# Sticky  Business Owners' Cost Calculator



## Speedy Petey

Here is a link to a nice business cost/overhead calculator.

http://www.masterplumbers.com/utilities/costcalc/


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## macmikeman

Speedy Petey, thats a good link. I've been checking myself with that calculator for a few years now. I suggest it to anyone here who has not used it before.


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## HCECalaska

the accounting package we use give me daily access to this information. realy helps to let you catch a problem job early


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## Chris1971

I know this is an old thread but, the calculator might be helpful.


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## chicken steve

i wish i could see far enough ahead to plan a whole year out.......~CS~


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## HARRY304E

Chris1971 said:


> I know this is an old thread but, the calculator might be helpful.


That's cool That is post#6 out of 698,535...:thumbup:

Cool calculator.:thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## vinroc

Dewalt also offers a cost calculator for 4.99 after you download their free app for iPhone/iPad

http://www.dewalt.cengage.com/mobilepro/


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## Grimlock

I got $11.83.... :confused1:


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## Celtic

Grimlock said:


> I got $11.83.... :confused1:


:thumbsup: Thats awesome...

:thumbup:.....your phone will never stop ringing at that price....

......that's assuming you can afford to have a phone and advertise at that price.

Ya might might to run it again :whistling2:


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## chicken steve

D*mn the torpedoes.....

~CS~


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## jza

Mine came up to $30/hour cash, but I didn't see an option to give a credit if your customers were paying for your lunch?


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## Twisted Wire Nut

*Know Your Costs*

I have a better solution. Invest in an electrical estimating program, I use a program called Turbobid (great program) to help me figure out my EXACT costs...no guessing.


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## Bionic Sparky

I came out to be $52/hr. I guess I must have low overhead than most


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## Celtic

Bionic Sparky said:


> I came out to be $52/hr. I guess I must have low overhead than most


Did you make allowances for:
- retirement
- medical insurance


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## electricmanscott

Bionic Sparky said:


> I came out to be $52/hr. I guess I must have low overhead than most


Did you figure billing 40 hours a week?


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## TobiasSommer

*Looking at your pricing*

Here is a different approach that I found helpful. Watch the video and see if this works for you. Really for a service company and not for new construction. It is more focused on the sales and less on the overhead expenses. 

**contact user for link**

It is easier to reverse engineer it this way. Focus on the goal amount of revenue then work backwards to get expenses. If you are not priced correctly you will never make any money no matter what expenses you cut. Looking at what you charge is more important to me than anything else. Being the cheapest guy around is a race to the bottom.


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## All Current

Is it me or is this link geared up for plumbers? Yea I think plumbers.

What's everyone charge to change out a 2 prong oulet for a 3 prong with added ground tale? I have like 20 to do. And also switch, outlet opening. I am trying to come up with a good price for a rough opening. On the rough that is. That price would include finish work also. I am in the north jersey area.


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## 480sparky

All Current said:


> Is it me or is this link geared up for plumbers? Yea I think plumbers.
> 
> What's everyone charge to change out a 2 prong oulet for a 3 prong with added ground tale? I have like 20 to do. And also switch, outlet opening. I am trying to come up with a good price for a rough opening. On the rough that is. That price would include finish work also. I am in the north jersey area.



Pricing questions are really not relevant. What I charge has not bearing on what your COBDs are.


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## chicken steve

:jester:


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## Lighting Retro

I have saved this and pulled this out multiple times.


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## hotblueelectric

*cost calculator*

why are materials not included in all these cost calculators


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## Celtic

hotblueelectric said:


> why are materials not included in all these cost calculators


Thats a different part of the cost of doing a job.

The calc. linked to in post #1 is the other part of the equation...how much to charge your time out at.


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## carryyourbooks

I got NaN after calculate. wth is that?


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## chicken steve

Maybe it's computerish for_ no-no_....~CS~


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## yrman

hotblueelectric said:


> why are materials not included in all these cost calculators


Materials is a direct cost of a specific job, not overhead which has to be covered no matter how much work you actually do.


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## Chinese Keith

*Burden & OH*

Project Cost, Hourly Burden, and OH are 3 separate calculations applied to different portions of your estimate. Consider farming out your estimates to guys like me until you can take on a full time estimator. Then, make sure you don't bury him.


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## electricmanscott

:chinese: Ancient Chinese secret?


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## Chinese Keith

*Naw...*



electricmanscott said:


> :chinese: Ancient Chinese secret?


Straightforward stuff for a new guy.


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## FrunkSlammer

Oh good, the site has an estimator now. Just what some of these guys need.

So if I drive out to some rich chodes house and tell him a dozen ways I could do the job, and he doesn't want any of them, how much gas money should he pay me?


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## Chinese Keith

*Answer:*



FrunkSlammer said:


> Oh good, the site has an estimator now. Just what some of these guys need.
> 
> So if I drive out to some rich chodes house and tell him a dozen ways I could do the job, and he doesn't want any of them, how much gas money should he pay me?


Nothing. You should have had the brains to be carrying that as an overhead cost on the gigs you actually do get.


