Live margin tracking — knowing what the project is making while it's still running

What this post will cover

1. The end-of-month problem. Cost reports lag reality by 3–6 weeks. Subbie claims arrive after the cost was incurred. Variations get priced after they're done. The number on month-end is the number from three weeks ago.
2. What "live margin" actually means. Revenue earned today minus cost incurred today, including accruals for work that's happened but not yet been claimed. Not forecast. Not committed-spend. Earned vs incurred.
3. The five numbers per budget line. Budgeted, committed, actual, forecast at complete, variance. Why all five need to track in lockstep and what tectm computes for each.
4. Accruals — the bit everyone gets wrong. Why an accrual is the difference between live margin and lagging margin. How to compute it without guessing.
5. The four contract types. SOR, BoQ, Lump Sum, Cost Plus — each treats revenue recognition differently. Same docket evidence, different revenue model.
6. What changes when margin is live. Project managers see variance the day it lands. Commercial managers stop closing the month on guesses. Head contractors know which projects are bleeding before the bleeding makes it to the P&L.

Why this matters

The bet underneath tectm is that commercial construction teams know their margin while the job is still running, not three weeks after the month closes. This post walks through how that actually works — the data structures, the integration points, the assumptions.

This is the piece we get asked about most. Drop your email on /waitlist for the full version when it lands.