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FREE TOOL

Project margin: how much do you really keep on a job?

Price minus materials isn’t profit. Put in what the job actually costs and see what’s left after overhead.

By the BlueSmith team · Updated

At a glance

You enter
  • Project price
  • Materials
  • Labor
  • Other job costs (permits, dump, subs)
  • Overhead as a share of price
You get
  • Net profit on the job
  • Gross margin
  • Net margin
How the math works
  • Gross profit and gross margin
  • Net profit
  • Net margin
  • Example (not a benchmark)
What it costs
Free. No signup, no email. Arithmetic on your own numbers, not a promise of results.
12%

Net profit on the job: $5,500

Net profit on the job$5,500
Gross margin
34.0%
Net margin
22.0%

$25,000 job: $8,000 materials, $7,000 labor, $1,500 other, 12% overhead.

See what we’d build for these numbers

Starts with example numbers. Change them to yours. Arithmetic only, not a promise of results.

HOW IT WORKS

Three steps. Your numbers.

  1. 01

    Enter your numbers

    Enter the project price.

  2. 02

    Watch it recalculate

    Add materials, labor, and other job costs like permits, dump fees, and subs.

  3. 03

    Use the answer

    Add your overhead as a share of price.

How the math works

Gross profit and gross margin

Price − materials − labor − other job costs = gross profit. Gross profit ÷ price = gross margin.

Net profit

Gross profit − (price × overhead share). Overhead covers the shop, trucks, insurance, office, and anything else not tied to one job.

Net margin

Net profit ÷ price. What the business keeps from each dollar of the job.

Example (not a benchmark)

$30,000 job: $9,000 materials, $8,000 labor, $2,000 other. Gross profit $11,000, a 36.7% gross margin. 15% overhead is $4,500, leaving $6,500 net, a 21.7% net margin.

KEEP GOING

Use it with these.

STRAIGHT ANSWERS

Questions we hear.

Is this an accounting statement?

No. It’s arithmetic on the costs you enter for one job. Your accountant’s numbers win if they disagree.

Where does marketing go?

Either fold it into the overhead share, or leave it out and compare net profit to your cost to win a job from the CAC calculator.

How do I find my overhead share?

Take last year’s costs that weren’t tied to a specific job and divide them by last year’s revenue.

Why does margin matter for marketing?

Margin sets how much you can afford to spend winning a job. A thin-margin job type can’t carry the same cost per lead as a fat one.

Numbers are the start. Let’s build the system.

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