Rate Sorted Job profit margin calculator
Job profit margin and markup calculator: does this quote actually pay you?
A price can cover your materials, your travel and your tip run, and still pay you less than your own day rate.
Put your price in below and it takes it apart, line by line, using only the figures you type.
Free to use. Nothing you type is stored.
How to calculate profit margin on a job
Profit margin is what the job leaves you, divided by your price, shown as a percentage.
Take every cost off the price first, including your own days at your day rate.
Markup divides the same profit by your costs instead. On a job that makes money, it always reads higher.
The three numbers people mix up
What is left for your time, gross profit and net profit
Most quotes are judged on the flattering one.
What is left for your time
Your price, less the money this job spends: materials, waste, travel, hire, a skip, a subcontractor.
It feels like profit. It is not.
Gross profit, after paying yourself
The same figure, less your own days at your own day rate.
A job that pays you nothing for a week has bought you a job, not made you a profit.
Net profit, what the job adds to the business
Gross profit, less this job's share of what the year costs you to run.
Van, insurance, tools, phone, accountant, spread across the days you actually bill.
That is the bottom line, and the calculator leads with it.
Margin and markup questions
What is the difference between margin and markup?
Margin is profit divided by your price. Markup is the same profit divided by your costs.
On a job that makes money, markup always reads higher. The calculator shows both.
How do I work out the profit margin on a job?
Take every cost off the price, including your own days at your day rate and a share of your running costs.
Divide what is left by the price and multiply by 100.
Should my own wages count as a cost?
Yes. A job that pays you nothing for your days has bought you a job, not made a profit.
The calculator takes your days at your own day rate before it shows a profit.
What profit margin should I aim for?
We hold no sourced figure for that, so the calculator never calls a price too low.
Type the margin you want and it shows the price that reaches it.
Is anything I type stored?
No. Nothing you type is stored.
What is a good profit margin for a job?
We hold no sourced figure for what margin your job should carry.
So the calculator never tells you a price is too low. The only target it uses is the one you type.
We do hold day rates by trade and by town, and we publish where they came from.
It is an estimate built on your figures, and it is not accounting advice.
For anything that turns on tax treatment, speak to an accountant.
Happy with the price? Put it into the quote writer and send it.
The day rate behind your labour line comes from the day rate calculator.
Price a material quantity first with the materials calculator.
Tilers, plasterers and bricklayers can turn a day rate into a price per m².
Put a number on your running costs with the van cost calculator.
Check your cover questions with the tradesman insurance checklist.
Job done? There is a free invoice template.