Free tools
Three worksheets for pricing jobs right
Nothing to download: the math is on the page, worked through with example numbers. Have last year's totals handy.
- See Estimates
Markup vs margin
Why a 20% markup is a 16.7% margin, with a table to convert either way.
- See Time tracking
Your hourly rate
Overhead, your pay and the hours you can really bill, turned into one number.
- See Expenses
Job-cost checklist
Every cost a job carries, so the price covers them before it goes out.
Markup vs margin
Markup is what you add on top of your cost. Margin is the share of the price you keep. Both come from the same dollars, so a job priced "at 20%" can mean two different profits.
Worked example
Job cost: $1,000
A 20% markup: $1,000 + $200 = $1,200 price
Margin: $200 ÷ $1,200 = 16.7%
Markup to margin
Markup · Margin
10% · 9.1%
15% · 13.0%
20% · 16.7%
25% · 20.0%
30% · 23.1%
40% · 28.6%
50% · 33.3%
100% · 50.0%
The formulas
Margin = markup ÷ (1 + markup)
Markup = margin ÷ (1 − margin)
Price for a target margin = cost ÷ (1 − margin)
To keep a 25% margin on a $1,000 job, charge $1,000 ÷ 0.75 = $1,333. That's a 33.3% markup.
Working out your hourly rate
Your rate has to cover the year's overhead and your own pay, spread over the hours you can bill. Put your own numbers on each line.
1. Overhead for the year. Truck payments, fuel, insurance, phone, software, tools, licenses and office. Example: $45,000.
2. Your pay for the year. What the owner's job is worth, before profit. Example: $75,000.
3. Hours you can bill. A full year is 2,080 hours, but take out holidays, weather, driving, estimates and paperwork. Example: 1,200 hours.
4. Break-even rate. Overhead plus pay, divided by billable hours. Example: $120,000 ÷ 1,200 = $100 an hour.
5. Your rate. Add your profit markup on top. Example: $100 + 15% = $115 an hour.
Start from each worker's hourly wage and add payroll taxes, insurance and paid time off before you mark it up.
Job-cost checklist
Run down this list before you send a price. Any cost left off it comes out of your margin.
☐ Materials from your supplier's quote, plus delivery
☐ Labor: each person's hours × loaded rate
☐ Subcontractors
☐ Equipment rental
☐ Permits and inspections
☐ Dump fees and disposal
☐ Fuel and drive time
☐ Small stuff: fasteners, caulk, blades, tape
☐ A share of the year's overhead
☐ A cushion for what you can't see yet
☐ Profit, as a markup on all of the above
After the job, set each line beside what it really cost. The gaps tell you what to change on the next estimate.
After the math
See each job's profit to the dollar
JobsiteBooked counts parts, labor and expenses against each job and shows what it made. Your markup and margin stay hidden from the crew.
- No card for the trial
- Cancel in any month