See the overrun before it hurts
Committed and actual against budget, live, job by job.
Matterial's cost control shows you in real time how much you have committed and how much you have actually spent against each job's budget. Instead of finding out about an overrun once the line item is already closed, you watch it build while you can still react: every purchase order and every expense adjusts the figure instantly.
| Line item | Budget | Spent | Progress | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Concrete and foundation | $612,000 | $598,000 | On track | |
| Steel structure | $486,000 | $502,000 | Over budget | |
| MEP systems | $398,000 | $240,000 | In progress | |
| Masonry | $354,000 | $160,000 | In progress | |
| Finishes | $520,000 | $70,000 | In progress |
What problem it solves
The budget gets approved once, and after that no one knows for sure how much is left. Actual spend lives in scattered invoices and loose orders, and the committed amount —what you have already promised to pay even though the money hasn't gone out— almost never gets counted. By the time the overrun finally lands in a report, the line item is already blown and all that's left is explaining why.
How it works
Start from the budget
Each line item begins with its budgeted amount as the baseline to measure against.
Add up what is committed
When you issue a purchase order, that amount is flagged as committed even before it's paid.
Record what is spent
As invoices and payments come in, actual spend is deducted and the figure updates on its own.
React in time
The amount available per line item is recalculated live and flags where the budget is running out.
What's included
- Committed and actual vs. budget, live
- Available per line item recalculated on every movement
- Committed amounts drawn from purchase orders, before payment
- Actual spend fed by real invoices and payments
- Alerts when a line item nears or exceeds its budget
- Per-job view and a company-wide consolidated view
Construction cost control, up close
Committed, actual, and available: the three numbers that decide the overrun
Most teams control cost by watching a single number: actual, the money that has already left the account. The problem is that money you have already promised with a signed purchase order does not show up until the invoice arrives, so the budget looks healthier than it is. The overrun is not born the day you pay; it is born the day you sign the order for more than the line item could absorb.
Matterial keeps all three numbers side by side on every line item: the budgeted amount as the baseline, the committed amount drawn from issued purchase orders, and the actual amount drawn from what has been invoiced and paid. Available is not what is left against the bank; it is what is left of the budget once you subtract what you have already promised, not just what you have already paid.
That distinction changes the decision. Before approving the next purchase, the project manager or buyer sees the true available on the line item, including commitments that have not been invoiced yet. It is exactly the difference between reacting while there is still room and explaining the overrun after the line item has closed.
- Budgeted: the baseline amount for the line item, the number you measure against.
- Committed: what you have already promised to pay with a purchase order, even though the money hasn't gone out.
- Actual: spend that has already been invoiced or paid.
- Available: what is left of the line item after subtracting committed and actual.
- Overrun: when committed plus actual exceeds the line item’s budget.
Cost is controlled line item by line item, not in one grand total
A single budget total hides everything that matters. A job can be "within budget" on the headline number while one line item —steel, formwork, mechanical— has already eaten its available and another still has slack. Offsetting one line item against another is exactly how an overrun stays invisible until there is nothing left to pull from.
Each line item starts with its budgeted amount, derived from unit price times estimated quantity. When the real vendor price climbs or the executed volume grows —a quantity revision, a concrete mix that went up in price, a subcontract awarded higher than estimated— that line item’s committed grows and its available drops instantly. You see which line item is pushing cost, not a global number that never says where.
Alerts run on top of that: when a line item nears or exceeds its budget, it gets flagged. So you react on that specific line item —renegotiate with the vendor, adjust the scope, hold an approval— while there is still room to do something about it.
- Available per line item recalculated on every purchase order, invoice, and payment.
- A line item in the red cannot hide behind another with slack.
- Unit-price or quantity changes flow straight into committed.
- Per-line-item alerts as the budget is neared or exceeded.
Where the numbers come from: your purchasing, not re-keying
Cost control is not a separate sheet somebody fills in on the side. Committed is taken from purchase orders the moment they are issued; actual, from the invoices and payments you record. The same purchasing you already do is what feeds the figure, with no extra data entry.
That matters because control kept by hand always runs late and almost always ends up incomplete, and the first thing dropped is precisely the committed amount —the part that warns of the overrun before it is spent. Because it comes straight off the purchase order, committed shows up the day you sign, not the day you pay.
For materials and subcontracts formalized as a purchase order, the commitment lands in full the moment it is issued. Actual is recognized as invoices arrive and payments are recorded, and the line item’s available adjusts on its own with every movement, without anyone having to recalculate.
- Committed taken from purchase orders as they are issued.
- Actual fed by real invoices and payments.
- No double entry: the purchasing you already do feeds the cost.
- Materials and subcontracts on a purchase order land as full committed.
