Free tool
What should this job cost?
Labor hours times your rate, plus materials at your markup. Put in your own numbers and see the quote price with the margin behind it.
Price the job
Quote price
$1,280
- Labor
- $500
- Materials, marked up
- $780
- Gross profit
- $500
- Gross margin
- 39%
Margin is what is left after your labor cost and the materials at cost. The materials line alone earns $180 at this markup.
A price book with the labor and materials already in it turns this into a one-minute quote.
See how quoting worksAn estimate from your own inputs, not tax or accounting advice. Permit fees, disposal and sales tax are extra lines on the quote.
How the price comes together
Labor is the hours you expect on site, times an hourly rate that already carries wages, payroll burden, overhead and profit. Materials are what the supplier charged you, plus a markup that covers picking them up, warranting them and the time spent choosing them. The two together are the price; permit fees, disposal and sales tax go on the quote as their own lines.
Markup and margin are not the same number. A 30 percent markup on materials is about a 23 percent margin on the materials line, and the calculator shows the margin on the whole job once your real cost per labor hour is in.
Flat rate or time and materials?
Flat rate is this sum done once, in advance, from a price book: the customer sees one price for a defined job and you carry the risk of the estimate. Time and materials bills the hours and parts as they are used, at a rate agreed up front, and suits open-ended work such as diagnostics or repairs behind a wall. Most shops quote flat rate for the jobs they do every week and switch to time and materials when nobody can see the whole job yet. Either way, the quote should say which one it is.
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