Seeing $0 in the Actual Materials column on your Costing & Analysis tab — or seeing your dollars in a different column than you expected — usually doesn't mean something is broken. It means either the actuals haven't been entered yet, or the items on the receipt/entry are typed differently than you think. Unlike estimated costs (which come from your proposal), actual costs must be entered separately to reflect what was truly used in the field.
This article explains why, the three ways to enter actuals, and how to read the Costing & Analysis columns when something looks off.
Why Actuals Don't Fill In Automatically
Your estimate shows what you planned to use. Actual materials show what your crew actually used — and those numbers often differ. SynkedUP keeps these separate so you can compare estimated vs. actual costs and see how profitable each job really was.
Option 1: Enter Actual Materials on Desktop (Costing & Analysis Tab)
Open the job and navigate to the Costing & Analysis tab.
Find the Materials section. You'll see a green + button to add actual material entries.
Click + and enter the material name, quantity, and unit cost.
Repeat for each material used on the job.
Your Actual Materials cost will now reflect the total entered.
💡 Tip: You can enter actuals at any point during or after the job — you don't need to wait until it's complete.
Option 2: Foreman Enters Materials on Mobile (During Clock-Out)
When a crew member clocks out of a job on the SynkedUP mobile app, they have the option to log materials used:
Foreman taps Clock Out on the job.
On the clock-out screen, there is a section to add Materials Used.
They enter the items used and quantities.
Once submitted, those entries flow into the Costing & Analysis tab automatically.
⚠️ Note: This requires foremen to be in the habit of logging materials at clock-out. If your crew isn't doing this yet, you can always enter actuals manually on desktop after the fact.
Option 3: Add a Receipt with Line Items
You can also enter actuals as part of a vendor receipt. This is great when you have a real-world receipt you want to capture in SynkedUP and tie its costs back to a job.
Quick version: in the job → Costing & Analysis → Add New Receipt → pick the vendor → search the catalog and Add Item to Workarea for each line item → save the receipt. Each item lands as actual cost on the work area you assigned it to.
Full step-by-step (with screenshots): How to Add a Receipt to a Job.
⚠️ Important: When you're picking catalog items to add to a receipt, make sure the item is typed as a Material (if you're recording a material purchase). The item's type in the catalog is what determines which Costing & Analysis column the cost lands in. If you pick an item that's typed as a Subcontractor, the dollars will show up under Subcontractor cost — not Actual Materials. (See "Costs showing in the wrong column?" below.)
Costs Showing in the Wrong Column?
If you've entered receipts and the dollars are showing somewhere on Costing & Analysis but not under Actual Materials, the most common cause is that the catalog items selected on the receipt are typed as something other than Material — usually Subcontractor.
Each catalog item has a type (Material, Labor, Subcontractor, Equipment, Misc), and when you add that item to a receipt or to actuals, the cost lands in the column that matches the item's type. So if you bought $10,000 of mulch but the line items you picked on the receipt were Subcontractor-typed, the $10,000 shows up as Subcontractor cost — not Actual Materials.
How to check:
Open the receipt under Costing & Analysis → Receipts.
Look at each line item and confirm its type. If you're not sure, search the same item name in the Item Catalog and check what type it's set to.
If the type is wrong for what you actually purchased, edit the receipt: remove the mis-typed line and re-add a Material-typed catalog item with the same quantity and cost. Save the receipt.
The cost will then land in Actual Materials.
💡 Heads up: Some categories of work are legitimately subcontractor cost — a hired crew, an outside install, a delivery service. If that's what the receipt actually represents, leaving it as Subcontractor cost is correct; you're just looking at the right total on the wrong row.
FAQ
My crew used the exact items from the estimate — do I still need to enter actuals?
Yes. The estimate represents what you planned, not what was confirmed used. Even if actuals match the estimate exactly, they need to be entered separately so SynkedUP can calculate your actual job profit accurately.
Why does my Cost/Analysis tab show $0 for materials even though we used a lot?
Two common causes:
Actuals haven't been entered yet — either on desktop, via mobile clock-out, or via a receipt. Follow Options 1, 2, or 3 above.
The actuals are entered, but they're in a different column — your costs may be showing up under Subcontractor, Equipment, or another row instead of Actual Materials. See "Costs showing in the wrong column?" above.
Can I import actuals from a supplier invoice?
Not directly at this time. Actuals need to be entered manually in the Costing & Analysis tab, via the mobile clock-out flow, or by creating a Receipt.