Using quickbooks to keep track of rehab costs vs. budget

[Cooper B.]

Is there a way to easily use Quickbooks to track expenses for a specific rehab project (flip) against an initial budget?

Let's say at the beginning of a new rehab project I have estimated amounts for the labor costs, material costs, property taxes, insurance, utilities, staging, etc.  As the rehab progresses and I incur expenses within each of those categories, I would like to be able to quickly compare the total amount incurred so far vs. the total amount estimated.  At the end of the project I can see where I over-budgeted and where I under-budgeted.  

I have each of my rehab projects set up by class.  All of the expenses for each current project are put into inventory accounts, then after the property is sold I move it all to COGS.  

I played with the "Budget" feature but it seems to be a function of expenses over time, rather than simply total expenses per project.  I realize I could do this with a spreadsheet but I'd love to keep it within QB if possible.

Any help or guidance would be appreciated!

[Gerald Maliszewski]

Cooper did you figure out how to establish a budget using Quickbooks?  If so I’m wondering if you have you an overall budget broken into smaller projects such as electrical, plumbing, roofing, windows etc?  I have found on a full rehab we have somewhere around 25 to 30 individual projects that have to be done to get the rehab to completion.  Being able to track the over all budget, broken down into projects would be awesome.

Secondly it would be really nice at the end of the year to understand how much did we spend on Electrical or any other class as a way to discover opportunity costs.