TheToolbeltCFO
Free Tools for Trades Owners
CFO-Built. 25 Years Experience.
Job Pricing Calculator

Stop pricing jobs
from gut feel

Enter your real costs. Get the minimum price you need to charge on this job to actually make money - before you ever pick up the phone.

78% of contractors undercharge
by $15K+ per year
28% average real overhead
(most guess 10%)
Free no account, no signup,
no catch
1 Labor Costs
Number of people working this job
Total estimated hours on site
$
What you pay them - not what you charge
%
Payroll taxes, workers comp, insurance. Typical: 30-40%
2 Materials
$
Everything you buy specifically for this job - parts, supplies, consumables
3 Your Overhead
$
Insurance, vehicles, tools, phone, office, ads - everything you pay whether you work or not
Total hours your team actually bills customers monthly
4 Profit Target
15%
Industry benchmark: 10-15% net margin. Under 10% means you are working too hard for too little. Drag the slider to see how margin affects your price.
Your Pricing Numbers
Floor price - never quote below this
$714
4 total labor hrs / overhead $53.13/hr
Quote at this for your target margin
$840
Cost Breakdown
Loaded labor cost $151
Materials $350
Overhead allocated $213
Your overhead rate / hr $53.13/hr
Total job cost (floor) $714
Profit at target price $126

Get the full toolkit - free

Markup vs margin, labor burden, break-even, and equipment ROI calculators. Plus a weekly CFO tip built for trades owners.

Why most contractors are busy but broke
01 / Labor Burden

Your wage is not your cost

If you pay a tech $28/hr, your real cost is $38/hr once you add payroll taxes, workers comp, and benefits. Most contractors quote off the wage and lose $10/hr they never see. This calculator uses your real loaded rate.

02 / Overhead Rate

"About 10%" is wrong

Average trades overhead runs 25-35% of revenue - not 10%. Take your total monthly fixed costs, divide by your billable hours, and that number goes into every quote you send. Now you know it before you pick up the phone.

03 / Your Floor Price

Know the number you cannot go below

Your floor is what the job costs you with zero profit. Quote below your floor and you are paying out of pocket to do the job. Every contractor has a floor. Almost none of them know what it is. Now you will.

Markup vs Margin - the $20K mistake

These two numbers are not the same. Most contractors use markup but think they are getting margin. Here is what that costs on every single job.

The Common Mistake - 20% Markup
Job cost$4,000
Add 20% markup+ $800
Invoice price$4,800
Actual margin16.7% - not 20%
You wanted 20% profit. You got 16.7%. On 25 jobs a year that gap is $3,300 you never see.
The Correct Calculation - 20% Margin
Job cost$4,000
Formula: cost / (1 - 0.20)$4,000 / 0.80
Invoice price$5,000
Actual margin20.0% - exactly right
$200 more per job. 25 jobs a year = $5,000 back in your pocket. Same work. Better math.