QUOTEHARBOR GUIDE

How to Price Service Jobs: Costs, Margin & Quotes

A useful service quote starts with the work you expect to deliver. QuoteHarbor helps turn your own cost assumptions into a price; it does not supply market rates or guarantee profit. Use the free builder for cleaning, landscaping, repairs or creative work.

1. Count the cost of delivering the job

List labor hours and an internal hourly cost, materials, subcontractors and job-specific expenses. Your internal labor cost is not necessarily your customer billing rate. Include your own working time even when you do not pay yourself hourly. Avoid entering the same expense both as a line item and in overhead.

2. Allow for overhead

Insurance, tools, administration and travel can make a job cost more than its visible materials. The builder applies your overhead percentage to direct costs. This is an allocation assumption: compare it with your actual expenses and adjust it as you learn.

3. Set a target margin

For a simple illustrative job, suppose labor and materials cost $400. A 10% overhead allowance adds $40, giving a $440 cost basis. At a 20% target margin, the price before discounts and tax is $440 ÷ (1 − 0.20) = $550. The $110 difference is 20% of the selling price. These sample figures are not recommended industry rates.

4. Check discounts, tax and the deposit

A 10% discount reduces that $550 price to $495. With the cost basis still $440, estimated profit falls to $55 and the margin becomes about 11.11%. Tax is calculated on the discounted subtotal and is excluded from estimated profit. Enter the appropriate rate yourself; QuoteHarbor does not determine taxability. A requested deposit is part of the total, not additional income.

5. Make the scope explicit

Before sharing a proposal, specify the work included, exclusions, access requirements, assumptions, expiration date and payment terms. Review the customer preview: it hides your internal costs. Print or save it as a PDF and send it using your own email. The builder does not send proposals or collect your customers’ payments.