Add up what a job costs you — materials, labor, and overhead — set your markup, and see the price to quote, your profit, and your margin. Stop guessing (and underpricing) your bids.
Estimate only — a starting point for your bid, not a guaranteed price. Pad for risk, change orders, and slow-pay clients; confirm local rates.
Most tradespeople underprice because they quote a number that "sounds fair" instead of building it up from cost. The reliable way is simple:
Price = (Materials + Labor + Overhead) × (1 + Markup)
A 40% markup is not a 40% margin. Markup is added to your cost; margin is profit as a share of the final price. A 40% markup gives about a 29% margin. This calculator shows both so you can quote from markup but check the margin you actually keep.
Quoting is three steps: total what the job costs you, apply a markup, and check the margin that results. Most under-pricing happens because the third step is skipped.
Materials $400, 12 hours at $45 = $540 of labour, plus $80 of overhead. Total cost: $1,020.
| Markup | Quote | Profit | Actual margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20% | $1,224.00 | $204.00 | 16.7% |
| 35% | $1,377.00 | $357.00 | 25.9% |
| 50% | $1,530.00 | $510.00 | 33.3% |
A 50% markup is a 33.3% margin, not a 50% one. Markup is profit over cost; margin is profit over price. To genuinely earn a 50% margin on this job you would have to quote $2,040 — a 100% markup. Contractors who think they are running 50% margins on 50% markups are running two thirds of the profit they believe they are, and it shows up at year end as a business that was busy and did not make money.
Materials and labour hours are easy; the omissions are what erode margin:
There is no correct number, but there are honest reference points. A markup that leaves you under about a 20% margin has no room for the job running long, and jobs run long. If competition forces you below that, the answer is usually a different customer rather than a thinner quote — see how to price a job and contractor profit margin for the fuller argument.
This calculator prices a single job well. It cannot tell you whether your rate covers a year — for that you need annual overhead, target income and realistic billable hours, which is the break-even calculator and, for the full picture, a set of books that shows what your quotes actually returned after the job finished.
Add your materials, labor (hours × your hourly cost), and job overhead to get your true cost, then multiply by one plus your markup (e.g. 1.4 for 40%). That's the price to quote. This calculator does it instantly.
For most trades, 40–50% markup over cost is typical — enough to cover business overhead, risk, and profit. Higher-risk, specialized, or warranty-heavy work justifies more. Below ~30% you're often working for wages, not profit.
Enter what an hour costs you (your wage or the value of your time). The markup is what turns that cost into a profitable charge — so you don't double-count.
Related: profit margin calculator · break-even calculator · how to price a job in the trades.
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It uses standard formulas and recalculates the moment you change a value, so the math is exact for the inputs you enter. Treat the result as a reliable planning estimate; for decisions with legal or tax consequences, confirm the figures with a qualified professional.
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Last reviewed: September 2026. Free to use, no signup — Job Estimate & Quote Calculator by ToolWise Digital.
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