Contractor & construction
Contractor Markup Calculator
Apply the right markup to a job so overhead is covered and the margin you wanted actually survives.
Result
Overhead is entered as a share of revenue, which is how most contractors track it. If you only know overhead as an annual dollar figure, divide it by annual revenue to get the percentage.
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About this calculator
Why is 20% markup not 20% profit?
Markup is on cost, margin is on price. A 20% markup leaves a 16.7% margin, and if overhead eats 15 of those points, almost nothing is left.
Should subs be marked up like materials?
Yes. Subcontracted work still consumes your overhead. You scheduled it, supervised it, warranted it and financed it until the customer paid.
What markup do most contractors need?
Enough to cover overhead plus profit. If overhead runs 20% of revenue and you want 10% profit, that is a 43% markup, not 30%.
The formula
price = cost ÷ (1 − overhead% − profit%)
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The jobs you never hear about cost more than the ones you mis-measure. BDEVY builds the marketing, systems and automation that bring them in.