Calculate exactly what to charge for any service job
Free tool by ThePocketBoss - enter labor hours, materials, and your target margin to get a recommended price that guarantees profitability. Need help finding your hourly rate? Start with the contractor hourly rate calculator.
Total hours for this job
Your cost per hour
Parts, supplies, and materials for this job
Insurance, vehicle, tools, office (typically 10-20%)
Percentage of selling price you want as profit
The most reliable pricing method for service contractors is cost-plus: add up all your costs (labor, materials, overhead), then add your desired profit margin on top. This calculator does that math for you. If you want to verify your overall project profitability, pair this with the contractor profit calculator, and make sure you understand the difference between markup and margin so you price correctly.
This calculator gives you a minimum profitable price. You should charge more when the job is urgent, requires specialized skills, involves difficult access, or the customer is comparing you against contractors with much higher overhead.
Our contractor estimating software lets you create estimate templates for your most common services. Set your standard rates and materials once, then generate accurate quotes in minutes instead of hours. Track actual costs to refine your templates over time.
Most service contractors target 20-30% profit margin. Higher-skill specialty work can command 30-40%. Simple maintenance work typically falls in the 15-25% range.
Yes. Commercial work often has higher overhead requirements (insurance, compliance, safety gear) and longer payment cycles, so you should price higher to compensate. Your margin should be at least the same or better than residential.
Add a 5-10% material buffer to your estimate. Include a clause that material costs are valid for 30 days. Track your actual material costs in ThePocketBoss to spot trends and update your estimates.
The profit calculator works backward from a price to show margin. This calculator works forward from your costs and desired margin to recommend a price. Both give you the same answer - just from different starting points.
ThePocketBoss creates professional estimates, converts them to invoices, and collects payments - all from one app.
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