Obra for Gutter contractors

Gutter job costing, from the coil to the last downspout

Track each gutter job as its own project: coil, downspouts, guards, fascia repairs and labor by the day. Know what each house made you, five jobs a day or one.

Gutters are a lot of small jobs with the same three costs: coil, a crew day, and whatever the old gutter was hiding. No single job is big. Together they're the business, and without a number per house it's hard to say which jobs pay and which ones cost you a day.

Obra makes each house its own job, however small. The coil and the guards go against the budget, the rotted fascia becomes a change order, and at the end of the month you can see what each house made.

One house, one job

Set up each install as a job with the price and a short budget: coil, hardware, guards, labor. It takes a minute. When the job is paid, its page shows what you charged, what it cost, and what you kept. The cost code guide has a short list built for mixed work like this.

Receipts from the supply house

Your tech picks up coil, hangers and sealant on the way to the first job. They photograph the receipt and send it by WhatsApp. Obra reads it, drafts the expense, and you confirm which job it belongs to. The receipt tracking guide shows the habit.

The fascia, the guards, the drain

The three change orders below show up on most houses. Price each one from the ladder, get the client's okay, then record it so the job's price moves with the work. The change order guide keeps the wording short.

Which jobs paid

After a month, compare jobs. Full replacements against guard-only jobs against repairs. Which had the best margin? Which ones took a second trip? The markup and margin guide helps you set a price per foot that covers the days that go wrong.

What Obra isn't for a gutter contractor

Not route scheduling, not a lead tracker, not a price book. Obra is the money on each house, in English and Spanish, from receipts your crew already sends, exported clean to the accountant.

Sample budget

Seamless 6-inch aluminum gutters, 210 ft, six downspouts, guards, Oak Hollow

Line item Budget
Aluminum coil and downspouts $1,150
Hangers, miters, end caps, sealant $260
Gutter guards (allowance) $1,400
Fascia repairs $300
Haul-away of old gutters $100
Crew labor, two techs, one day $1,100
Direct cost budget $4,310
Contract value $6,400
Gross margin budgeted $2,090

Illustrative figures in US dollars for a fictional project; use them to see the shape of the budget, not to price a job.

The cost codes this trade actually uses

  • 01 Coil, downspouts and elbows
  • 02 Hangers, miters and sealant
  • 03 Gutter guards
  • 04 Fascia and soffit repairs
  • 05 Drainage extensions and splash blocks
  • 06 Haul-away and disposal
  • 07 Crew labor, removal
  • 08 Crew labor, install
  • 09 Machine and vehicle
  • 10 Fuel

The change orders that eat the margin

The fascia that's rotted behind the old gutter
The old gutter comes down and twelve feet of fascia is soft. New fascia and paint is carpentry the gutter bid never had. Take the photo, get the okay, then record it before the new run goes up.
Guards added after the quote
The quote had open gutters. The client asks about guards while the crew is on the ladder. It's a change order with a price per foot, confirmed before the crew cuts them.
The downspout that needs an underground drain
The back corner dumps onto the neighbor's patio. Running a buried drain to the curb is trenching and pipe the quote didn't include. Price it, get the okay, then dig.

Questions people ask

I do five gutter jobs a day. Do I really need one job for each?
One job each takes a minute to set up, and the list shows what's open and what each house made. Some crews group a day's small repairs as one job and keep full installs separate. Either way, every receipt lands somewhere.
Coil is bought by the roll and one roll spans several jobs. How do I split it?
Log the roll's invoice to the first job that used it. If it clearly covers several, record what each used as its own expense from the same invoice. Over a month you'll know your coil cost per foot.
Is Obra for gutter cleaning routes?
No. Obra is for jobs with a price and a budget: installs, replacements, guard packages, fascia work. A cleaning route needs a scheduling and invoicing tool.
Can my tech send receipts from the supply house?
Yes. A photo by WhatsApp, email or the app, in English or Spanish. They never see the job's numbers. You confirm it to the right house in a few seconds.
Free download

Not ready for an app? Start with our free Excel template.

A ready-made spreadsheet to track costs and income per project — with categories and the totals already set up.

The download starts right away. We'll also follow up by email with more job-costing help — no spam, unsubscribe anytime.