HVAC
HVAC Job Profit Calculator
See what one job leaves after labour, parts and the overhead it consumed, rather than what the invoice said.
Result
Gross profit here is before general and administrative costs that are not allocated per job. If your overhead figure only covers the truck, your true net margin is lower than the number shown.
See missed call recoveryWhat moves the number
- Burdened labour for every hour, including travel and any return visit.
- Parts and equipment at landed cost.
- Overhead allocated to the job rather than left as a company-level number.
Where this one goes wrong
Judging profitability by ticket size. A large install with thin equipment margin and hours that ran over can return less than a handful of service calls through the same days.
Questions
About this calculator
Should overhead be allocated per job?
Yes, or you are measuring gross profit and calling it profit. Allocating by hours consumed is the most common approach and is usually accurate enough to act on.
Why does a busy month lose money?
Usually mix. A month weighted toward low-margin work, or with several jobs that ran over, can generate record revenue and poor profit. Only costing shows it.
What is the fastest way to raise job profit?
Usually reducing hours lost rather than raising prices: fewer callbacks, fewer return trips for parts, less travel. Those are recovered margin at no cost to the customer.
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How to use this calculator
- Price quoted to the customer ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $2,400.
- Labour cost ($). Burdened tech cost for all hours on site, including travel.
- Parts and equipment cost ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $880.
- Truck and overhead allocation ($). Fuel, vehicle, tools, software and office share for this job.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to gross profit, 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 |
|---|---|
| Price quoted to the customer | $2,400 |
| Labour cost | $620 |
| Parts and equipment cost | $880 |
| Truck and overhead allocation | $260 |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Gross profit main result | $640 |
| Gross margin | 26.7% |
| Total job cost | $1,760 |
| Profit per revenue dollar | $0.27 |
This job returns $640 at a 26.7% gross margin. Ten jobs like it a month is $76,800 of gross profit a year.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only price quoted to the customer, this is what happens to gross profit. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Price quoted to the customer ($) | Gross profit |
|---|---|
| $1,200 | -$560 |
| $1,800 | $40 |
| $2,400 example above | $640 |
| $3,600 | $1,840 |
| $4,800 | $3,040 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Price quoted to the customer ($)
- A money amount, starting at $2,400.
- Labour cost ($)
- Burdened tech cost for all hours on site, including travel.
- Parts and equipment cost ($)
- A money amount, starting at $880.
- Truck and overhead allocation ($)
- Fuel, vehicle, tools, software and office share for this job.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Gross profit | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Gross margin | A percentage. |
| Total job cost | A money figure. |
| Profit per revenue dollar | A number. |
Before you rely on this number
Sizing, capacity and load figures here are planning estimates. A real installation depends on the manufacturer's data for the specific equipment, the duct system it is going into, and a proper load calculation for the building. Use this to sanity-check a number or price a job, not to select equipment.
Keep going
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