Service pricing calculator
This service pricing calculator prices one job from what it costs you: labor hours at your hourly rate, materials, a share of overhead, then your profit markup on top. It also draws the floor under the price, so you can see how much a discount can take before the job loses money.
Price for this job: $300.00. Its floor, cost plus overhead, is $240.00: the price can come down 20.0% before the job loses money.
Enter the job’s costs
Price for this job: $300.00. Its floor, cost plus overhead, is $240.00: the price can come down 20.0% before the job loses money.
What an hour of labor costs you, wages and benefits included.
Count travel, setup, the work, cleanup and paperwork.
Parts, supplies and any subcontractor costs. Type any amount, or slide.
Rent, insurance, utilities and admin, as a share of direct costs.
Added on top of cost plus overhead. Under it: how much can come off the price before it reaches the floor.
How the job price is calculated
The price is built up from cost in four steps, then read against its floor. With the calculator’s starting values — $50 an hour for 2 hours, $100 of materials, 20% overhead and a 25% markup — direct costs are $200, overhead adds $40, profit adds $60, and the job is priced at $300. Its floor is $240, cost plus overhead. The $60 above it is 20% of the price, so 20% is the most that can come off; a 10% discount takes $30, half the profit.
- Direct costs
- Hourly labor rate × estimated hours, plus materials.
- Yours$50 × 2 hrs + $100.00 = $200.00
- Overhead
- Direct costs × your overhead percentage — the job’s share of rent, insurance, utilities and admin.
- Yours$200.00 × 20% = $40.00
- Profit
- (Direct costs + overhead) × your profit markup.
- Yours$240.00 × 25% = $60.00
- Price
- Direct costs + overhead + profit.
- Yours$200.00 + $40.00 + $60.00 = $300.00
- The floor under the price
- Direct costs + overhead is the break-even price: quote under it and the job loses money. Profit ÷ price is how much can come off the price before it reaches the floor, and whatever comes off comes out of the profit alone. That share is also the job’s profit margin; the profit margin calculator draws why a margin is smaller than its markup.
- Yoursfloor $240.00 · $60.00 ÷ $300.00 = 20.0% off at most
Three calculators that price a job from another end — a crew, the hour, a month of work — and the pricing guides for three trades.
Calculators
- Job cost calculatorThe same build-up with a crew: hours × workers × wage, then materials, overhead and markup.
- Labor cost calculatorWhat an hour of a technician really costs once tax, insurance, vehicle and unbillable time are in.
- Profit margin calculatorCheck the margin on a month of finished jobs, and the difference between margin and markup.
Send the price as an estimate
Business Genie sends estimates and proposals with deposits, and invoices customers can pay online by card, Apple Pay, PayPal, Venmo or Cash App. Free for a month, no credit card to start.
Where the price goes next
- 1Priced · $300.00You’re here
Worked out here, from the job’s costs.
- Sent as an estimate
An estimate or proposal, with a deposit asked for before the work starts.
- Invoiced
The invoice goes to the customer with a way to pay online.
- Paid
Online payments by card, Apple Pay, PayPal, Venmo or Cash App.