Build up a project's total cost from labour hours, materials, subcontractors and overhead, then compare it to the agreed price to see the margin, cost variance and earned value.
Données vérifiées · July 2026
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Project costing pulls together labour (hours times rate), direct materials, subcontractor costs and other direct costs into a total direct cost, then adds an overhead recovery based on a chosen overhead rate. Comparing the total cost to the agreed project price gives the profit and margin, while comparing it to a separate budget and percentage complete gives a cost variance and earned value — useful for tracking a project's financial health while it is still in progress.
120 labour hours at £35/hour, £8,000 materials and £3,000 subcontractor cost, 15% overhead, against a £30,000 project price: a healthy margin with room for the overhead recovery.
Enter the labour hours worked and the labour rate per hour.
Enter materials, subcontractor and other direct costs.
Enter the overhead rate to apply, and the agreed project price.
If tracking an in-progress project, enter the budgeted cost and percentage complete for the variance and earned value.
Last data update
July 7, 2026
Sources and references
CIMA — Job, batch and contract costing topic guide; ACCA Management Accounting (MA), project and contract costing methods.
The data in this calculator is updated regularly to reflect the latest official rates. When in doubt, consult the official sources listed above.
Leave budgeted cost and percentage complete at their defaults — the calculator will still compute total cost, profit and margin against the project price; only the cost variance and earned value require a budget figure.
The overhead rate is applied to the combined direct costs (labour, materials, subcontractors and other direct costs) to give a single overhead recovery figure added to the total cost.