With BuildKeeper, there is both an Enter Materials Used window and the option to enable an Enter Expense window. Both of these serve the purpose of tracking costs, but with the former specifically used for materials expense.
In any contracting business, a big portion of the money out will be related to that spent on materials used for jobs. Because of this, BuildKeeper makes it easy to track and record these costs. Tracking materials directly also allows for better reporting, including detailed job costs reports. If you are familiar with QuickBooks, this is similar to the difference between the Expenses or Items tab when making a check, credit card, or bill entry.
| Expense Entry | Materials Entry | |
| Record cost incurred | YES | YES |
| Linked to an Expense Category | YES | YES |
| Record as a General Operating Expense (Overhead) | YES | NO |
| Record to a specific job | YES* | YES |
| Entry of specific items/materials | NO | YES |
| Record quantity | NO | YES |
*Can be enabled to allow material expense to be lumped together (not recommended).