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Contractor job profit calculator
Put in the job price and what the job costs. See what is really left after materials, labor, subs and your overhead.
The job
What you keep
Net profit$0
Net margin0%
Job costs$0
Gross profit$0
Gross margin0%
Overhead share$0
How to calculate job profit
Gross profit is the job price minus the costs of that job: materials, your crew's labor, subcontractors, permits, dump fees and rentals. Net profit is what is left after you also cover a fair share of overhead: insurance, vehicles, the office, phones, software and your own salary if you are not on the crew.
- Gross profit = price − job costs
- Overhead share = price × overhead %
- Net profit = gross profit − overhead share
- Margin = profit ÷ price
Example: a $25,000 job with $17,000 of job costs leaves $8,000 gross profit, a 32% gross margin. With overhead at 12% of sales ($3,000), the net profit is $5,000, a 20% net margin.
How do I find my overhead percentage?
Add up a year of costs that are not tied to one job: insurance, vehicles, fuel not charged to jobs, office rent, phones, software, marketing and office wages. Divide by the year's total sales. If overhead was $60,000 on $500,000 of sales, your overhead is 12%. Ask your accountant to check the numbers.
Why jobs lose money without anyone noticing
- Extra work the client asked for was done but never billed.
- Receipts sat in the truck and were never put on the job.
- The price was set with markup, not margin. See the markup calculator.
- Labor ran over and nobody compared it with the estimate until the end.
Track it during the job, not after
A calculator tells you what a job should make. Tracking tells you what it is making. Read how to track contractor job costs, or see how Vio keeps the job and its money together. Ready to price the next one? Use the free estimate maker.