Job costing is typically used for custom orders or services, not long-term productions. For example, a caterer would use job costing when preparing food for a specific event. They would track the cost of ingredients, labor hours, and overhead expenses associated with that particular job to determine its profitability.

A job cost variance report displays each job line item with projected cost at completion and variance to budget. It calculates variances for total projected direct labor cost, labor hours, burden cost, and rates per hour. This report helps project managers identify areas where actual costs deviate from the budget, allowing for timely corrective actions.

Job costing is used for unique projects or custom orders, where costs are tracked for each specific job. Process costing, on the other hand, is used for continuous, standardized production processes. In job costing, costs are assigned directly to individual jobs, while in process costing, costs are averaged across all units produced during a specific period.