A job price is what the job costs you, plus a share of your overheads, plus the profit you want, plus VAT if you're registered. Fill in your own numbers below. Leave anything that doesn't apply blank.
How is a job price worked out?
The calculator builds the price in the same order you'd do it on the back of an invoice pad:
- The job's own costs. Materials, labour, and the extras like skip hire, scaffolding and fuel.
- A share of your overheads. Either a percentage of the job's costs, or your yearly overheads split across the days you work.
- Contingency. A percentage on top of the job's costs for the things you only find once you start.
- Your margin. Worked out as a share of the final price, so the percentage you type is the percentage you keep.
- VAT at 20%, if you're registered.
The break-even price is the first two added together. Quote under it and you're paying to do the job. It's also the number to keep in your head when a customer says the price is too high, because it tells you exactly how much room you have.
One thing people miss: if you do the work yourself, put your own wage in the labour line at a proper rate. Profit is what the business keeps on top of that, for the quiet weeks, new kit and the van that needs replacing. If your wage only comes out of the profit, every job looks better than it is.
Margin or markup: what's the difference?
Markup is what you add on top of your costs, as a percentage of the costs. Margin is your profit as a percentage of the price the customer pays. It's the same pounds measured from a different starting point, so the margin is always the smaller number.
Here's a made-up job that costs you £1,000 to do:
Add a 20% markupPrice £1,200 · profit £200 · margin 16.7%
Aim for a 20% marginPrice £1,250 · profit £250 · markup 25%
So if you've decided you want 20% of every job to be profit and you price by adding 20% to your costs, you're short. On this job that's £50 you thought you'd made and didn't. On a bigger job, or across a year of them, it adds up to real money.
Use this table to turn one into the other. These aren't suggested margins, just the maths.
| % | As markup → margin | As margin → markup |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | 9.1% | 11.1% |
| 15% | 13.0% | 17.6% |
| 20% | 16.7% | 25.0% |
| 25% | 20.0% | 33.3% |
| 30% | 23.1% | 42.9% |
| 40% | 28.6% | 66.7% |
| 50% | 33.3% | 100.0% |
Margin = markup ÷ (1 + markup). Markup = margin ÷ (1 − margin).
A worked example, with made-up numbers
These numbers are invented and rounded to keep the sums easy to follow. They aren't a real job or a real price for any trade.
| Line, and how it's worked out | Amount |
|---|---|
| MaterialsWithout VAT | £1,000.00 |
| Labour2 people, 2 days each, at a made-up rate of £250 | £1,000.00 |
| Other job costsSkip and fuel | £500.00 |
| Overheads10% of the £2,500 above | £250.00 |
| Contingency5% of the £2,500 | £125.00 |
| Total costsBreak-even is £2,750, before contingency | £2,875.00 |
| ProfitA 20% margin on £2,875 of costs | £718.75 |
| Price ex VAT£2,875 ÷ 0.8 | £3,593.75 |
| Price inc VATPlus 20% VAT | £4,312.50 |
Price the same job by adding 20% to the £2,875 instead and you'd quote £3,450 ex VAT and make £575. That's £143.75 less for exactly the same work.
A good price only wins if you reply fast
The best-priced quote doesn't win a job if the customer never hears back. In the six Lead Wave lead reviews that counted it exactly, 72 of 236 real enquiries (31%) never replied to anything. In 16 of 27 reviews, a site visit was booked or done and then no quote or outcome was recorded.
So once the price is right, send it quickly and chase it. There are ready-to-copy messages for every stage in quote follow-up messages, including what to say when someone tells you it's too expensive. The reply speed test shows how long your enquiries really wait to hear from you, and the cost per job calculator works out what it costs you to win each job in the first place.
Want more enquiries to price up? Every Lead Wave client gets their own Facebook ads in an area that's theirs alone, and an instant text to every enquiry in their name. Nick will tell you whether your area is free.
Ask Nick on WhatsAppWhat gets left out of a quote?
- Your time pricing the job. The visit, the drive there and writing the quote are unpaid unless your overheads cover them.
- Getting rid of the waste. Tip fees and skip hire, even on a small job.
- Kit you wear out. Blades, bits and the odd tool that doesn't survive the job.
- Material prices moving. If the job is weeks away, put on the quote how long the price stands.
- Going back. A snag or a callback costs a morning. Contingency is there for it.
- The days you can't work. If you split overheads by working days, count the days you really work, not the days in the year.
Should you put materials in with or without VAT?
It depends on whether you're VAT registered.
- VAT registered: put your costs in without VAT, because you claim it back. Then charge VAT on the whole price, which the calculator adds at 20%.
- Not registered: put your costs in at what you actually paid, VAT and all, because you can't claim it back. You can't add VAT to your quote either.
Most work on existing homes is charged at the standard 20%, but not all of it. Some new-build work and some energy-saving installs are charged at a lower rate. If you're not sure which applies, check with your accountant or HMRC's guidance on VAT for building work.
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