Job costing software for waterproofing contractors
Waterproofing comes back to the same building many times, below grade early and sealants at the end. Each trip costs money. CFOS ties QuickBooks Online costs to your estimate by cost code so you can see which phases paid.
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How waterproofing bills and where the money leaks
Waterproofing scope usually covers several systems on one building: below grade membrane, under slab or blindside sheets, air and vapor barrier on the walls, sealants at windows and joints, and traffic or deck coatings. Commercial work bills a schedule of values with a pay app each month and retainage. Sealants are often counted by the lineal foot, membranes and coatings by the square foot, and leak investigation or repair work bills as T&M.
The leak in the bid is mobilization. Below grade work happens before backfill, wall barriers follow the framing or masonry, and sealants wait for windows and cladding, so the same job can need many trips over a year or more. A bid with a few mobilizations on a job that needed many more loses money on every extra trip. Each one has drive time, setup and a small crew that's slow to get going.
Prep and damage are the other leaks. Concrete that isn't dry or clean enough, form ties that weren't cut, and membrane torn by other trades before backfill all add labor. Flood tests, spray tests and manufacturer inspections for the warranty can send a crew back, and retainage may wait on the warranty paperwork.
How waterproofing costs split and what CFOS tracks
Waterproofing cost splits into membranes and sheet goods, coatings, sealants and backer rod, primers, protection board, labor, lifts or swing stages, and testing. Material is fairly predictable once the takeoff is right, and labor is the cost that moves. Tracking labor by system tells you which part of the scope paid and which part lost money.
CFOS compares your estimate by cost code to actual cost from QuickBooks Online every hour. If each system and each mobilization has its own code, you'll see what the trips cost against what you bid. Bills emailed to your bills inbox are read, coded to the job and checked against the PO, so membrane and sealant buys go to the right building.
Field time is entered by job and cost code, approved, and sent to QuickBooks Payroll with labor burden by class. Equipment daily rates charge lifts, swing stages, sprayers and trucks to the job on the days they're on a daily. Sealant work from a lift for weeks is easier to price next time when you can see what the lift cost.
Workflow from the field to the office
The foreman files a daily for each trip with the crew, equipment and photos. Photos of membrane before backfill and of joints before sealant goes in are your record when a leak appears later. Areas that weren't ready when the crew came get a date on the daily too.
When another trade damages your membrane or the GC calls you back to an area that wasn't ready, a T&M ticket goes on the daily and the GC signs it on site. It becomes a change order draft for the next pay app. Trips the GC won't sign still get their own code, so the cost is counted.
The PM bills each system as it's completed on the schedule of values and sends the pay app to the GC from QuickBooks, with retainage tracked. Tests, inspections and punch items are tracked by job. Submittals and RFIs get a date, which helps when a substitution or a detail question delays a phase.
What the owner sees every month
Every month the PM enters cost to complete on each open job, and it gets approved. On waterproofing that number has to include every trip still to come, from the last sealant lift to the final test. The WIP schedule then shows over and under billing, so a job that billed early for below grade work looks only as good 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 waterproofing at your size. The 13 week cash forecast reads your pay apps and QuickBooks and marks the lowest week. Retainage held for warranty paperwork stays visible by job.
Leak investigation and repair work can go on its own jobs, so T&M service doesn't blend into contract work. Over time you'll see which kinds of buildings and which GCs need the most trips. You can ask Claude or ChatGPT about your own jobs, and it reads only what your permissions allow.
Waterproofing 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 |
|---|---|
| Below grade membrane | Foundation wall membrane, drainage board and protection board. |
| Under slab and blindside | Sheet membrane under slabs and against shoring before the wall is poured. |
| Air and vapor barrier | Fluid applied or sheet barrier on walls, with primer and transition sheets. |
| Sealants and joints | Window perimeter, expansion joints and backer rod by the lineal foot. |
| Deck and traffic coatings | Plaza decks, parking decks and balcony coatings. |
| Prep and repairs | Cleaning, patching tie holes and fixing membrane damaged by others. |
| Mobilizations | Each trip of crew and truck to the job, so extra trips are counted. |
| Lifts and access | Lifts, swing stages, sprayers and trucks charged by daily rate. |
| Testing and warranty | Flood tests, spray tests, manufacturer inspections and warranty paperwork. |
| Change orders and T&M | Damage by others and added scope, tied to the signed ticket. |
How waterproofing 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 17% Waterproofing 14.1% CFOS target | 22.1% all-trade average 26% Waterproofing 25% CFOS target | 7% all-trade average 9% Waterproofing 11% CFOS target |
| $5M to $10M | 14.1% all-trade average 16% Waterproofing 13.1% CFOS target | 23.4% all-trade average 27% Waterproofing 26% CFOS target | 9.4% all-trade average 11% Waterproofing 12.9% CFOS target |
| $10M to $25M | 13.1% all-trade average 15% Waterproofing 12.1% CFOS target | 24.6% all-trade average 28% Waterproofing 27.1% CFOS target | 11.5% all-trade average 13% Waterproofing 15% CFOS target |
| $25M to $50M | 12.1% all-trade average 14% Waterproofing | 25.7% all-trade average 29% Waterproofing | 13.7% all-trade average 15% Waterproofing |
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 waterproofing 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 waterproofing contractors ask
How do I track the cost of extra mobilizations?
Set up mobilization as its own cost code and put every trip on a daily. Labor and equipment for each trip are coded there. You can compare the trips you made to the ones you bid.
How do I get paid when another trade tears my membrane?
Photograph the damage on the daily and write a T&M ticket for the repair. The GC signs it on site and it becomes a change order draft. If it isn't signed, the cost still goes to its own code.
Can I bill below grade work before the sealants are done?
Yes. Your schedule of values can have a line for each system, and the pay app bills what's complete with retainage. Cost to complete keeps the remaining trips in the WIP schedule.
How do leak calls fit with contract work?
Keep leak investigation and repair on their own jobs or cost codes. The ticket goes on the daily and the owner or GC signs it on site. That keeps T&M service apart from contract margins.
Does CFOS replace QuickBooks Online for a waterproofing contractor?
No. CFOS works on top of QuickBooks Online, which keeps your books. It doesn't work with QuickBooks Desktop.
- 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
- Waterproofing benchmarks
QuickBooks is a trademark of Intuit Inc. Run On CFOS isn't affiliated with Intuit.