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How to price a home-service job with your real numbers

Busy all year and still short on cash usually means the prices are guesses. Gut feel and "a little under the other guy" don't add up to a pricing system. Four numbers do.

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The four numbers

  1. Yearly overhead. Rent, trucks, insurance, software, and your own pay.
  2. Hours you actually bill. Count billable hours, not hours on the clock. Drive time doesn't get invoiced.
  3. True labor cost per billable hour. Overhead divided by billable hours, plus wages.
  4. Materials and a margin you chose on purpose.

Build the quote from those. If a job won't cover them, don't take it just to stay busy. Busy and broke is still broke.

Do the math in your browser: the free pricing calculator turns these four numbers into your break-even rate, recommended rate, and the margin on any job.

Check the price with AI before you send it

AI prompt: price check before you sendAI prompt

Help me check my price on this job before I send the quote. Use only my numbers. If a number is missing, ask me for it instead of guessing. Show the math in a short table: materials with my markup, labor hours times my hourly rate, permits or subcontractors, a share of overhead, and the final price at my target profit margin. Then tell me in two sentences if anything looks low or missing.
Job: [describe the job]
Materials and cost: [list]
Markup on materials: [e.g. 25%]
Labor: [hours] at $[rate] per hour
Permits or subs: [list or none]
Overhead: [per job or per hour]
Target profit margin: [e.g. 20%]

Tip: Double-check the totals with a calculator. The AI can make math mistakes.

When the customer pushes back

"Can you do it cheaper?"Text

I hear you. I can't lower the price on the same job, but I can change the job. [Option, e.g. "If we keep the existing thermostat instead of upgrading, that takes it down to [$]."] Want me to send that version?

Tip: Change the job, not the price. If you offer financing or a discount, say so. Don't invent one.

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