Guides
27 guides on the numbers behind a price — what work costs, what it must earn, and what happens to the margin after the quote goes out. Each one pairs with a calculator, uses worked figures, and states the assumptions behind them.
Price the job
The full chain from costs to a number you can send: what the work costs, what markup and margin really mean, and what the document has to say.
How to Price a Job: A Complete Method for Contractors
A repeatable five-step method for pricing any job: burdened labor, real material costs, overhead recovery, margin-correct pricing, and a sanity check before you hit send.
8 min read
Markup vs. Margin: The Pricing Difference That Costs Contractors Money
The two words get used interchangeably on job sites, and the confusion is expensive. Here's the difference, the conversion, and the worked numbers.
6 min read
General Contractor Markup: What's Typical and What Yours Should Be
Published GC markups range from under 10% to 50% — which tells you the number is a decision, not a fact. What the ranges actually reflect, and how to set yours.
7 min read
How to Write an Estimate: What Every Line Is For
An estimate isn't a form to fill in — it's the visible half of your costing math. What each section must contain, and the mistakes that lose jobs or lose money.
8 min read
Materials Markup: Claim the Discount, Price the Freight, Then Mark Up
Most material lines are priced on the list price — which means the trade discount is never claimed and freight is eaten. The markup should sit on net cost.
6 min read
Change Orders: Pricing Extra Work Without Giving the Margin Away
The extra work costs $432. The change order is $720. The difference is the margin the job was priced to carry — and the most commonly donated money in contracting.
7 min read
Quote Win Rate: The Number That Tells You Whether to Fix Price or Pipeline
A high win rate with thin revenue means prices are too low. A low one means wrong leads or slow follow-up. The win rate — and its value split — says which.
6 min read
The Cost of Slow Payment: Every Day Past Terms Is a Loan You Made
An invoice paid 45 days late is credit you extended at your cost of money, not the customer's. How to price it, and the levers that actually shorten the float.
6 min read
Labor-Only Pricing: When the Customer Buys the Materials
"I'll buy the parts, you just install them" transfers real risk to you — wrong parts, late deliveries, defective fixtures, and rework you can't bill anyone for. Price it, and write the terms.
6 min read
How to Price a Maintenance Agreement (So It's Profitable on Its Own)
The plan must earn its keep on the price, not on the hope of upsell. Build the price from visit costs, see what a member is worth across three years, and bill monthly.
7 min read
Deposits and Progress Billing: Make the Customer's Money Pay for the Job
A deposit isn't a courtesy — it's who finances the job's front-loaded costs. The coverage test, milestone design, and what retention quietly does to your cash.
6 min read
Know your costs and capacity
The numbers underneath every price — what an hour truly costs, how many hours you can sell, and whether the work should be done by an employee or a subcontractor.
How to Calculate Labor Burden (And Why $25/hr Isn't $25/hr)
Payroll taxes, workers' comp, benefits — and the billable-hours divisor most explanations skip. Build your true hourly labor cost step by step.
7 min read
Billable Hours and Your Income Goal: The Two Numbers Behind Your Rate
Rate advice usually starts with the rate. Yours has to start with how many hours you can sell, and what the year must earn before tax takes its share.
8 min read
Effective Hourly Rate: What Your Hour Actually Pays After the Unpaid Work
The rate per on-site hour flatters every job. The effective hourly rate — profit divided by every hour the job takes, paid or not — is the one your year lives on.
7 min read
Hire or Subcontract Out? Finding the Break-Even Workload
The decision isn't the wage against the invoice — it's a fixed annual cost against hours that actually exist. How to find the workload where hiring starts to pay.
7 min read
The True Cost of Overtime: Why an OT Hour Isn't 1.5× the Wage
The classic OT calculation forgets that payroll taxes and workers' comp ride on overtime pay too. Here's the burdened version, the annual premium, and the hire-or-overtime decision.
6 min read
Truck Roll Cost: What a Service Visit Really Costs Before Anyone Touches a Tool
The fuel receipt is the smallest part of a trip. The true truck roll cost includes the drive time nobody invoices — and it should set your call-out minimum.
6 min read
Buy or Rent Equipment? The Break-Even Days of Use Decide It
The purchase price is the misleading part of the decision. What matters is capital recovery per year, the per-day cost of owning, and the days you'll honestly use it.
6 min read
Revenue per Technician: The KPI That's Meaningless Without Its Chain
The field-service north star hides a chain — billable hours times rate per billable hour. Read the chain and the number tells you whether to fix pricing, routing or headcount.
6 min read
Protect the margin
What happens after the quote goes out: discounts, flat rates against hourly, minimum charges, and the honest check of whether the job made what you planned.
What a Discount Really Costs (And What to Offer Instead)
Ten percent off is ten percent of the price and often a quarter of the profit. The arithmetic, the volume you'd need to replace it, and better things to trade.
7 min read
Job Costing: Did the Job Actually Make Money?
Estimates say what you intended; actuals say what happened. How to compare the two, why small overruns cost so much margin, and what to change afterwards.
7 min read
Minimum Service Charge: How to Set the Floor Price for Showing Up
A trip costs what it costs. Build your service-call floor from burdened labor, the truck, overhead and margin — instead of copying the shop across town.
6 min read
Flat Rate vs Hourly Pricing: Which Should You Use?
The trade-offs everyone lists, plus the part software blogs skip: the same job priced both ways, so you can see exactly where each model wins and loses.
7 min read
What Gross Margin Should I Target? Work It Out, Don't Guess It
Forum numbers — '30% is standard' — can't know your overhead or your income goal. The right target margin falls out of your own arithmetic in about four lines.
6 min read
When to Raise Your Prices — and How Much You Can Afford to Lose
A price increase is the only lever that adds profit with no extra work. The arithmetic of what it's worth, and the attrition headroom it buys.
7 min read
The Cost of Rework: A Job You Do Twice and Get Paid Once For
Callbacks are the most expensive work you do: full cost, zero revenue. How to price the drag from your own callback rate — and what actually reduces it.
7 min read
The Slow Season Reserve: What the Quiet Months Actually Cost
Summer pays for winter, but nobody can say by how much — which is why February surprises owners every year. Size the gap, then build the reserve weekly while the money is there.
6 min read
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