Most people mean ERP, not EPR, when talking about software for engineering firms. ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) connects estimating, purchasing, stock, job costing, invoicing, and finance in one system. EPR can mean other things in engineering (like an Engineering Progress Report), but it’s not the standard term for business software. On the Herbst engineering page, the focus is explicitly ERP for Engineering with Job Costing at the centre,

For engineering businesses, ERP is the “single source of truth” for jobs and margins. It links: quote/estimate → job setup → purchase orders → materials issued/used → labour/time → subcontract costs → deliveries → invoicing → management accounts. Herbst frames its Engineering ERP as integrating onsite and offsite activities, with Job Costing tracking costs, allocating resources, and overseeing projects.

It should—and that integration is where you win back control. Herbst supports this through the Herbst Jobber mobile app for tracking hours, materials, and costs while reducing duplication and paperwork. It’s fully integrated with stock and purchase ledgers, so you can see real-time WIP and compare it against estimates.

Use this shortlist:

• Job costing that supports your billing model (fixed price, cost-plus, time & materials)

• Estimate vs actuals visibility while the job is live (not after it’s finished)

• POs + goods received tied to jobs (no “mystery costs”)

• Stock control for job inputs/returns and multi-units of measure

• Document control (drawings, correspondence, contracts attached to the job)

• Mobile capture for site time/materials

  Herbst highlights these patterns directly via job costing + integrated purchasing/stock + mobile tracking.

Yes—job costing is usually a core ERP function for engineering firms. In Herbst, Job Costing is fully integrated with stock and the nominal ledger, supports allocating hours/costs per job, and allows you to assign and manage purchase orders and goods received against jobs. It also supports multiple costing methods (fixed price, cost-plus, time & materials) and allocating costs to a Bill of Quantities (BOQ).

At minimum:

• Job costing + WIP control

• Purchasing and supplier management

• Stock & service ledger (job inputs, returns, stock accuracy)

• Sales ledger (quotes → invoices, pricing, dispatch visibility)

• Credit control (prevent risk before dispatch)

  Herbst lists these as core modules for engineering, alongside procurement tools and dashboards for real-time visibility.

Job costing is how you track every cost that hits a project—materials, labour, subcontractors, and overhead allocations—so you know if you’re making money before it’s too late. The value isn’t just reporting; it’s control: spotting overruns early, tightening purchasing, and pricing the next job better. Herbst’s approach emphasises real-time WIP by linking job costing with stock and purchasing activity.

A proper engineering ERP ties procurement activity to the job so costs don’t drift. Herbst includes a Procurement Wizard designed to automate procurement tasks like creating purchase quotations and generating purchase orders, with access to historical activity and integration with stock and sales ledgers. That matters because engineering margins are often lost in “small misses”: wrong supplier cost, missing GRNs, or costs posted late.

If you handle materials that need batch control, traceability should be part of your operational flow—not a spreadsheet. Herbst includes a Traceability module to track batches through the lifecycle, support FIFO batch allocation, provide recall reports/letters, and enforce controls like inspection dates and expiry-based dispatch rules. Even for engineering, this can be useful where compliance, QA, or customer requirements demand material provenance.