Emergency Calls and After-Hours Work: Tracking Labor Cost Per Job for Plumbers

What plumbing labor books need to track

A plumbing job is not one flat cost. It is parts, labor and truck use, all spent on one job before you get paid. The labor side is where most plumbing books get messy, and emergency calls make it worse.

Your books need to track labor by job. When a tech spends four hours on a regular call and six hours on an emergency, those two jobs should not carry the same labor cost. One was a normal day. One ran late and cost more. When the books blend them, you can not tell which job paid.

Labor has three shapes in a plumbing company. There are regular hours on a scheduled job. There are overtime hours when a week runs long. And there are after hours hours when a tech picks up the phone at night and heads out. Each one costs a different amount per hour. Each one needs its own line on the job.

Here is what a clean job looks like.

When each line ties to the job, your profit per job is real. When the hours sit in one flat labor line, you can not price the next call.

How emergency calls change the cost

An emergency call is not a regular service call. A customer calls at night. A pipe burst. A water heater failed. The tech drops what they were doing and heads out. The job costs more because the hours cost more.

The cost goes up for two reasons. First, the hours often fall after the normal day, so they cost more per hour. Second, the job might pull a tech off a scheduled job, so the scheduled job loses time and the emergency takes it.

The clean way is to book the emergency hours to the emergency job, not to the scheduled job the tech left. The scheduled job keeps its own hours. The emergency job carries its own. When you do that, you can see what an emergency call really costs and what it really pays.

The messy way is to book all the hours to one labor account and sort it out later. Later never comes. At month end, the labor account is one big number, and no one can tell which job was the emergency and which was the regular call. You can not bill the customer right and you can not bid the next emergency right.

You can read more about how we keep costs tied to the job on our bookkeeping page.

How after hours work shows up in your books

After hours work is any work done outside the normal schedule. A tech takes a call at nine at night. A job runs past the end of the day. A weekend call fills the gap. The hours cost more because they are outside the regular rate.

The clean way is to tag after hours hours on the time sheet the day they happen. The tech writes down the start time, the end time, and the rate. The hours move to the job with that tag. At month end, the after hours hours sit on the right job and show the right cost.

The messy way is to wait. The tech does not write down the hours. At month end, no one remembers which job was after hours and which was regular time. The hours go into one pile, and the cost per job is a guess.

Here is how to keep after hours work clean.

• **Tag after hours hours on the time sheet the day they happen: ** not from memory at month end.
• - **Use the real start and end time: ** so the hours match the pay.
• - **Move the hours to the job they served: ** not to one flat labor line.
• - **Track the higher rate on the job: ** so the cost per job shows the truth.
• - **Keep after hours hours apart from overtime: ** the two are not the same thing.

After hours hours and overtime hours are not the same. Overtime is when a week runs past the normal total. After hours is when the work happens outside the normal day. One can be regular time and the other can be after hours in the same week. Keep them apart so the cost per job is right.

How to track regular and overtime hours by job

Regular hours are the daytime hours on a scheduled job. Overtime hours are the hours past the normal weekly total. The two cost different amounts, and they need their own lines on the job.

The clean way is to track hours on a time sheet by job and by type. The tech writes down the job name, the hours, and whether they are regular or overtime. The pay run uses the time sheet. The cost moves to the job by the type of hour.

The messy way is to run the pay from a total hours number with no job tag. The pay goes out right, but the cost per job is blank. At month end, the overtime sits in one pile and no one knows which job caused it.

Here is how to keep regular and overtime apart.

• **Track hours by job on the time sheet: ** not just a weekly total.
• - **Mark each block as regular or overtime: ** so the pay run splits them.
• - **Move the cost to the job by the hour type: ** regular hours to the regular labor line, overtime to the overtime line.
• - **Check the overtime at month end: ** see which job pushed the week over.
• - **Keep the time sheet and the pay run tied together: ** so the hours match the pay.

When the hours tie to the job, you can see which job ran long and why. When they sit in one pile, overtime is just a number with no story.

How to keep emergency call fees tied to the job

An emergency call fee is what you charge for the rush. It is income, not a cost. But it belongs on the same job as the labor and the parts, so you can see if the emergency paid.

