Goldenseal Estimating Software Topics-- Labor Adjustments

Labor Adjustments

How do I adjust labor costs for a rush job, a distant job, a weird job, or other unusual conditions?

The construction Assemblies that are included with Goldenseal estimating software are designed for "average" conditions. However, sometimes you'll get non-average jobs that will change the number of labor hours it will take to do the work (usually they'll take extra time, but occasionally they may take less time).

When Will You Need to Adjust?

You may need to adjust the labor costs in an estimate in any of the following situations:

It's a rush job, and you will have many people working in the same place.
It's a distant job, and everyone will spend more time commuting.
It's a job in a big city, and everyone will spend time looking for parking places.
It's a weird job or something you've never done before, and you'll waste some time figuring things out.
The job uses exotic materials that require special care and handling time.
You'll have to work around residents or visitors as you do the work.

How to Make a Labor Adjustment

To make a quick percentage adjustment of all labor costs on a job, follow these steps:

Choose Estimates from the Income menu.
Locate the Estimate you are working on.
Click in the breakdown table, at the place where you'd like to add the adjustment.
Choose Table from the Edit menu, and choose Insert Row from the submenu.
Enter Percent of Labor into the Cost Area column.
Type an explanation for the cost in the Cost Item column.
Type a percentage into the Quantity column.

To add a line item for a specific extra labor hours that you anticipate needing, follow these steps:

Choose Estimates from the Income menu.
Locate the Estimate you are working on.
Click in the breakdown table, at the place where you'd like to add the adjustment.
Choose Table from the Edit menu, and choose Insert Row from the submenu.
Enter Labor into the Cost Area column.
Enter a wage rate into the Cost Item column.
Type the number of extra hours into the Quantity column.

To add a line item for an extra labor cost that you anticipate, follow these steps:

Choose Estimates from the Income menu.
Locate the Estimate you are working on.
Click in the breakdown table, at the place where you'd like to add the adjustment.
Choose Table from the Edit menu, and choose Insert Row from the submenu.
Enter Labor Unlisted into the Cost Area column.
Type an explanation for the cost in the Cost Item column.
Type the extra labor cost into the Quantity column.

HINT-- If you do many jobs that require higher costs, you might want to create a second set of Assemblies that use additional labor hours. Then you can use the "rush" Assemblies whenever you need to work under those conditions.

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