Counters in, plumbing back on
Aug 12Quartz counters went in this morning and the island sink is back on. Full photo set below.
Posted from the job site
Job costing software features Everything in the book.
Beyond capture and the ledger, this is the rest of Obra: estimating and billing in full, charts drawn from your real numbers, the details construction money needs, a public page for the work you finish and a quick check on any job you're running.
Every receipt feeds one number
$171,100
Every cost. Live. On every project.
Seen the day it's spent, not after the job closes.
Measured, not guessed
Illustrative numbers
01 / Quote & bill
From quote to paid.
Everything between the first number you give a client and the last payment you collect, in the same book as your costs.
Estimates
01
Price book & templates
Save the items you price again and again, and start each estimate from a template instead of a blank page.
02
Optional add-ons
Group the work into sections and mark extras as optional; the client ticks the ones they want and the total updates on their link.
03
Signed online
The client accepts with a typed signature. Obra keeps the name, the consent statement and the time with the exact version they accepted.
04
Versions
Revise and resend: every version is kept, and resending turns off the earlier link, so a forwarded old email stops working.
Getting paid
01
Payment link
Put your own Stripe, Square or PayPal link on your invoices so clients can pay online, then record the payment against the invoice.
02
Billable expenses
Mark a cost billable and it waits as a charge the client owes until payments settle it, in one go or in parts.
03
Credit notes & aging
Correct an issued invoice with a credit note instead of rewriting it, and see what's outstanding by how long it's been waiting.
04
Follow-ups, sent for you
Turn on reminders and Obra emails the client 3, 7 and 14 days after an unanswered estimate, and around an invoice's due date until it's paid.
02 / Instruments
Instruments, not guesses.
Cash flow, cash results by project and by client, category budgets, portfolio averages — every chart computed from real receipts, live. The numbers below are illustrative.
Collected − recorded
$171k
+$41k vs last quarter
Active projects
12
3 finishing this month
Receipts captured
1,284
Zero typed by hand
Avg project duration
14
Weeks, contract to close
Range
Cash flow — Westlake Remodel · USD
Cash collected Recorded cost
Hover a month for exact figures
Collected − recorded · running
+$24k in July$171k collected − recorded cost
Where the money goes
Spend by category · this quarter
Materials
35% · $42k
Labor
24% · $29k
Other
21% · $24k
Permits
20% · $24k
Cash results by client
Who actually pays the bills
Westlake Dev
+$171k
Harper Group
+$96k
Lakeway Clinic
+$44k
Elgin Warehouse
+$12k
Budget burn
Westlake Remodel · watch marks at 80% and 100%
Materials
64%
Labor
91% ⚠
Permits
38%
Equipment
52%
03 / Specification
Built for construction money.
SPEC-01
Multi-currency
USD, MXN, EUR — bucketed per currency, never silently converted.
SPEC-02
Change orders
Approved extras adjust the contract; the original survives.
SPEC-03
Category budgets
Watch marks at 80%, overrun alerts in your Monday digest — you see it coming.
SPEC-04
Roles & approvals
Crew captures, office approves. You decide who sees contract values.
SPEC-05
Clients & vendors
Cash results by client. Spend by vendor. Context on every dollar.
SPEC-06
Custom categories
Your trade's language, preset at onboarding. Scanning uses the same list.
SPEC-07
Exports
Filtered CSVs or the whole organization as a ZIP of CSVs. No lock-in, ever.
SPEC-08
Installs like an app
PWA with a home-screen quick-capture shortcut. No app store required.
SPEC-09
Monday digest
Cash collected, recorded cost, budget alerts — weekly, by email.
SPEC-10
Spreadsheet import
Bring past costs in from a CSV or Excel file: preview every row, catch duplicates, and undo the batch in one click while it's untouched.
SPEC-11
Forecast & close
Review what's left to spend to get each job's expected final cost, then close its books when it's done, and reopen them if you need to.
SPEC-12
Today feed & inbox
The dashboard lists what needs you today, like receipts waiting or a job ready to close, and everyone gets their own notification inbox.
SPEC-13
Crew & sub expenses
People submit expenses only on the projects they're assigned to and see only their own; every edit is kept as a version for the office to approve.
SPEC-14
Several companies, one login
Run more than one business? Switch between organizations from one account; each keeps its own books, team and inbox.
SPEC-15
Cost codes & phases
Tag any cost with a cost code and a phase, alongside its category.
SPEC-16
English & Spanish, per person
Every screen, every WhatsApp reply and the Monday digest in the language each person picks. Office in English, crew in Spanish — same project, same numbers.
04 / The work
Proof beats promises.
Publish a public page per project — before & after, milestones, updates. Send one link. Win the next contract.
tryobra.com/p/westlake-remodel
One link
Rio Verde Builders
Share
Westlake Remodel
Austin, TX
78% complete
Before
After
Timeline
- Demo & prep Mar 2026
- Framing inspection passed Apr 2026
- Cabinets & counters in Jun 2026
- Final walkthrough In progress
Latest update
Client's view
No login, no app — just the work.
Before & after
Clients drag the proof themselves.
Built as you build
Milestones and updates, posted from the site.
05 / Field check
Run your numbers.
Type two numbers from any job you're on right now and see what's left after costs — no account, no email. Obra keeps that number live for every project, free.
$
$
Left after costs
—
% of contract left
—
Obra keeps these numbers live for every project — from your contract value and every recorded cost.
Track your numbers free
Need more than one number? Free calculators and worksheets for the rest — no account needed.
Open the free tools
Build. Bill. Bank.
Set up your first project in two minutes. Free forever for one project — no credit card.
Start tracking free