RHACOVA

Free contractor tool

Estimate vs Actual Calculator

Compare what you estimated with what happened. This tool reports the difference in dollars and percent — it does not guess why, and it does not invent numbers you have not got yet.

The job

Example figures are loaded. Leave the final invoiced amount empty while the job is still open — nothing will be assumed in its place.

Everything recorded against the job so far.

Including approved change orders. Without it, the final profit stays unknown.

Your result

Cost

Cost varianceActual minus estimated. Positive means more was spent than estimated.$1,600.00
Cost variance percentage9.14%
Estimated cost$17,500.00
Actual cost$19,100.00

Profit

Expected profit$6,500.00
Expected margin27.08%
Final profit$5,700.00
Final margin22.98%
Profit varianceFinal profit minus expected profit-$800.00
Margin differenceFinal margin minus expected margin, in percentage points-4.10%

These are facts about the numbers, not an explanation of them. A cost overrun can come from quantities, prices, scope the customer approved or hours nobody recorded — only the people on the job know which.

Why this number?

costVariance = actualCost - estimatedCost; expectedProfit = estimatedRevenue - estimatedCost; finalProfit = finalRevenue - actualCost (only when final revenue is known)

Inputs

estimatedCost
$17,500.00
actualCost
$19,100.00
estimatedRevenue
$24,000.00
finalRevenue
$24,800.00

Results

costVariance
$1,600.00
costVariancePercent
9.14%
expectedProfit
$6,500.00
expectedMargin
27.08%
finalProfit
$5,700.00
profitVariance
-$800.00

Formula jobcost.estimateVsActual · engine shared.jobcost@1.0.0 · cost-classes-and-variance · rounding half-even to 2 decimals.

Stop doing this after the fact

RHACOVA Jobs track baseline against recorded cost continuously, so the variance shows up while you can still act on it instead of at closeout.

Create a free account to track a job

What a variance is, and what it is not

A variance is a difference between two recorded numbers. It is evidence, not a verdict. A job running above the estimated cost is not automatically badly estimated, and one running below is not automatically well run — it might simply be unfinished, or missing invoices.

The comparisons this tool makes

  • Cost variance = actual cost − estimated cost
  • Cost variance % = cost variance ÷ estimated cost
  • Expected profit = estimated price − estimated cost
  • Final profit = final invoiced amount − actual cost
  • Profit variance = final profit − expected profit
  • Margin difference = final margin − expected margin, in percentage points

Missing information stays missing

Without a final invoiced amount there is no final profit, so the tool says unknown instead of quietly reusing the estimated price. The same rule applies to the percentage: a variance percentage of a zero estimated cost is a division by zero, so it is reported as unavailable rather than as 0% or infinity. An unknown number is more useful than a confident wrong one.

Worked example: closed out and still open

A job estimated at $17500 of cost and $24000 of price ran $19100 of actual cost.

  • Cost variance: $1,600.00 (9.14% of the estimated cost)
  • Expected profit: $6,500.00
  • Invoiced at $24800, the final profit is $5,700.00, a -$800.00 profit variance
  • With the invoice not issued yet, the same job reports the same cost variance and no final profit — it is unknown, not zero.

Common mistakes

  • Comparing an actual cost against an estimate that no longer matches the scope. Approved change orders belong on both sides.
  • Calling a job under budget before every invoice has landed. Late supplier bills reverse a lot of good news.
  • Using the estimated price as the final revenue. Until it is invoiced, it is a plan.
  • Reading one job as a pattern. Two similar jobs drifting the same way is a signal; one is an observation.
  • Jumping to a cause. The numbers show what moved, never why — that part comes from the people who were there.

Related decisions

Learn the method