Job profit calculator: gross and net margin per job
Job profit is the price minus what the job cost you directly (materials, labor or subs, commission and other job costs), and then minus a share of overhead. Gross margin tells you if the job was priced right. Net margin tells you if the company made money on it.
Gross profit$4,230
- Gross margin
- 25.6%
- Direct job costs
- $12,270
- Commission
- $1,320
- Net profit after overhead
- $1,755
- Net margin
- 10.6%
Runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent or saved. The result is an estimate from your own inputs, not a quote.
How job profit is calculated
- Commission = job price x commission rate.
- Direct job costs = materials + labor or subs + other job costs + commission.
- Gross profit = job price minus direct job costs.
- Net profit = gross profit minus overhead, taken as a percent of the job price.
Overhead percent is last year's overhead divided by last year's revenue. Your bookkeeper or accountant can give you the figure. This is general information, not accounting advice.
Estimated vs actual
Run the calculator twice: once with the numbers from the estimate, once with the real bills. The difference is where money leaks: extra material runs, a second dumpster, a day of labor nobody priced. Most shops only find out at year end.
Doing this on every job
Alvin can match forwarded supplier invoices and receipts to jobs in QuickBooks, prepare them for your bookkeeper to review, and list the jobs that finished under your target margin. See job costing in QuickBooks. To set prices from a margin target, use the markup vs margin calculator.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good gross margin for a contractor?
It depends on the trade, the mix of service and install work, and how much overhead the company carries. The useful test is whether gross margin covers your overhead percent with profit left over.
What is the difference between gross profit and net profit on a job?
Gross profit is the price minus the costs tied to that job. Net profit also subtracts the job's share of company overhead such as office, trucks, insurance and marketing.
Should commission be a job cost?
Yes. It is paid because of that job, so it belongs in direct costs. Leaving it out makes every job look more profitable than it was.
The math is the easy part. Alvin does the office work after it.
Alvin is the personal assistant for home services businesses. Your team asks in the app or forwards an email, and Alvin does the work across QuickBooks, your CRM and your suppliers. Anything that spends money or goes to a customer waits for your approval.