Overview
You create a Builder Gain/Loss from Jobs > Job Financials > Budget, using whichever of the three methods suits the situation. This lets you record cost changes that happen after the contract is signed, so your job budget and profit reporting stay accurate without raising a customer variation.
Definition
A Builder Gain/Loss is any change to a cost item after the contract is signed that isn't a customer variation. Gains increase profit; losses reduce profit. Recording one doesn't change what the customer is charged; it only affects your own margin on the job.
When to Create a Builder Gain/Loss
Create a Builder Gain/Loss once a bill is paid against a Budget Item or Cost Category to track profit and loss on the job in real time. You can also create one when you're ready to close off the financials for a Cost Category.
Creating a Gain/Loss from a Budget Item
Tick the checkbox beside the relevant budget item or multiple items, then click the Gain/Loss button. This opens a drawer where you enter a Description and select a Reason, then click Create. This takes you to the full Builder Gain/Loss screen, where you enter the Qty and Price Ea for each item.
The UOM carries over from the original budget item, but you enter Qty and Price Ea manually for each line. The system calculates the total automatically: entering a negative Qty against a positive price (or vice versa) produces a negative total, shown as a (Gain) Total, meaning the cost has come in under budget. A positive total reduces the expected profit on the job. You click Save once you're happy with the figures.
Once you've created your Builder Gain/Loss, it reflects in your job budget against the line item.
Creating a Gain/Loss from the Gain/Loss Column
Click the dropdown directly in the Gain/Loss column on a budget line item to create a gain or loss against that item without needing to select a checkbox first.
Creating a Gain/Loss from Paid or PO Amounts
Click the button beside the Paid or PO Total amount on a budget item to create a gain or loss directly against what's already been paid, or against a linked purchase order.
Customising Builder Gain/Loss Reasons
Navigate to Settings > Data Setup > Budget Gain/Loss Reasons to customise your reasons. Entering a reason for the gain/loss lets you run reports to identify the total value of gains or losses for a particular reason, such as a supplier price increase.
Conclusion
Recording a Builder Gain/Loss at the right point, once a bill is paid or when closing off a Cost Category, keeps your live profit and loss accurate without affecting what the customer is charged. Whichever method you use to create it, the outcome is reflected against the same budget item.