In construction, profits don’t disappear all at once—they slip away job by job, line item by line item. That’s why tracking costs accurately is one of the most important habits of profitable contractors. But effective cost tracking doesn’t start in the field—it starts with the estimate.
Estimating Link® software helps you build detailed, accurate estimates that lay the foundation for cost tracking once the job starts. When paired with a tracking system like Field Link® or your accounting software, Estimating Link® gives you the ability to compare what you thought would happen to what actually happened—so you can protect your profit.
In this blog, we’ll walk through how Estimating Link® sets you up for accurate construction cost tracking by giving you the tools to estimate with precision, structure, and clarity.
How to Build a Trackable Estimate From the Start
Accurate cost tracking starts with an accurate estimate. If your estimate doesn’t reflect how the job will actually be built, it’s impossible to track real costs against it later.
That’s where Estimating Link® comes in. It helps you build clear, structured estimates that break down costs for:
- Labor
- Equipment
- Materials
- Subcontractors
- Miscellaneous Expenses
Each cost is organized by bid item, so when you connect your estimate to Field Link® or your accounting software, you’re not just sending totals—you’re sending a detailed plan for how the job is expected to perform.
Estimators can:
Assign realistic production rates to crew activities
- Set unit costs based on actual supplier and sub pricing
- Structure estimates to create a schedule of values for tracking and billing
The more accurate and detailed the estimate, the easier it is to compare it to actual job performance later—and adjust before overruns happen.
How to Track Crew Hours and Production—Starting With Your Estimate
Labor is one of the most expensive and variable parts of any construction job. That’s why tracking crew hours and production is critical—but it only works if your original expectations are solid.
With Estimating Link®, you don’t just estimate hours—you estimate crew-based production. You define how many feet of pipe your crew should install per day, or how many cubic yards they should move per hour. That production data becomes your baseline for evaluating job performance once the project starts.
Estimating Link® helps you:
- Set clear expectations for daily output and crew hours
- Build your estimate around real-world production assumptions
- Provide a structure that Field Link or accounting software can later use to track actuals
While Estimating Link® doesn’t do the tracking itself, it’s the source of truth your field and office teams rely on when evaluating how the job is performing against the original plan.
How to Protect Your Profit with Revenue Allocation
Not every bid item carries the same weight. Some are more labor-intensive, others carry higher risk, and a few offer better margin potential. That’s where Estimating Link’s® Move Money feature comes into play.
This feature allows you to strategically shift revenue across bid items before you submit your bid. Instead of spreading margin evenly, you can front-load profit into areas where you're most confident—or hedge for risk where needed.
While Estimating Link® doesn’t track costs after the job starts, it allows you to:
- Build a profit strategy directly into the estimate
- Set up bid items for better visibility and performance evaluation
- Provide clear targets for Field Link® or your accounting software to measure against
Once the job begins, your team can compare the actual performance of each bid item to how revenue was allocated in Estimating Link®—making it easier to spot which areas are overperforming, underperforming, or falling off track.
Monitor & Compare Construction Costs With Estimating Link Reports
One of the biggest advantages of Estimating Link® is that it doesn’t just help you build estimates—it helps you communicate them clearly to the rest of your team.
Estimating Link® provides detailed, exportable reports that lay out your estimate in a format that can be easily shared with:
- Field supervisors
- Project managers
- Accounting teams
- Cost tracking platforms like Field Link
These reports give everyone a shared reference point for what was expected—making it easier to compare actual job costs against the original estimate once the project is underway.
With Estimating Link® reports, you can:
- Share production expectations and resource costs by bid item
- Export structured data to Field Link® or your accounting software
- Ensure field and office teams are working from the same financial baseline
Cost tracking only works when your estimate is clear. Estimating Link® makes sure it is.
How to Track Every Dollar Back to Your Estimate
Construction cost tracking doesn’t begin when the job starts—it begins with the estimate. If the estimate is unclear, inaccurate, or disconnected from how the job will be built, then cost tracking will never reflect reality.
That’s where Estimating Link® makes the difference. It gives you the tools to build detailed, production-based estimates that become the foundation for tracking job performance in Field Link® or your accounting system.
And because Estimating Link® includes tools like the Haul Calculator and Move Money, you can make smarter, time-sensitive decisions—like adjusting haul distances or rebalancing revenue—based on real-world changes in the field. Even if the job has already started, you can refer back to your estimate to stay grounded in what was planned and where there’s room to pivot.
With Estimating Link®, you're not just bidding the job—you’re preparing your entire team to stay on budget, adapt fast, and protect profit from day one.
Ready to make your estimates work harder for you?
Learn how Estimating Link® helps contractors stay on budget—and ahead of problems—before the job ever starts.
