Welding and metal fabrication shops

Accounting software for welding and fabrication shops: job costs, steel stock and shop time

A fabrication job lives or dies on two numbers: the steel and the shop hours. AcboBooks puts both on the job, so you can see what each gate, trailer repair or structural package really cost against what you quoted.

For welding shops, mobile welders and small fabricators in the US and Canada, $399.99 once.

Try free for 15 days Buy once, $399.99

No card, no account. Windows 10 and 11. United States and Canada.

A welding shop owner checking a job sheet beside a freshly welded steel gate

What it means

In practice

Material and hours on the job

Steel, gas, rod and outside machining go on bills with the customer:job attached. Shop and field hours are logged against the job with the time clock. The Job Profitability report shows income, cost and margin.

Quote, then bill in stages

Write the estimate, turn it into an invoice when the work is done, or bill part of each line as stages finish on a larger package. Take a deposit up front before you order the material.

Stock you keep on the rack

Common sizes of tube, plate and angle can be inventory items at average cost, with reorder points. Offcuts and scrap are adjusted out after a count.

Material and labour billed from the job.

Know what the job cost before the invoice goes out

Buy the steel for one job and tag the bill to it. Log the welder's hours against it. Pull the billable costs onto the invoice with your markup, or bill the quoted price and watch the margin.

Over a few months the report shows which kinds of work pay: repairs, production runs or one-off architectural pieces.

What is in the licence

The whole job, in one price

Accounts to set up

Fabrication income, repair income, field service

Steel and materials, welding gas and consumables

Outside machining and powder coating

Shop equipment and vehicle loans

Jobs

Estimates to invoices

Progress invoicing by line

Customer deposits before ordering

Job Profitability report

Shop

Time clock by employee and job

Steel stock at average cost

Purchase orders to the steel supplier

Adjust stock for scrap and offcuts

People and tax

Payroll with overtime and workers' comp

1099-NEC or T4A for subcontract welders

Sales tax or GST/HST by item

Mileage log for field jobs

Overtime and workers' comp on every run.

What it does not do

· No bill of materials or assemblies: material is costed to the job, not built into a finished item.

· No nesting, cut lists or shop floor scheduling.

· Windows 10 and 11 for now (a Mac version is coming soon); no phone app.

· It imports your bank's statement file rather than connecting live to the bank.

Questions people ask

Before you download

Can I bill material at cost plus a markup?

Yes. When you add a job's unbilled costs to an invoice, enter a markup percentage and it is applied to the costs you pick.

How do I charge sales tax on fabrication?

Each item and invoice line is marked taxable or not, so taxable fabricated goods and non-taxable labour or installation can sit on one invoice. Whether a given job is taxable depends on your state or province; your accountant can confirm.