Forecast a job's final cost

The expected final cost is a simple, honest sum: everything already recorded on the job, plus what you judge is still left to spend. Obra doesn't invent the second half — you do, in a forecast review, because you're the one who knows the site.

Two guarantees keep it trustworthy. The expected final cost can never sit below what's already recorded — as real costs land, the floor rises with them. And every figure states its basis, so an expected result is never confused with a final one.

On the project's analytics page, open the forecast review and enter what remains to spend. Each review is saved as its own entry — the history of what you expected, and when, stays intact rather than being overwritten.

When recorded costs move past your last review, the panel flags it: "Recorded cost has changed since the last forecast review." A stale forecast is shown as needing review — it never quietly pretends to be current.

With a reviewed revenue basis and a reviewed forecast, the panel shows the expected gross profit: expected final revenue minus expected final cost. The margin divides by expected revenue — never by what happens to be collected so far, because payment timing says nothing about how a job will end.

These are gross figures from direct project costs, tax included — overhead isn't part of a project's forecast.

A 25% expected margin is a fact; whether it's enough is your question. Owners and admins can answer it once for the whole organization under Organization → Finance: enter the overhead the business carries (per year or per month), the profit you're targeting (an amount or a percent of revenue) and the revenue you expect for the year. Obra derives the required gross margin — overhead plus target, divided by expected revenue — and shows it beside every project's expected margin, with the gap.

Today flags active projects whose expected margin sits below it. Three honest limits: nothing is compared until you set a basis (Obra never assumes an overhead), a basis older than six months is shown but no longer acted on until you review it, and a project in another currency than the basis gets no converted figure.

If your crew's labor isn't in the ledger as costs, an expected result that ignores it can look better than reality. Once you use forecasts, Obra asks you to confirm how far labor is covered on the project — a simple declaration with a date, reviewed from the analytics page. It's entirely optional until then: projects that never touch forecasts are never nagged about labor.