Overview

Mothernode uses a Material Forecast-to-Actual job costing methodology.

This process applies specifically to materials only.

When an order is moved into production, Mothernode allocates inventory based on the estimated material quantities from the original BOM. This allows the system to reserve and account for projected material usage at the production level.

All other cost categories — including labor, outsourced services, and other non-material costs — begin at $0.00 and are only added as actual costs occur.

How It Works

1. Quote / Order Stage

During the quoting and order phase, the Bill of Materials (BOM) is built using estimated materials and quantities required to complete the job.

At this point:

• Material quantities are estimated
• Material costs are budgeted
• Labor is estimated
• Outsourced services are estimated

These values establish the projected cost structure of the job.

2. Production Stage

When the order is accepted into production:

• Material quantities are allocated into inventory
• The BOM screen in production uses the estimated material costs as the default actual material costs
• Labor remains at $0.00
• Outsourced costs remain at $0.00
• Other production costs remain at $0.00

This allows production to begin with a live material baseline.

3. Material Adjustments

As production progresses, materials can be adjusted based on actual usage.

This includes:

• Quantity changes
• Material substitutions
• Added materials
• Removed materials
• Purchase Order updates
• Inventory consumption

The material actuals evolve as these changes occur.

Why Mothernode Uses This Method

This methodology is designed for production efficiency.

In many cases, the estimated material costs and quantities match the actual materials used. By using the estimate as the starting actual, production teams avoid having to manually rebuild the BOM from scratch.

This creates several efficiencies:

• Faster production setup
• Immediate inventory allocation
• Less duplicate data entry
• Faster material planning
• Easier adjustment of only the exceptions

Instead of entering every material again, production only needs to change what is different.

Key Distinction

Mothernode does not apply this methodology to all job costs.

Only materials use the estimate-as-actual starting model.

All other cost categories remain at zero until real costs are entered.

This creates a hybrid model:

• Materials: Forecast-to-Actual
• Labor: Actual-only
• Outsourced Costs: Actual-only

This balances operational efficiency with actual cost accuracy.