TSTracker Automated WIP Cost Tracking Report
Every Friday, WebRun opens TSTracker for every tool still in build, pulls its estimated labor and material cost, checks actual labor, material, and outside processing costs booked in QuickBooks, and posts your team a Slack summary ranking jobs by how far over or under their WIP budget they're running.
How do I see which tool builds are running over their estimated cost?
WebRun opens TSTracker every Friday for each in progress tool build's estimated labor and material cost, then checks actual labor, material, and outside processing costs booked in QuickBooks. It posts your production team a Slack summary ranking jobs by dollar and percentage variance, largest overrun first, so cost creep surfaces while a job is still on the floor.
- Cost overruns surface while a job is still in build, not after it ships
- Every in progress job is ranked by variance every week
- Estimate versus actual stays visible without opening two systems
Built for tool and die shops · mold shop production managers · die shop owners · shop financial controllers
What does WebRun do on every run?
The exact actions WebRun takes, in order - in plain language, so you can adjust anything.
-
WebRun signs in and gets to work
Opens
tst-software.comin a real browser with your saved login - no setup, no API keys. -
1
TSTracker - pull each in progress job's estimated cost
tst-software.com
WebRun opens TSTracker to pull each in progress job's estimated cost. - Open TSTracker and list every tool build currently in progress, from Design through Tryout
- Capture each job's estimated labor, material, and outside processing cost from the original quote
- Note the current build stage so nearly finished jobs can be read differently from early stage ones
Done when Every in progress job has its estimated cost breakdown captured.
-
2
QuickBooks - pull actual costs booked to the job
- Open QuickBooks and pull actual labor, material, and outside processing costs booked to each job
- Match costs to the same job or customer used in TSTracker
- Total the actual cost to date against the estimate for every job
Done when Actual cost to date is totaled for every in progress job from QuickBooks.
-
3
Slack - post the WIP cost summary
slack.com
WebRun opens Slack to post the WIP cost summary. - Post a Slack summary to the production channel ranking jobs by dollar and percentage variance
- Put the largest overruns at the top with the assigned PM tagged
- Note any job still early in build that's already trending over budget
Done when The team has this week's WIP cost variance summary in Slack.
How is each run configured?
Secure by default
Connect once, stays signed in
WebRun signs in once and keeps each session in a persistent environment, so every run picks up right where it left off.
Every action is checked against this policy before it runs.
Questions, answered
Does this report leave the shop?
No. The WIP cost summary is internal. WebRun posts it to your Slack production channel, so job financials stay with your team and nothing is shared with a customer automatically.
How does it match costs in QuickBooks to a job in TSTracker?
It matches on the job or customer name used in both systems, so keeping job names consistent between TSTracker and QuickBooks lets WebRun line up each estimate with its actual booked cost.
Can it catch a job trending over budget early, not just at the end?
Yes. It reads the job's current build stage in TSTracker, so a job still early in Design or Machining that's already over its share of estimated cost gets flagged before it ships.
Related templates
Put this on autopilot.
Turn it on in minutes - or have our team set it up for you.