Job price and profit calculator
Add up the job costs, choose a markup or a target margin, and see the price, the profit and both percentages side by side. Markup and margin are not the same thing.
- Price before VAT
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- Total cost
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- Profit
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- Margin
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- Markup
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- Price including VAT
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Markup and margin are different
Markup is profit as a percentage of cost. Margin is profit as a percentage of the selling price. On a £1,000 job cost:
- A 25% markup gives a price of £1,250 and £250 profit, which is a 20% margin.
- A 25% margin needs a price of £1,333.33 (cost ÷ 0.75), which is a 33.3% markup.
Mixing them up is one of the most common pricing mistakes: if you aim for a 20% margin but add 20% to cost, you only make 16.7%.
| Markup | Margin |
|---|---|
| 10% | 9.1% |
| 15% | 13.0% |
| 20% | 16.7% |
| 25% | 20.0% |
| 33.3% | 25.0% |
| 50% | 33.3% |
The formulas: margin = markup ÷ (1 + markup); markup = margin ÷ (1 − margin).
What to include in job cost
- Materials, including delivery and a waste allowance.
- Labour: your own time too, at a proper day rate. Use the labour calculator.
- Plant and hire: skips, mixers, scaffold, access towers, tool hire.
- Overheads: a share of the van, fuel, insurance, phone, accounts and unpaid quoting time. A simple way is to divide your yearly overheads by the number of working days and add a share for each day on site.
Profit is what is left after all of that. It pays for quiet weeks, call-backs, new tools and growing the business.
Worked example
Materials £2,500, labour £3,000, plant £400 and overheads £300 make a cost of £6,200. A 20% markup gives a price of £7,440 and £1,240 profit, a 16.7% margin. With 20% VAT the customer pays £8,928.
Questions
What profit margin should a builder make?
It varies with the type and risk of work. Many small builders aim for a net margin in the region of 10–20% after all costs, and more on small or high-risk jobs. Know your real costs first.
Should profit be added before or after VAT?
Before. Work out cost plus profit to get the net price, then add VAT on top if you are VAT registered.
What is the difference between gross and net profit?
Gross profit is price minus the direct job costs (materials, labour, plant). Net profit also takes off business overheads. This calculator includes a job share of overheads, so its profit is closer to net.
Results are estimates for planning and ordering. Check quantities with your supplier and product data sheets, and anything structural or regulated with a qualified professional. See our terms.