the office
The foreman files a daily with the crew, equipment and photos. Photos of the scaffold when it's turned over, and of damage or missing components when it comes down, are your record for back charges. Inspection dates and tags go on the daily too.
When the GC or another trade asks for a move, a new platform or an added lift, a T&M ticket goes on that day's daily. The GC signs it on site. It becomes a change order draft for the next pay app.
The PM sets up the schedule of values with erect and dismantle lines and rental as recurring lines, then builds the pay app each period and sends it to the GC from QuickBooks. Retainage is tracked on each line. Pay app due dates send reminders to the PM, so a rental period doesn't get skipped.
What the owner sees every month
Every month the PM enters cost to complete on each open job, and it gets approved. On scaffolding that number has to include dismantle and trucking home, even when the job has been up for a year. The WIP schedule then shows over and under billing, so a job that billed erect early looks only as profitable as the work in place.
Your CEO Report grades gross margin, overhead and net profit before taxes against the published average and CFOS target for scaffolding at your size. The 13 week cash forecast reads your pay apps and QuickBooks and marks the lowest week. Rental income is small and regular, and the forecast counts it with every other payment coming in.
Moves, lost components and extra trucking stay visible by job. When you quote the next building, you can price dismantle and moves from what they cost last time. You can ask Claude or ChatGPT about your own jobs, and it reads only what your permissions allow.
Scaffolding 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 |
|---|---|
| Engineering and layout | Scaffold drawings, tie and load design, and site layout. |
| Erect labor | Crew time to build the scaffold, by job and area. |
| Dismantle labor | Crew time to take it down, budgeted at the start and spent at the end. |
| Moves and modifications | Added lifts, platforms, moves and adjustments for other trades. |
| Rented components | Frames, planks, systems scaffold and hoists rented from a supplier. |
| Trucking and yard | Delivery, pickup, loading and yard handling for the job. |
| Inspections and tags | Competent person inspections, tags and inspection records. |
| Safety and enclosure | Netting, wrap, toe boards, stair towers and debris chutes. |
| Lost and damaged components | Replacement cost of components lost or damaged on the job. |
| Change orders and T&M | Signed tickets and work beyond the original scope. |
How scaffolding 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 18% Scaffolding 14.1% CFOS target | 22.1% all-trade average 26% Scaffolding 25% CFOS target | 7% all-trade average 8% Scaffolding 11% CFOS target |
| $5M to $10M | 14.1% all-trade average 17% Scaffolding 13.1% CFOS target | 23.4% all-trade average 28% Scaffolding 26% CFOS target | 9.4% all-trade average 11% Scaffolding 12.9% CFOS target |
| $10M to $25M | 13.1% all-trade average 16% Scaffolding 12.1% CFOS target | 24.6% all-trade average 29% Scaffolding 27.1% CFOS target | 11.5% all-trade average 13% Scaffolding 15% CFOS target |
| $25M to $50M | 12.1% all-trade average 15% Scaffolding | 25.7% all-trade average 31% Scaffolding | 13.7% all-trade average 16% Scaffolding |
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 scaffolding 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 scaffolding contractors ask
Can I bill erect, dismantle and monthly rental on the same job?
Yes. Set up the schedule of values with erect and dismantle lines and rental as recurring lines. CFOS builds the pay app each period from them. Retainage is tracked on each line.
How do I keep from forgetting rental on jobs that go long?
Rental lines bill every period on the pay app, and pay app due dates send reminders to the PM. The WIP schedule shows each job every month. A job that's still up and not billing is easy to spot.
How do I make sure dismantle cost is counted?
Put dismantle on its own cost code with its own budget. The PM includes it in cost to complete every month until it's done. The WIP schedule then keeps it in the job's numbers.
How do I bill moves and modifications for other trades?
Write a T&M ticket on the daily and have the GC sign it on site. It becomes a change order draft for the next pay app. Moves that aren't signed still go to the modifications code, so you see the cost.
Does CFOS take the place of QuickBooks Online for a scaffolding company?
No. CFOS works on top of QuickBooks Online, which keeps your 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
- Scaffolding benchmarks
QuickBooks is a trademark of Intuit Inc. Run On CFOS isn't affiliated with Intuit.