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## macmikeman

Chinese Keith said:


> Nothing. You should have had the brains to be carrying that as an overhead cost on the gigs you actually do get.


So the people who hire me have to pay for the ones who just wasted my time going over to their site to spend an hour looking at work I will never get cause they are just fishing?

I don't think that is such a wonderful idea. I think charging for all estimates and costing each to the customer wishing for the estimate is more fair to all and is decidedly the proper way to perform. Besides it removes tire kickers from the get go.


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## Chinese Keith

*I understand, and I agree...However*



macmikeman said:


> So the people who hire me have to pay for the ones who just wasted my time going over to their site to spend an hour looking at work I will never get cause they are just fishing?
> 
> I don't think that is such a wonderful idea. I think charging for all estimates and costing each to the customer wishing for the estimate is more fair to all and is decidedly the proper way to perform. Besides it removes tire kickers from the get go.


It is what it is, and the custom doesn't seem likely to change. Also, think about it this way: There are some so-called tradespeople who would do nothing but go around charging for crazy high-ball "estimates".


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## electricmanscott

:lol::lol:


FrunkSlammer said:


> Oh good, the site has an estimator now. Just what some of these guys need.
> 
> So if I drive out to some rich chodes house and tell him a dozen ways I could do the job, and he doesn't want any of them, how much gas money should he pay me?


:lol::lol:


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## mertabird

I used this cost calculator a year or so ago and found it very helpful. It helped me decide to include things like advertising, gasoline, estimating, and vehicle costs in my hourly rates.... having an idea of where my money goes, what I am charging for, is a really good thing.


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## ShamusRichard

I know this is an old thread but, thats a good link. The calculator might be helpful.


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## crookcirca80

This link gives me "service unavailable". Anyone else have that issue?


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## Speedy Petey

It's a really old link, but it still works for me in FireFox.


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## Chris1971

Works for me.:thumbup:


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## Mr+Mrs Electric

We are finding that at the end of the day we make 40 cents on the dollar.
All the different agencies, insurances, advertising and the taxman make thing really tough.
Any other small operations feel the same.


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## erroneous

I've stumbled upon this a few years back and one thing that always struck me as being off about it is that if increase the number of employees, enter their wages and increase the number of productive hours and days to adjust for additional employees on the job, the hourly rate increases, yet I know that it should decrease. Maybe just a browser issue? Hmm...


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## electriciansandy

mertabird said:


> I used this cost calculator a year or so ago and found it very helpful. It helped me decide to include things like advertising, gasoline, estimating, and vehicle costs in my hourly rates.... having an idea of where my money goes, what I am charging for, is a really good thing.



You have to, or not your earnings will quickly go to zero.

That's something that took me a while to learn. Billable hours shouldn't just be the time I'm actually pulling wire or bending conduit. Travel, gas, time estimating, time recruiting, time marketing, time spend printing marketing material, time spent with the website guy, etc have to go SOMEWHERE. What's hard is knowing where each of these go


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## chicken steve

i remember my first year fondly......










~C:jester:S~


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## JobFLEX

*paperwork and organization*



mertabird said:


> I used this cost calculator a year or so ago and found it very helpful. It helped me decide to include things like advertising, gasoline, estimating, and vehicle costs in my hourly rates.... having an idea of where my money goes, what I am charging for, is a really good thing.


Hey everyone, we've just put together a new contracting app called JobFLEX. Does anyone have any experience using it? If so we'd love to hear some feedback, it sounds like it could help a few people on this thread stay organized and increase efficiency when creating estimates.


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## Riverside Electric

Thanks for this!


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## Riverside Electric

I've also heard of some pretty good cashflow apps for tradies, if you need more info please contact me at riverside electric


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## jsmart84

erroneous said:


> I've stumbled upon this a few years back and one thing that always struck me as being off about it is that if increase the number of employees, enter their wages and increase the number of productive hours and days to adjust for additional employees on the job, the hourly rate increases, yet I know that it should decrease. Maybe just a browser issue? Hmm...



Just my thoughts on this but you added a guy so more money is coming in but , your hourly increases because your insurances just increased with the new guy, another truck payment, more gas, more advertising needs etc. The more guys you add the higher the cost of doing business. How much did it go up? Figure that out to productive hours and we what overal year end number it punches out. It will be the difference of all those items and gross profit.


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## Navyguy

Looking at an annual / hourly perspective, some costs go up dollar for dollar, like wages, uniforms, etc. Other costs go up fractionally such as vehicle costs, insurance and tool expenses. Other costs actually decrease such as annual fees, advertising, administration support, etc.

By knowing and adjusting your fixed (static) overhead annually (more if required), your costs can be spread out over the billable hours and the only variable costs (read as wages) need to be factored in.

As an example I know that I need to make $XXX dollars a day (based on six billable hours) to cover my O&E, plus the wages of any of my people that are working. My only variable is how many manhours in a day can I spread that O&E over (6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20).

Cheers
John


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## dynamics16

I know this is an old link, hopefully your still on here. 
What is the link?

Thanks


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## dee12

The link just sends me to an 'under construction' page with no data and a promise that the new website is going to be awesome. anybody know where the calculator went?


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