Firms operating in job-order industries produce a wide variety of services or products that are quite distinct from each other.
Customized or built-to-order products fit into this category, as do services that vary from customer to customer. Common job-order processes include printing, construction, furniture making, automobile repair, and medical services.
job-order systems may be used to produce goods for inventory that are subsequently sold in the general market. Often, however, a job is associated with a particular customer order. The key feature of job-order costing is that the cost of one job differs from that of another job and must be kept track of separately.