How Much Did You Spend on Copper Fittings Last Year? Now You Can Answer That in 3 Seconds
When I ran my framing company, a simple question could ruin my afternoon.
"How much did we spend on lumber last quarter?" Sounds easy. But it meant pulling invoices from a filing cabinet, opening three spreadsheets, and burning two hours I didn't have.
So I never asked.
That's the real problem. When getting an answer takes too long, you stop asking the questions. And when you stop asking, you stop catching things — price creep, supplier overcharges, budget drift. The stuff that quietly eats 4-8% of your material costs.
We built Metric Explorer to fix this. Custom spend dashboards inside CostCrunch that let you ask any question about your purchase history and get an answer in seconds.
What is Metric Explorer?
Metric Explorer is CostCrunch's custom spend dashboard. It sits on top of all the invoice data you've already run through CostCrunch and lets you slice it any way you want.
Instead of exporting to Excel and building pivot tables, you just ask.
"Top 10 suppliers by spend this quarter." Done. "Copper fittings cost across all projects last year." Done. "Electrical spend by supplier — who's cheapest?" Three seconds.
Group by supplier, material, category, or project. Filter by date range — last week, last month, full year. Stack multiple filters together.
No exporting. No formulas. No waiting for your bookkeeper to pull the numbers.
It works on any data already in your CostCrunch account. If you've been forwarding invoices, your dashboards are ready right now.
Why most contractors can't answer basic spend questions
Here's what I've learned talking to hundreds of contractors since building CostCrunch: almost nobody tracks spend in a useful way.
They know the big numbers. Total revenue, total costs, rough margins. But ask "which supplier is cheapest for PVC fittings?" or "how much did material costs go up on Project X versus Project Y?" and you get a blank stare.
Not because they don't care. Because getting the answer is too painful.
The result? Decisions get made on gut feeling. You stick with the same suppliers because switching feels risky when you can't compare. You approve budgets based on last year's numbers because pulling real data takes too long. You miss price creep because nobody's watching.
Contractors who track material spend closely save 4-8% on average. On $500K in annual materials, that's $20,000 to $40,000. Not from negotiating harder — just from seeing what's actually happening.
What you can do with custom spend dashboards
Here are real questions customers are answering with Metric Explorer right now:
"Show me my top 10 suppliers by spend this quarter." One filter. Instant ranking. You see exactly where your money is going and whether it makes sense.
"How much did I spend on copper fittings across all projects last year?" Pick a material, set the date range. Get the total, broken down by project if you want.
"Which projects are running the highest material costs month over month?" Spot the jobs eating more than they should — before they blow the budget.
"Break down my electrical spend by supplier — who's cheapest?" Compare what you're paying different suppliers for the same materials. Side by side.
"What did we spend on HVAC materials in Q4 versus Q3?" Track trends over time. See if costs are going up, down, or staying flat.
Every answer takes seconds. Build the view once, and it's there whenever you need it.
Why spreadsheets and static reports don't cut it
I tried the spreadsheet approach. Three times. Built a price tracker, spent a weekend setting it up, kept it updated for about a week. Then a busy Monday killed it.
Static reports have the same problem. Someone pulls a report, it's accurate for one day, and then it's stale. You'd need to re-pull it every time you have a question.
Metric Explorer is live. It pulls from your actual invoice data as it comes in. No manual updates. No "let me get back to you on that."
The other difference: you don't need to know what question you want to ask ahead of time. With a spreadsheet, you build for one specific view. With Metric Explorer, you build any view on the fly. Supplier spend today, material trends tomorrow, project cost comparison next week. Same data, infinite angles.
How to get started with Metric Explorer
If you're already a CostCrunch customer, Metric Explorer is live in your dashboard right now. No setup. Your invoice data is already there — just start asking questions.
If you're new to CostCrunch:
- Forward your invoices by email. We extract every line item — 99% accuracy.
- CostCrunch checks every price against your purchase history and local market rates.
- Metric Explorer builds your custom spend dashboards on top of all that data.
Setup takes 5 minutes. The more invoices you send, the more powerful your dashboards get.
Frequently asked questions
What is a custom spend dashboard?
A custom spend dashboard lets you build your own views of your purchasing data. You choose what to measure (spend, quantity, price trends), how to group it (by supplier, material, project, category), and what time range to look at. Metric Explorer is a custom spend dashboard built for construction contractors.
How do contractors track material spend?
Most contractors track material spend with spreadsheets, QuickBooks reports, or manual invoice review. These methods take significant time and go stale quickly. Tools like CostCrunch's Metric Explorer pull directly from your invoice data and update in real time — no manual entry needed.
How much do contractors overpay on materials?
Based on $40M+ in invoices audited through CostCrunch, contractors overpay an average of 4-8% on materials due to price creep, duplicate charges, and inconsistent supplier pricing. On $500K in annual purchases, that's $20,000 to $40,000.
Can I compare supplier prices with Metric Explorer?
Yes. Group your spend by supplier and filter by material type to see a side-by-side comparison of what each supplier charges for the same materials. This makes it easy to spot which suppliers give you the best prices on specific items.
Does Metric Explorer work with QuickBooks?
CostCrunch syncs with QuickBooks, so your invoice data flows into Metric Explorer automatically. You don't need to change your accounting workflow — keep forwarding invoices and your spend dashboards stay current.
How is Metric Explorer different from AP automation?
AP automation extracts invoice data and pushes it to your accounting software. Metric Explorer goes further — it analyzes your spending patterns, compares prices across suppliers and time periods, and gives you custom dashboards to answer any question about your purchase history. It's spend intelligence, not just data entry.
The contractors who save the most aren't the ones who negotiate the hardest. They're the ones who actually know what they're spending.
Metric Explorer makes that easy. Custom spend dashboards. Any question. Any time range. Seconds, not hours.
If you're already on CostCrunch, open Metric Explorer — it's live right now.
If you're not, try it free on your own invoices and see where your money's actually going.