The clean way is to book the emergency call fee to the emergency job. The fee sits next to the after hours labor and the parts. The income and the cost sit side by side, and the profit for the emergency call shows.

The messy way is to book the fee to a flat service income line with no job tag. Now the income is in one pile and the cost is on the job. You can not see if the emergency paid or if it cost more than it brought in.

Here is how to keep the fee tied to the job.

• **Book the emergency call fee to the emergency job: ** not to a flat income line.
• - **Put the fee next to the labor and the parts: ** so the profit for the call shows.
• - **Tag the job as emergency: ** so you can pull a list of emergency calls at month end.
• - **Compare the fee to the cost: ** so you know if your emergency rate is right.
• - **Review the emergency jobs each month: ** see if they paid or lost money.

When the fee and the cost sit on the same job, you can price the next emergency call with real numbers. When they sit apart, you are guessing.

How the month end close works for labor

At month end, every job needs its labor added up. The regular hours, the overtime hours and the after hours hours pull together into one job total. The income for the job sits next to it. The difference is the profit for the job.

We start with the time sheets. We match each time sheet to the pay run. We tie each hour block to the job it served. We split the overtime and the after hours hours to the right lines. We book the emergency call fees to the right jobs. The pay run and the time sheet need to match, which is part of how we handle payroll. Then we add up the job. We send you the profit and loss report, and the job totals sit inside it.

Here is a simple month end check for labor.

• **Match the time sheets to the pay run: ** every hour block accounted for.
• - **Tie each hour to the job it served: ** no orphan hours in a flat labor line.
• - **Split overtime and after hours to their own lines: ** so the cost per job is right.
• - **Book emergency call fees to the emergency jobs: ** so income and cost sit together.
• - **Add up the job total: ** labor plus parts plus truck stock.
• - **Compare the job total to the income: ** the gap is the profit per job.

A situation we clean up

The emergency that ate the week

A plumbing company runs five techs. One tech takes a call late at night for a burst pipe. The tech works four hours on the emergency. The next morning, the tech moves to a scheduled job. At the end of the week, the tech has six hours of overtime. The books show the overtime in one flat labor line. No one can tell which job caused it. The emergency job shows two hours of labor. The scheduled job shows the rest. The owner can not tell if the emergency paid or if it cost more than it brought in.

Here is how we handle it. We pull the time sheets for the week. We find the emergency job and the scheduled job. We move the four after hours hours to the emergency job and tag them as after hours. We move the overtime to the jobs that caused it. We book the emergency call fee to the emergency job. We add up each job. The emergency job now shows the real cost and the real income. The owner can see if the emergency rate is right and if the after hours pay is worth it. We set up a simple rule so the next time sheet tags the hours by job and by type the day they happen.

Mistakes we fix

• All labor booked to one flat labor line with no job tag
• Overtime in one pile with no job tied to it
• After hours hours booked as regular time
• Emergency call fees in a flat income line with no job
• The emergency job and the scheduled job blended together
• No time sheet, so the pay run and the jobs never tie
• The tech who left a scheduled job for an emergency, with the cost on the wrong job
• No month end check of which job caused the overtime
• No split between regular, overtime and after hours on the job
• The emergency rate set without knowing what an emergency call really costs

Common questions

How do I track after hours work? Tag the after hours hours on the time sheet the day they happen. Use the real start and end time. Move the hours to the job they served. Keep after hours hours apart from overtime, since the two are not the same thing.

Are overtime and after hours the same? No. Overtime is when a week runs past the normal total. After hours is when the work happens outside the normal day. One can be regular time and the other can be after hours in the same week. Keep them apart so the cost per job is right.

Where does the emergency call fee go? Book it to the emergency job, next to the labor and the parts. When the income and the cost sit on the same job, you can see if the emergency paid and if your emergency rate is right.

How does the month end close work for labor? Match the time sheets to the pay run. Tie each hour to the job. Split overtime and after hours to their own lines. Book emergency call fees to the right jobs. Add up the job and compare it to the income.