Pet services
Dog Grooming Pricing Calculator
Prices dog grooming, where a breed-based price list beats a weight-based one.
Result
Overhead and margin are taken as shares of the selling price, which is why the cost is divided rather than multiplied. Adding 15% to cost does not produce a 15% margin. Gross profit is what is left after the cost of doing the job. Overhead comes out of that: the building, the office wages, the vans, insurance, software and advertising. A healthy gross margin still loses money if overhead is larger.
Get a Free Business AuditHow the calculation works
Cost for the time the specific groom takes divided by one minus overhead and margin together, so the price carries both. Because time varies by breed coat and condition rather than by weight, a price list organised by breed or coat type prices more accurately than one organised by size bands.
What moves the number
- Expected time for that breed and coat type.
- Coat condition surcharges.
- Overhead per table hour.
- Local market expectations.
Where this one goes wrong
A weight-based price list is simple and systematically wrong, because a small dog with a demanding coat takes longer than a large dog with a short one, and the groomers who move to breed or coat-based pricing find the previously unprofitable bookings were all in the same categories. Build the list from measured times. Condition surcharges also need to be explained when the booking is made rather than at collection, since a surprise charge is a complaint even when it is justified.
Before you quote
- Build the price list from measured times by breed and coat.
- Explain condition surcharges at booking, not at collection.
- Check each price covers its own table time.
Questions
About this calculator
Should grooming be priced by weight?
It is simple and systematically wrong, since a small dog with a demanding coat takes longer than a large dog with a short one. Groomers who move to breed or coat-based pricing find the unprofitable bookings were all in the same categories.
How do I set prices by breed?
From measured times. Recording how long each breed and coat type actually takes over a few months gives a price list that reflects the work, and it is the only basis that stops certain bookings losing money every time.
When should a condition surcharge be raised?
At booking where possible, or on arrival before the work starts. A surcharge explained at collection is a complaint even when it is entirely justified, and the conversation is much easier before the dog is on the table.
The formula
price = direct cost / (1 - overhead% - margin%)
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How to use this calculator
- Labour cost ($). Burdened: wages plus tax, insurance and the vehicle, not the hourly wage.
- Materials cost ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $6.
- Other direct costs ($). Permits, disposal, equipment hire, subcontractors.
- Overhead rate (%). Overhead as a share of revenue. Work it out from last year's accounts.
- Target net margin (%). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 15%.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to price to quote, and change it back. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or saved.
A worked example
These are the figures the calculator opens with. Every number in the results column below is produced by the same calculation the page runs, so you can follow it through before putting your own figures in.
What goes in
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Labour cost | $28 |
| Materials cost | $6 |
| Other direct costs | $0 |
| Overhead rate | 22% |
| Target net margin | 15% |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Price to quote main result | $53.97 |
| Direct cost | $34 |
| Overhead recovered | $11.87 |
| Net profit | $8.10 |
| Gross margin | 37.0% |
| Markup on direct cost | 58.7% |
Quote $53.97 to cover $34 of direct cost, recover $11.87 of overhead and leave $8.10 of net profit. That is a 58.7% markup on cost.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only labour cost, this is what happens to price to quote. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Labour cost ($) | Price to quote |
|---|---|
| $14 | $31.75 |
| $21 | $42.86 |
| $28 example above | $53.97 |
| $42 | $76.19 |
| $56 | $98.41 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Labour cost ($)
- Burdened: wages plus tax, insurance and the vehicle, not the hourly wage.
- Materials cost ($)
- A money amount, starting at $6.
- Other direct costs ($)
- Permits, disposal, equipment hire, subcontractors.
- Overhead rate (%)
- Overhead as a share of revenue. Work it out from last year's accounts.
- Target net margin (%)
- A percentage, between 0 and 80, starting at 15%.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Price to quote | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Direct cost | A money figure. |
| Overhead recovered | A money figure. |
| Net profit | A money figure. |
| Gross margin | A percentage. |
| Markup on direct cost | A percentage. |
Estimating is the easy part
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.