# Maintenance costs & budgets

> Set labor rates and fiscal-year budgets, price maintenance procedures, review forecasts, and compare recorded work costs with planned spending.

Source: https://docs.specset.com/docs/maintenance-costs · Section: After Handoff · Last updated: 2026-10-08

The **Costs** page combines the price of scheduled maintenance with an allowance for unplanned repairs. Use it to see when spending is expected, which equipment drives the cost, and how the forecast compares with the fiscal-year budget.

> **Availability:** Costs is available with F&M or Closeout enabled. Open **Costs** in the facility sidebar, or under **Closeout** in a construction project. Changing rates and budgets requires permission to manage projects; editing procedures requires permission to manage closeout.

## Set rates and the reporting year

Open **Project Settings → Costs** to set the assumptions behind the report.

1. Under **Trade rates**, add the trades used by your procedures and their fully burdened hourly rates. Click **Save rates**.
2. Choose when the **Fiscal year starts**: October or January. An October-start FY 2027 covers October 2026 through September 2027.
3. Under **Budgets**, add the fiscal year and total maintenance budget, then click **Save budgets**.
4. Choose the **Corrective forecast** method described below.

Fiscal-year and corrective-forecast settings save automatically. The budget draws a comparison line on the report and feeds the dashboard budget card; it does not limit work-order spending.

![Cost settings with an October fiscal year, a fixed monthly corrective allowance, and two annual maintenance budgets](https://docs.specset.com/images/docs/maintenance-costs/cost-settings.png)

## Price each procedure

Open **Work Orders → Procedures** and edit a procedure, or use **Cost procedures** from the Costs page. In its **Cost** section:

- **Labor:** Select a **Craft** with a matching trade rate and enter **Estimated hours** for one occurrence.
- **Parts:** Add a **Parts** field with planned quantities to calculate the cost from [Spares unit costs](https://docs.specset.com/docs/spare-parts). Without a Parts field, enter a parts amount directly.
- **Services:** Enter the expected outside-service cost for one occurrence.

Save the procedure and link it to a [maintenance plan](https://docs.specset.com/docs/maintenance#set-up-recurring-work). The plan supplies the equipment and schedule; the procedure supplies the cost of doing the work once. For example, 2 hours at $80, four $12.50 filters, and $50 of outside service make a $260 occurrence.

Check incomplete estimates before relying on the forecast. Hours without a matching rate, or parts without unit costs, can understate the total. Enter zero when a known parts or services amount is zero; a blank leaves it unspecified. Updating rates or procedure costs reprices future work, while completed work retains its recorded costs.

## Allow for corrective work

Choose a method under **Project Settings → Costs → Corrective forecast**:

| Method | How the allowance is calculated |
| --- | --- |
| **Trailing 12-month run rate** | Recorded costs from completed Corrective and Reactive work over the trailing year, divided by 12. The settings show the monthly amount and source work-order count. |
| **Fixed monthly amount** | A monthly allowance you enter, useful when the facility has little recorded repair history. |
| **Exclude from forecast** | No allowance for future corrective work. Already completed corrective work remains in the report. |

The allowance is added to future months. It represents expected spending, not new work orders. A run rate with little recorded history can be low even when you expect repairs, so review the assumption when setting the budget.

## Read the forecast

Open **Costs** and select the **Fiscal year**. The summary shows the total forecast, planned maintenance, corrective forecast, and peak month. The monthly chart separates labor, parts, services, and corrective costs; the budget pace line is one-twelfth of the annual budget.

![Maintenance cost forecast with fiscal-year totals, monthly spending by cost type, a budget pace line, and a breakdown grouped by system](https://docs.specset.com/images/docs/maintenance-costs/annual-forecast.png)

Group the breakdown by **System**, **Asset**, **Trade**, or **Category** to find the main cost drivers. Expand a group and follow a plan's link to review its procedure or plan. The count of costed procedures helps identify work that still needs pricing.

The forecast includes completed costs and upcoming maintenance. Calendar plans supply dated occurrences, including open overdue work that still needs doing. Meter-based estimates use recorded usage and appear with **≈**; without enough usage data, they cannot be projected. On-demand work has no recurring future allowance of its own.

Corrective costs are distributed across breakdown groups in proportion to their planned maintenance cost. That allocation is for planning; it does not identify which asset will need a repair.

## Record actual costs

When completing a work order, enter the **Date performed**, **Actual hours**, and **Services** cost, and confirm the parts used. Labor uses the trade rate recorded at completion; parts use the confirmed usage and recorded unit costs. The performed date determines which reporting period receives the cost.

If the procedure estimate should change for future work, select **Update the procedure's cost to match these actuals** when that option is available. Leave it unchecked for an unusual repair or one-off cost.

Use **Edit completion** to correct recorded completion details. The dashboard budget card compares recorded spending and the year-end forecast with the budget. Missing actual hours, part costs, or service amounts can make spending look lower than it was.

## Export for review

Choose the year on **Costs**, then open **Export**:

- **PDF report:** A formatted forecast for review and sharing.
- **CSV — activity ledger:** Dated forecast activities, meter estimates, and completed actuals, with a **Source** column distinguishing them.
- **XLSX — cost matrix:** Activities across fiscal months, a combined corrective actuals-and-reserve row, and a monthly summary sheet.

The CSV contains activities rather than a row for the future corrective allowance, so its total can differ from the full forecast. Use the PDF or Excel report when reviewing the complete budget picture.