From project manager to owner: one live number
The project manager needs the line-item detail on their job to decide the next purchase; the owner needs to see every job together to know which one is slipping. It is the same number at two altitudes: whoever approves the order and whoever answers for the margin both read it from the same place.
Per job, you see committed and actual against budget, line item by line item, with available live. In the consolidated view, committed and actual across all projects are summed in your base currency, so you can see at a glance which job concentrates the overrun risk before you drill into the detail.
Because everyone looks at the same live number —not a copy of a spreadsheet that got emailed or texted around and is already stale— the conversation stops being "which version is the good one" and becomes "this line item is tightening, what do we do." The number stops being argued about and starts being used.
- Per-job view: line item by line item, with available live.
- Company-wide consolidated view in your base currency.
- One single source of truth for the field, purchasing, and management.
Controlling cost in spreadsheets and texts vs. with Matterial
Most teams run cost control between a spreadsheet and scattered messages. Here is how that compares to doing it inside Matterial.
| Today (spreadsheets and texts) | With Matterial | |
|---|---|---|
| Committed | Rarely tracked; you only see what has already been paid | Every purchase order adds to committed as it is issued |
| Updates | Manual, whenever someone remembers to enter it | Live, on every order, invoice, and payment |
| Available per line item | Calculated by hand and arrives late | Recalculated on its own with every movement |
| Overrun warning | Shows up in the end-of-month report | Flagged when the line item nears or exceeds budget |
| Source of the data | Spend re-keyed into another sheet | Comes from purchase orders and invoices |
| Multiple jobs | One sheet per job, nothing consolidated | Per-job view and a company-wide roll-up |
| Source of truth | Different copies over email and text | One live number for everyone |
Illustrative example: a structural line item
Hypothetical numbers to show why committed changes how you read the budget. Not a market figure or a promised result.
Illustrative example. Only $610,000 has actually left the account, so looking at actual alone it would seem $590,000 is still free. But you have already promised $980,000 in purchase orders: the line item’s true available is $220,000. Placing a bigger order because "there’s still cash" is exactly how an overrun gets created.
Use cases
Opens the consolidated view on Monday and sees one job with three line items in the red on committed, even though the bank balance does not show it yet. Asks for answers before that commitment is spent, not after it has already been paid.
Before issuing the purchase order for steel, checks the line item’s true available —net of what is already committed— and confirms it still fits, instead of signing and finding out about the overrun when the invoice arrives.
As each order is issued, sees how it moves the line item’s committed and catches in time an order that would blow the budget, escalating it for approval instead of placing it blind.
Reconciles actual —invoiced and paid— against committed to know what is still to be invoiced and how much real commitment each job carries against its budget.
Who it's for
Works with the rest of Matterial
Guides to go deeper
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between committed and actual cost?
Committed is what you have already promised to pay —a purchase order that's been issued— even though the money hasn't gone out. Actual is spend that has already been paid or invoiced. Matterial shows you both against the budget so you see the real commitment, not just what has already left the bank.
What is construction cost control?
It is tracking, line item by line item, how much you budgeted, how much you have committed, and how much you have actually spent, so you always know how much available is left. The idea is to watch the overrun build while you can still correct it, instead of discovering it once the line item has already closed.
How do I avoid cost overruns on a job?
The key is not to control only what you have already paid. An overrun is usually committed —in signed purchase orders— before it is spent. Matterial adds the commitment the moment you issue the order and recalculates available per line item, so you see a line item tightening before you place the next order and can still renegotiate or adjust the scope.
Where does Matterial get committed and actual costs from?
Committed amounts come from purchase orders the moment they're issued; actual spend, from the invoices and payments you record. There is no separate cost-control ledger to fill in: it feeds on the purchasing operation you already run.
How is a line item’s available calculated?
Available starts from the line item’s budgeted amount and subtracts what is already committed and what is actual. That is why it is not the same as your bank balance: it reflects what you truly have left after counting what you have already promised to pay, not just what has already gone out.
Does it warn me before a line item goes over budget?
Yes. The available per line item is recalculated on every movement and flagged when a line item nears or exceeds its budget, so you can react while you can still correct course.
Do I need to keep cost control separate from my purchasing?
No. That is precisely the point: committed comes from the purchase orders and actual from the invoices and payments, with no double entry. The purchase you record is what updates the cost.
Can I see cost control for all my jobs together?
Yes. Beyond the per-job view, there is a consolidated view that sums committed and actual across every project in your base currency, so you can see at a glance which one concentrates the overrun risk.
Does it work for both the project manager and the owner?
Yes, it is the same number at two altitudes. The project manager uses the line-item detail on their job to decide the next purchase; the owner uses the consolidated view to see which job is slipping. Both read the same live number, not different copies of a spreadsheet.
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