Challenge

A residential builder wanted greater visibility over the true profitability of completed homes. While they could see the final project cost, they had no simple way to compare actual costs against their original estimate, identify where budgets had been exceeded, or understand which trades and cost categories were consistently over or under budget.

This made it difficult to improve future estimating accuracy and maximise profit margins.

Client Request

"We need a way to compare what we estimated against what we actually spent so we can see where we're making or losing money and improve our future pricing."

Solution Delivered

Rave introduced comprehensive Back Costing, allowing builders to compare estimated costs with actual project costs once a build is complete.

Using Back Costing, users can:

• Compare estimated versus actual costs by category, subcategory, or individual line item.
• Identify budget overruns and project savings.
• Analyse labour, material, and subcontractor performance.
• View cost variances in both dollar values and percentages.
• Drill down into individual transactions that contributed to each variance.
• Use completed project data to improve future estimating accuracy.

Because Back Costing is fully integrated with Rave's Estimating and Financial Management modules, all financial information is automatically linked without requiring manual spreadsheets or duplicate data entry.

Customer Feedback

"This has completely changed how we review completed jobs. We can finally see exactly where we made money, where we didn't, and use that information to price our next build with confidence."

Outcome

Within weeks of using Back Costing, the builder had a clear understanding of project profitability and the reasons behind budget variances.

Instead of relying on assumptions or manual spreadsheet analysis, the team could quickly identify recurring cost trends, refine their estimating process, and make more informed pricing decisions. The result was improved forecasting, better financial control, and increased confidence in future project margins.

Why Rave?

Rave Back Costing gives builders the insight they need to continuously improve project profitability.

By comparing estimated costs with actual project outcomes, builders can learn from every completed project, identify opportunities to reduce costs, and create more accurate estimates for future work.

This is another example of how Rave transforms project data into meaningful business insights, helping builders make smarter decisions, protect their margins, and grow a more profitable business. To learn more about how back costing can benefit your business, feel free to reach out to our team.