Know what the job has really cost.

An estimate is a forecast made before work starts. A committed cost is a purchase order, subcontract agreement, or supplier reservation that the firm has accepted. An actual is a cost posted from time, an invoice, or a material record. A credible landscape job costing workflow keeps those states visible instead of presenting one tidy number that hides what is still only expected.

Keep the currency and units visible beside the figures. When comparing products, ask how they handle your firm's VAT, GST or sales tax arrangements and check the answer with your accountant. The example below excludes tax and overheads.

A fictional Northbank Gardens build has an approved contract value of $78,000. The user enters an estimated cost of $18,400 labour, $26,700 materials, and $2,100 plant hire. Estimated cost is $47,200. An approved variation adds $4,800 to the client value and $3,250 to expected cost, giving a revised value of $82,800 and expected cost of $50,450.

The illustrative expected gross profit is $32,350. Gross margin is $32,350 divided by $82,800, or 39.1%. Markup is $32,350 divided by $50,450, or 64.1%. Margin is profit as a share of revenue; markup is profit as a share of cost. They are different measures and should not be presented as the same result.

The same worksheet could show $23,900 of supplier commitments and $9,600 of subcontract commitments, $33,500 committed in total, alongside $23,890 of actuals posted to date: $7,950 labour, $14,680 materials invoices, and $1,260 plant. Those figures are fictional user-entered inputs, not a result, forecast, or return-on-investment claim.

A variation or change order changes the approved scope and may change the expected cost. A staged invoice is a billing event agreed for a milestone such as deposit, paving completion, or planting. Payment is money received. An invoice can be approved and still be unpaid; a payment can arrive while a supplier cost is still only committed. Ask whether the record keeps these events separate and names the person who approved each one.

Lode is designed to relate estimate evidence, commitments, actuals, and approved changes so the next review has context. It does not certify a cost, give accounting advice, choose a tax treatment, approve a variation, issue an invoice, or claim a payment has arrived. The person responsible for the job decides what is true enough to commit and what still needs checking.