Overview
Once your estimate is complete and marked up, Ensign provides several report options that break down your project by cost code. These reports are all accessed from the Select Reports area on the summary table. They are intended for internal reference only — cost code data does not appear on quotations, tender summaries, or quantified schedules of rates.
Available cost code reports
When cost codes are enabled, the following additional reports appear in Select Reports:
| Report | Description |
|---|---|
| Summary Table Breakdown Cost Code | A printout of the Cost Code Breakdown tab, showing each cost code with its on-cost percentage, fixed or fluctuated status, and marked-up totals. It also includes your gross profit, net contract cost, and gross contract cost. |
| Cost Code Summary (at Cost) | A summary of site hours, labour cost, material cost, and total cost — grouped by cost code, with all sections combined into a single view. |
| Cost Code Summary (at Selling) | The same summary, but showing selling values (inclusive of markup). |
| Cost Code Section Breakdown (at Cost) | Hours, labour, materials, and totals broken down by cost code and by your project's section structure (A through D level). |
| Cost Code Section Breakdown (at Selling) | The section breakdown using selling values. |
| Cost Code Detailed Breakdown (at Cost) | The most granular report — shows individual product lines within each section, grouped by cost code, with sizes, quantities, list prices, discounts, net rates, and line totals. |
| Cost Code Detailed Breakdown (at Selling) | The detailed breakdown using selling values. |
There are effectively three report types — summary, section breakdown, and detailed — each available in both cost and selling variants. This gives you six report options in total, plus the summary table breakdown printout.
Generating a cost code report
- 1
From the summary table, click Select Reports.
- 2
Tick the report or reports you want to generate. You can select multiple reports at once — they will be generated in sequence, and you can navigate between them using the arrows at the top of the preview screen.
- 3
Optionally tick Show Cost Code Descriptions to include the full description alongside each code in the report. Untick it if you only need the short code reference. Removing descriptions reduces the number of columns, which is particularly useful when you plan to export data for import into another system.
- 4
Click Preview and Export.
- 5
A dialogue will ask which cost codes to include. You can select all or untick specific codes to exclude them. Use the Select All and Remove All buttons at the bottom for convenience. For example, you might choose to exclude certain cost codes if you only need to report on a subset of your project.
- 6
Press Confirm to generate the report.
Understanding the reports
Summary table breakdown
The summary table breakdown is a direct printout of the Cost Code Breakdown tab on your summary table. It shows:
- Each cost code and its description
- Whether each line is a fixed amount or fluctuated
- The on-cost percentage applied
- The marked-up value and total
- A summary at the bottom showing gross profit, net contract cost, and gross contract cost
The net and gross contract costs will only differ if you have added other expenses such as prime cost or preliminaries. If you have not, they will show the same figure.
Summary report
The summary report gives you a single-page overview with all sections combined. For each selected cost code, it shows:
- Cost code (and description, if enabled)
- Site hours — the total labour hours associated with that cost code
- Labour cost or selling (depending on the variant)
- Material cost or selling
- Total
Subtotals appear at the bottom of the report. This is useful for quickly comparing the relative scale of different cost code categories across your entire project — for instance, seeing at a glance how many hours are allocated to copper tube and fittings versus steel tube and fittings.
Section breakdown report
The section breakdown adds a layer of detail by splitting the cost code totals across your project's section structure. You can see exactly how many hours and how much cost is associated with each cost code within each section and subsection (A through D level).
Each subsection totals up to its parent section, and a grand total appears at the bottom. If the report extends beyond a single page, use the navigation arrows at the top of the preview screen to move between pages.
This report is particularly helpful when you need to understand how costs are distributed across different areas of a project — for example, how much pipework cost is attributable to the ground floor versus the first floor.
Detailed breakdown report
This is the most granular report. Within each section and cost code, it lists every individual product with:
- Ensign's item description and size
- List price, discount, and net rate
- Material total
- Site hours and labour cost or selling
- Line total
The report follows your full section structure, so you will see each A through D level section with the individual product lines grouped by cost code underneath. Subtotals appear for each cost code within each section, and a grand total appears at the bottom.
The detailed breakdown can be very lengthy on large projects. It is intended for internal review and cost analysis — it is not recommended for sharing externally due to the level of detail it contains, including list prices, discounts, and net rates.
Exporting reports
All cost code reports can be exported in multiple formats from the report preview screen.
Export formats
Click the export button on the preview screen and choose from:
| Format | Best for |
|---|---|
| Printing or sharing as a read-only document. | |
| Word | Editing the report content in Microsoft Word. |
| Excel (XLS) | A formatted spreadsheet with merged cells and styling, suitable for presentation. |
| Excel Data Only | A clean spreadsheet with each value in its own cell, ideal for importing into other systems. |
| CSV | Comma-separated values for maximum compatibility with other software. |
Exporting to Excel Data Only
If you plan to import cost code data into another system (such as an accounting package or ERP), the Excel Data Only format is the recommended choice. Unlike the standard Excel export, it avoids merged cells and places each value in its own dedicated column and row.
- 1
Generate your cost code report as described above. Consider unticking Show Cost Code Descriptions to reduce the number of columns if the target system does not need them.
- 2
Click the export button and select Excel Data Only.
- 3
Save the file to your Import Export folder in Ensign's cloud storage.
- 4
Copy the file to your local machine and open it. Each value will be in its own cell — for example, codes in column A, hours in column B, selling in column C, materials in column D, and total in column E.
- 5
Delete any columns you do not need, then save the file in whatever format your target system requires.
If you need to prepare the data further — for example, removing certain cost codes or reformatting values — it is generally easier to do this in the exported spreadsheet rather than regenerating the report with different selections.
Key points to remember
- Cost code reports are only available from the summary table's Select Reports area. They do not affect or appear in quotations, tender summaries, or quantified schedules of rates.
- All cost code data is for internal reference only.
- You can generate multiple reports at once and navigate between them using the page arrows.
- The Show Cost Code Descriptions toggle affects all report types and is especially relevant when exporting data for use in other systems.
- For data import purposes, always use Excel Data Only rather than the standard Excel format to avoid merged cells.