Cost-plus billing

Cost-plus billing your clients actually trust.

Stak keeps budgets, job costs, and change orders organized per project, then produces clear client bills that separate budgeted work from change orders. Markups and taxes are calculated for you, and every line ties back to its source invoice — a transparent, auditable record your clients can trust.

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Stak client bill report separating budgeted work from change orders, each line tied to its source invoice

Cost-plus only works when it's airtight.

Run it by hand and the margin leaks — in lost receipts, hours of data entry, and clients who don't trust the bill. Here's what Stak tightens up.

Margins that vanish
On cost-plus jobs, profit leaks out under a pile of untracked receipts. Stak captures every cost against the project, so nothing slips.
Hours per invoice
Building an airtight cost-plus invoice by hand takes hours — and one slip hits your margin. Stak assembles the bill for you from the source invoices.
Bills clients don’t trust
Cost-plus fails loudly without transparency — disputes, questioned markup, bad reviews. Stak’s bills show clients exactly where the money went.
Markup math by hand
Tracking per-project markup and keeping sales tax right is error-prone manually. Stak calculates markup for you and keeps sales tax up to date.

How a Stak cost-plus bill gets built.

From the first receipt to the final profit picture — the whole process, in one place.

  1. 1

    Capture the cost

    Every receipt, subcontractor invoice, and vendor bill is captured against the project — by AI, from a photo or a forwarded email.

  2. 2

    Assign the markup

    Stak applies your per-project markup automatically and keeps sales tax up to date.

  3. 3

    Separate budgeted vs. change order

    Budgeted work and change orders stay isolated, so scope changes are always clear.

  4. 4

    Produce the client bill

    Stak assembles a clean, branded client bill — every line tied back to its source invoice.

  5. 5

    See the profit picture

    Budget-to-actuals show real-time profitability by cost code, with change orders accounted for.

The documents your clients actually get.

Every Stak cost-plus bill comes with clear, branded reports — progress, an auditable record of the work, and the profit picture behind it.

Client bill report — progress and cost projectionClient bill report — record of work completedInvoice separating budgeted work from change ordersBudget-to-actuals reportProfessional change order document

Report progress. Predict costs.

Stak creates detailed reports that summarize project progress, highlight billed-to-date amounts, and forecast future costs — so clients always know where the job stands.

Client bill report — progress and cost projection

Every line, documented.

Stak's client bill closes with a complete record of work — each budgeted and change-order item tied to its vendor, source invoice, and amount. A transparent, auditable account of exactly what was done and what it cost.

Client bill report — record of work completed

Clearer bills. Happier clients.

Stak’s client bills clearly separate change orders from budgeted work, so scope updates are easy to track — each bill polished with your company’s branding.

Invoice separating budgeted work from change orders

Measure profitability at a glance.

Stak's budget-to-actuals reports give you real-time visibility into project profitability. See spending by cost code, spot overages early, and know exactly where every project stands.

Budget-to-actuals report

Change orders, done right.

Stak generates clean, professional change orders that lay out scope, markups, and totals clearly — easy for clients to understand and approve.

Professional change order document

Make changes. Not delays.

Create a change order in Stak and send it straight to your client for a legally binding digital signature through Dropbox Sign. Approvals come back in minutes, not days — so scope changes never stall the job, and every change stays isolated from budgeted work.

A Stak change order sent for a Dropbox Sign digital signature

Cost-Plus Builders Trust the Stak Experience

Cost-plus contractors run their client billing on Stak — clearer bills, less admin, fewer disputes.

"Stak gives me a clean system for cost-plus billing. Budgets, job costs, and change orders stay organized, and the invoices and reports are clear for clients. It's tightened up my process and cut way down on admin time."

Person

Ben Millar

Owner at Common Cents Remodeling LLC

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Billing & Change Orders — Common Questions

See your own project on a Stak cost-plus bill.