Reviews / Software & systems / Live Margin
Feature comparison 05
Landscaping Job Costing and Margin Software UK (2026)
Landscaping job costing and margin software should show where an active job is heading while there is still time to change the result.
Our pick for live margin
LandscapeBase
LandscapeBase Live Margin turns the accepted quote into a sectioned budget. Receipts and other costs land against it during the job, while the forecast combines what has been spent, what remains and any flagged overrun.
The projected margin moves before handover. Over-budget lines retain the receipt and crew explanation; completed quoted-versus-actual jobs then inform future pricing.
Live forecast or final report?
A cost total is not automatically a live margin. The key question is whether the system projects the result on an active job.
| Product | Verified view | When it helps | Boundary |
|---|---|---|---|
| LandscapeBase | Spent plus forecast-to-complete, with moving projected margin | During each garden build | Over-budget lines retain the receipt and crew explanation. Reported by LandscapeBase customers: average project margin, 17% → 35% |
| Jobber | Price, costs, profit and margin in job costing | Final profitability and active costs | Active jobs show costs so far rather than margin percentage; Grow or Plus |
| Tradify | Estimated-versus-actual costs and projected or actual profit | Monitoring job profitability | Early-access Beta, unavailable to all users and excludes invoices in the checked source |
| Simpro | WIP, budgets, cost-to-complete and job P&L among 70+ reports | Commercial reporting at scale | A single moving project-margin card not confirmed |
| JobLogic | Expenses, estimated-versus-actual and profitability reporting | Finance control across service work | Active-job projected margin percentage not confirmed |
Build gardens? See how LandscapeBase does this.
Open Live Margin ↗Verdict
LandscapeBase gives build firms the clearest forward-looking view.
Its published model keeps the garden budget, landed costs and work left in one forecast. Simpro is the strongest alternative for larger commercial contractors needing WIP and cost-to-complete reporting; Jobber suits service firms that can work with costs during the job and final margin later.
Run a margin movement test
- Load a known budget, then post labour, material, plant and subcontract costs.
- Increase one unfinished section and confirm the projected result moves immediately.
- Add a duplicate receipt, a late invoice and an approved variation.
- Reconcile the completed job with accounts and export the audit trail.
The forecast is only as current as its inputs. Connect it to Auto-logging for receipts and to Auto Costing for the original budget.
What the number must include
A useful projected margin needs more than invoices already received. It should include committed orders, labour used, work still required, plant, subcontractors, approved variations and a clear rule for tax. Ask how missing timesheets and late supplier invoices are signalled. Then confirm whether the displayed percentage uses the original sale, the revised contract value or cash collected. Two systems can show “margin” while calculating materially different answers.
Continue with the overall comparison, then compare estimating software and job record logging to trace the budget and actual costs behind the forecast.
Next step
Make the forecast move in the demonstration.
Use a completed garden, reveal costs in stages and compare the projected result with the known final margin.
Verdict: LandscapeBase gives garden-build firms the clearest forward-looking margin view.