The Overview tab in Jobs brings your margin, billing, category progress and contract position together in one dashboard. This article walks through each section, plus the new completed status in Actual Costings that helps Buildxact forecast your job.
Watch the video below to see this in action, or continue reading for step-by-step details.
Why we built the Overview tab
We had a lot of feedback asking for better visibility of forecasts and whole-project reporting. Previously, you had to go through several sections of a job to understand where you were at. The Overview tab brings all of that into one place.
Open the Overview tab
Click Jobs.
Open a job.
Click the Overview tab.
How values are calculated
Hover over any value with a faint underline to see what it is, why it's there and how it's calculated. Most values on the dashboard have this, so you can always see how a number was worked out.
Dashboard sections
Margin
Margin shows how the job is running against what you estimated. The figures come from your estimate and include the markup you added there.
Margin takes into account:
The adjusted estimate, including change orders (variations)
Committed spend
Actual spend
What does committed mean? A committed amount is a purchase order you've sent but haven't received yet. You've committed to spending it, but haven't spent it yet.
Billing position
See where the job is at with billing:
What's been invoiced and what's left to invoice
How your invoiced amount is tracking against what you've spent
What's been paid and what hasn't
Retention on the job, if applicable
Categories
A summary for each category, showing whether it's completed, plus committed spend, non-committed amounts and spend so far.
Refresh and tax display
On the right-hand side, you can:
Refresh the dashboard. It refreshes on its own, but we recommend refreshing before you dive into the numbers.
Choose whether to show figures tax inclusive or tax exclusive, depending on what you're used to seeing.
Contract and claim
A quick comparison of your original contract amount against change orders (variations), what's been paid and received, and what's left to invoice.
Change orders (variations)
A quick summary of the change orders (variations) across the whole job.
Completed status in Actual Costings
Each category and item in Actual Costings now has a status:
Not started
In progress
Completed
Once something is marked as Completed, Buildxact treats that number as final and uses it for forecasting. Categories also change colour based on their status.
Set a category's status
In Actual Costings, open the category.
Use the status drop-down on the right-hand side of the category, next to the Add Item button.
Select Not started, In progress or Completed.
Set an item's status
Click the circle next to the item description to set its status.
Why this matters
For example, if a category finished over budget and you mark it as completed, the Overview tab can compare it directly against a category that came in under budget. This shows you how one balanced out the other.
Suggest a feature
The Overview tab and completed status were driven by your feedback. To suggest a feature, click Community at the bottom left of Buildxact, then Feature suggestions. We read every suggestion and consider them when we add new features or update existing ones.
Need help? Reach out to our support team — we're here to help!