Material reconciliation answers "where did the material go?" For each major material such as cement, steel or sand, it takes opening stock plus receipts minus closing stock to get actual consumption, then compares that with the theoretical consumption for the work quantities completed.
The difference is wastage, theft, wrong measurement, or material used for work not yet billed. Contracts with client-supplied material often allow a set wastage margin and recover the excess from the contractor, so the margin and recovery rate come from your contract.
Do it monthly, not at the end of the job. Use measured quantities from the measurement book or DPRs, and an actual physical stock count rather than a book balance. Catching a gap in the first month is far easier than explaining it at the end of the job.
Example
Illustrative: opening 100 bags + received 900 − closing 150 = 850 bags used. Work done should need 800 bags. Excess 50 bags, about 6%, to explain.
Material & inventory in CivilPilot
A material catalogue, requests from site, and stock for every project with every movement recorded.
