Shows how many labor hours a job will really take, from what the crew has actually installed so far. Enter the budget from your estimate, then a short report each week. The forecast is drawn as pictures, so you can tell at a glance whether the job is on track, how far over or under it is heading, and whether it is getting better or worse.

How to use it

• 1 Budget. One line for each part of the job, with the quantity and hours from your estimate. Put change orders in their own list, so they never hide how the original work is going.
• 2 Weekly reports. Each week, how much the crew installed and how many hours went into each line. That's all; the page works out the rest.
• 3 Forecast. Where the job is headed. Green is on track, amber needs watching, red is heading over budget.

The idea behind it

Judge progress by what's installed, not by hours spent. A job that has used half its hours is not half done unless half the work is in place. Every picture here compares the two.

Three kinds of line

• Measured: work you can count, like squares of roofing or feet of trim. The forecast takes what's left and multiplies by the hours each unit is taking.
• Percent done: work you can't count, like setup, cleanup or punch list. Report how far along it is each week.
• Time-based: hours that run for as long as the job does, like a foreman or a lift operator. Their forecast depends on how many weeks of work are left, so a slow crew drives them up too.

Three ways to look at it

The hours still to come depend on what pace you expect from here: the planned pace, the recent pace (the last few weeks), or the average since the start. The page shows all three and leads with the recent pace, because a crew's last few weeks are usually the best guide to its next few. Change how many weeks count as recent under the three bars.

Shortcuts

Ctrl+S	Save the job to a file
Ctrl+O	Open a saved job
Ctrl+P	Print the forecast

Files

• Your job is kept in this browser as you work, until you press New job.
• Save writes one small .json file you can keep or send. Open reads it back on any computer.
• Print prints the Forecast tab, whichever tab you're on. Choose Save as PDF there for a PDF.
• Open the example job to look around one six weeks in. It takes the place of the job that's open, so save yours first.

A forecast is a judgment, not a promise. It's only as good as the quantities reported, and it can't see weather, material delays or a scope change coming. Use it to spot trouble early, and check it against what the foreman is seeing.