Does this job actually make money?
Type in the price and what the job costs you. See the profit, the margin and the markup before the estimate goes out, and the price to charge for the margin you want.
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Works offline
Margin is not markup. Mixing them up is how a 30% job becomes a 23% job.
Margin is profit as a share of the price. Markup is profit as a share of your cost. Marking a job up 30% gives you a 23% margin, not 30. If you price by adding a percentage on top of cost, you are using markup, so use the target-margin box above to get the price right.
Margin
profit
price
price
34.2%
$2,670 of $7,800
Markup
profit
cost
cost
52.0%
$2,670 on $5,130
Track this on every job automatically.
Construc-IQ puts the estimate, the signed contract, the crew hours and the receipts on the same job, so estimated versus actual profit updates itself while the job is still running.
- Every estimate line carries your cost and your price, so the margin shows before you send it.
- Crew clock-ins and expense receipts land on the job as actual cost.
- A profit and loss view per job, and for the whole company.
Questions
What is the difference between profit margin and markup?
Margin is profit divided by the job price. Markup is profit divided by your cost. On a job that costs you $5,000 and sells for $7,500, the profit is $2,500: that is a 33% margin but a 50% markup. Marking up by 33% when you wanted a 33% margin is the most common way contractors underprice a job.
What should I include in job cost?
Everything the job makes you spend: materials and delivery, labor including your own hours and payroll burden, subcontractors, permits, dumpsters and disposal, equipment rental, fuel and any job-specific insurance. Overhead is the cost of running the company that no single job causes, like the truck, phone, software and office; add it as a percentage so each job carries its share.
How much overhead should I add to each job?
It depends on your company, so work it out from your own books: total overhead for the year divided by total revenue for the year gives your overhead percentage. Add that percentage of the job price to the cost of every job. A one-person operation and a company with an office and a fleet will land on very different numbers.
Does this calculator send my numbers anywhere?
No. The math runs in your browser and nothing is stored or sent. It works offline once the page has loaded.