Job margin
When you cannot tell which jobs actually make money
Job margins stay hidden because revenue arrives on one invoice while cost arrives in fragments: hours, travel, standby, per diem, consumables, equipment and report preparation, many without a job number. Record each cost against the job when it happens, split revenue by service line and sector, and compare clients and methods on margin rather than turnover.
This week by crew. Double bookings are flagged, and certification checks can be set up at assignment to suit your written practice.
- Weld RT, night shift: RT for J. Patel expires before this job.
- Pipeline girth welds: D. Chen is already booked on Tank floor MFL.
- Double bookings are flagged on the board; certification checks at assignment are configured to the written practice.
Panels in the preview: Certifications, Calibration, Reports, Jobs, Sales & cash. Names and statuses are sample data.
Why job profitability is invisible in most NDT firms
Ask an inspection company owner which clients are profitable and the answer usually comes from instinct and turnover. The refinery that sends the biggest shutdown feels like the best account. The fabrication shop that pays promptly feels like a small one. Whether either earns a real margin is often unknown until the accountant closes the year, and even then the figure describes the company, not the job.
The reason is structural. Revenue is captured cleanly, because it comes from one invoice produced by one process. Cost arrives in pieces: payroll for technicians, per diem and lodging for travelling crews, consumables drawn from the store, calibration and repair bills for the instruments used, standby the contract did not cover, and the Level III's evening spent reviewing reports. Only some of those pieces carry a job number.
So the margin on a given job is revenue minus whichever costs happened to be coded to it, which is a flattering number. It flatters unevenly, too. Out-of-town turnarounds and complex multi-method scopes carry the most uncoded cost, and they are exactly the jobs that look best on a revenue report.
Turnover as the scorecard
Clients and service lines are ranked by sales because there is no reliable cost figure to rank them by.
Costs in overhead
Per diem, consumables and non-billable hours land in general overhead rather than on the job that caused them.
Quarter-end surprises
Margin is discovered when accounts close the period, far too late to change how a live job is run.
Re-quoting blind
The next quote for a client repeats last year's rates without knowing whether last year's job made money.
What not knowing job margins costs
Chasing the wrong work
Sales effort flows toward work that looks biggest rather than work that pays, and the unprofitable pattern repeats.
Underpriced quotes
Standby, travel and setup that were absorbed last time get absorbed again because nobody saw them.
Cash strain disguised as growth
A busy order book can sit alongside tightening cash when the extra work carries thin or negative margin.
Weak negotiating position
Without evidence of what a client's jobs cost to deliver, rate discussions rest on opinion.
Attach each cost to the job that caused it
The fix starts with the job record. In Atlantis NDT ERP the project holds the client PO, site, methods and assigned crew, and the records created during the work point back to it. Timesheet lines carry work type, method, site and equipment serial, with a billable flag that keeps non-billable hours visible as cost. Expenses link per diem, lodging, mileage and site purchases to the project or sales order, so field spend follows the job instead of disappearing into overhead.
Purchase lines for calibration, repairs and consumables can point to the instrument serial they were for, and consumables are issued through a movement ledger. On the revenue side, invoices carry the industry sector and cost centres such as branch or service line, with separate labour, equipment and consumables subtotals. The financial dashboard shows revenue, cost of sales, gross margin, operating expenses and outstanding balances as a year-long trend.
The limit is honest: a margin is only as good as the costs linked to the job. If report preparation or travel is not recorded against the job, it will not appear there. Views by job, client or service line beyond the standard set are configured during implementation as part of the agreed scope, and the system will not set your rates for you. It shows where the evidence points.
Open the job record on day one
Every job gets a project record the moment it is won, so time, expenses and purchases have one reference to point at.
Log non-billable time too
Travel, setup and rework the client does not pay for are logged as non-billable, so the cost is visible even when it is not invoiced.
Link field spend promptly
Technicians attach per diem and site purchases to the job when they submit expenses, not weeks later.
Tag revenue by line
Cost centres and sector on each invoice let you compare conventional NDT, advanced UT, training and consulting work.
Review before re-quoting
Before quoting a repeat client, look at what the last job actually consumed against what it billed.
Before and after
| Without a system | With Atlantis NDT |
|---|---|
| Clients ranked by turnover alone. | Revenue split by sector and cost centre beside the costs linked to each job. |
| Per diem buried in overhead. | Expenses linked to the job they were incurred for. |
| Margin learned at year end. | Gross margin and cost of sales on a running trend. |
| Repeat quotes copied from last year. | The last job's recorded hours, standby and spend reviewed first. |
The modules doing the work
Each module is part of the same platform, so a certification, an instrument, a job and a report are linked records rather than files in different places.
- Project
One job record holding PO, site, methods and crew, which time, expenses and purchases point back to.
- Timesheets
Billable and non-billable hours by work type and method, keeping unbilled effort visible as cost.
- Expenses
Per diem, lodging and site spend linked to the project or sales order.
- Invoicing
Cost centres, sector and labour, equipment and consumables subtotals, feeding the financial dashboard.
Questions owners ask
How can an NDT company see which jobs are profitable?
Record costs against the job as they happen, including non-billable hours, per diem and consumables, and tag revenue by service line and sector. The comparison then becomes what each job billed against what it actually consumed.
Does the system calculate margin per job automatically?
It brings a job's time, expenses and invoices together and shows company gross margin on the financial dashboard. Views by job, client or service line beyond the standard set are configured during implementation as agreed customization.
Why do turnaround jobs often look better than they are?
Because travel, per diem, standby and extended reporting are the costs most likely to miss the job record, and turnarounds carry the most of them.
Will it tell us what to charge?
No. Rates and commercial terms are your decision. The system records them consistently and shows the cost evidence behind each job, which makes the next pricing conversation better informed.
How do we get a quote?
Quote on request, based on the apps and customization you need. For a demo, bring the figures from a recent turnaround and we will show how its costs would land on the job.
See it on your own records
Bring a sample of your certifications, equipment list or reports and we will show the workflow configured to how your company runs. Demo on request.
Speak to an ASNT NDT Level III
Discuss your inspection requirements with Atlantis NDT. Include the asset, method, location and documents you need reviewed.