Free tool

Job cost estimator

Add up materials, labour and the other costs of a job, put your markup on top, and see the price, the profit and the real margin before you quote.

Materials

Markup on materials (%)Covers buying, collecting, storing and replacing faulty stock. 10 to 30% is common.

Labour

HoursAll people, all hours, including setup and cleanup.PeopleHours above are per person.

What an hour costs youWages plus on-costs, or your own floor rate.Charge-out rate per hourWhat the client pays per hour. The rate calculator works this out.

Other costs

Other job costsTravel, parking, skip hire, equipment rental, platform fees. Passed on at cost.Contingency (%)For the thing nobody saw coming. Bigger for older buildings or vague briefs.

Profit margin you want (%)Used to show the price that hits this margin, for comparison.

Price to quote

Profit

Margin

Price for your target margin

Materials at cost
Materials charged
Labour at cost
Labour charged
Other costs
Contingency
Total cost to you
Markup on cost

Worked pricing guides to go with this: The Pricing Set, $12.99.

Markup is not margin. A 50% markup on cost is a 33% margin on the price. If you want 30% of every job to be profit, divide your cost by 0.7, not multiply it by 1.3. The last box above does that sum for you.

General information for small businesses and freelancers. Not legal, tax or financial advice. Everything you type stays in this browser: it is saved on this device only and never sent anywhere, apart from the email address if you sign up.

Job cost estimator

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