Free job pricing calculator for contractors

How the job pricing calculator works

Add the costs you expect to pay for this job, then enter the profit margin you want as a percentage of the selling price. The calculator returns the price for that margin, your total job cost, and the profit left after those entered costs.

Total job cost = materials + labor + subcontractors + equipment / other costs + overhead

Selling price = total job cost ÷ (1 − target margin ÷ 100)

Profit at this price = selling price − total job cost

Enter a margin of 20 for 20%. Cost fields start blank, with no assumed rates or overhead allowance. Unused cost fields count as zero; the margin must be entered and stay below 100%. Dollar results display to two decimal places.

Example: pricing a small deck repair

For a fictional deck repair, a contractor expects the following costs. These amounts and the margin are illustrative, not recommended rates or targets.

The costs total $5,000. With a 20% target margin, the price is $5,000 ÷ 0.80 = $6,250. That leaves $1,250 after the entered costs, and $1,250 ÷ $6,250 = 20%.

Use $6,250 as a starting price for the agreed repair scope before any customer sales tax. Review the scope and costs, then describe the work and price in your contractor estimate. If another $500 of costs arises while the price stays $6,250, the remaining profit falls to $750, or 12% of the selling price.

Choose costs you can account for

Enter costs, rather than customer billing rates

Use supplier costs for materials, including delivery and any waste you expect to purchase. For labor, total the planned worker-hours at your cost per worker-hour, including employer costs you expect to bear. The labor cost calculator can help with wages and an optional burden percentage. Enter the resulting dollar total here, rather than an hourly rate that already includes profit.

Include overhead once

Overhead is a dollar amount allocated to this job, not a percentage field. Use your own allocation method for office and operating expenses. If those expenses are already included in your labor or equipment costs, don’t add them again. Leaving overhead blank excludes it from the calculation.

Allow for the scope you’re quoting

Check subcontractor quotes, equipment rental, disposal, and other expected job expenses. Add any chosen waste or contingency allowance to the relevant cost amount before calculating; the tool doesn’t add one automatically. Document that allowance in your own estimate notes so you can review it later.

Margin and markup give different prices

Margin measures profit against the selling price. Markup measures it against cost. Adding 20% to the example’s $5,000 cost gives a $6,000 price and $1,000 profit: a 16.67% margin. Reaching a 20% margin requires a $6,250 price, equivalent to a 25% markup.

Use the markup and margin calculator if you normally price with markup. This job pricing calculator uses margin throughout.

Review the result before sending an estimate

The price covers the costs you’ve entered at the margin you’ve chosen. It doesn’t check local prices, recommend a margin, add sales tax, or account for expenses you leave out. Check the price against the actual scope and your business costs before quoting it.

Record the cost breakdown alongside your estimate. As the job progresses, compare actual spending and labor time with those assumptions so your next estimate uses better information.