Definition
An offcut is the portion of a raw material remaining after a job's components have been cut. Some offcuts are usable on a future job (a 1.2m piece of oak can be used for a smaller drawer front); some are unrecoverable (the trim ends, narrow strips). Tracking offcuts as inventory recovers material that would otherwise be silently absorbed into overhead.
Example
Worked exampleCutting a 4.2m oak board into three pieces of 1.5m, 1.0m, and 0.6m leaves a 0.1m unusable trim. The 0.6m piece is logged as a usable offcut and allocated to a future job — saving R 280 on the next quote.
Why it matters
Offcuts are real cost. Most shops absorb that cost into the originating job and treat the offcut as free material on the next job — a hidden margin transfer. Tracking offcuts properly preserves the cost on the originating job and allocates value to the future job.