How to price a job so you actually make money

Ask ten trades how they price a job and most will tell you the same thing: they have a look, think of a number that feels about right, and knock a bit off so they win it. That's not pricing — that's guessing with extra steps. And it's why so many busy trades work flat out all year and still wonder where the money went.

Pricing a job properly isn't complicated. It just needs to be done the same way every time, off real numbers instead of a feeling.

1. Start with your true hourly cost — not your day rate

Your real cost per hour isn't just what you'd like to earn. It's your wage, plus van, fuel, tools, insurance, phone, accountant, downtime between jobs and the hours you spend quoting on an evening. Add all of that up and divide it across the hours you can actually bill. Almost everyone finds their true cost per hour is higher than they thought — and if you price under it, every job loses a little.

2. Estimate the hours honestly

Break the job into sections and put realistic hours against each — first fix, second fix, testing, making good. Don't price the version where everything goes perfectly. Price the version that happens on a normal week, with the odd hold-up.

3. Add materials with a mark-up

Materials aren't a pass-through. You're carrying the cost, collecting them, storing them and standing behind them. A sensible mark-up on materials covers that and adds margin. Don't forget the small stuff — fixings, consumables, sundries — it disappears from quotes and comes straight out of your pocket.

4. Build in margin, not just a wage

Here's the one that catches people: covering your costs isn't profit. If a job only pays your wages, the business made nothing — and the business is what carries you through quiet months. Add a margin on top of your fully-costed price. That margin is the difference between surviving and getting ahead.

5. Price it line by line — and keep the record

A number scribbled on the back of a job sheet tells you nothing three months later when the job's gone sideways. Price every line — quantity, description, rate — so you can see exactly where the money is, hand a professional quote to the client, and check later whether you actually hit it.

That last point is the one most trades skip, and it's the one that pays. If your quote lives in a proper system instead of your head, you can compare the finished job back against it and learn what your pricing gets right and wrong. Do that for a year and your quoting gets sharp.