Restoration
Restoration Business Profit Calculator
Works profit across the restoration business, where seasonality and equipment capital dominate.
Result
Net profit here is before tax and before any owner's draw that is not already inside overhead. If you pay yourself out of what is left, this figure is your wage rather than the company's profit.
Get a Free Business AuditHow the calculation works
Revenue less direct costs gives gross profit and margin at a business level rather than per job. Two things make this different from a comparable trade. Revenue is lumpy and partly event-driven, so a quiet quarter and a storm quarter look nothing alike while the equipment payments and core staff cost the same. And the equipment fleet is substantial capital that has to be sized for peak demand yet is paid for across the whole year, which makes utilisation across the year the real profitability question.
What moves the number
- Revenue variability, since event-driven work does not arrive evenly.
- Equipment fleet size against average rather than peak utilisation.
- Core staffing level, which has to be retained through quiet periods.
- Mix of insured mitigation against reconstruction work.
Where this one goes wrong
Sizing the business for peak demand is how restoration companies lose money in quiet periods. A fleet and a crew capable of handling a regional storm event cost the same in a dry month, and the margin earned during the surge has to carry them. That means judging the business on annual figures rather than on a good quarter, and being deliberate about how much standby capacity to carry against subcontracting or renting at peak. The other structural question is mix: mitigation and reconstruction have different margins, cash cycles and competitive dynamics, and a business that does not know its split by both is managing blind.
Before you quote
- Judge profitability annually rather than by the busiest quarter.
- Size the fleet against average utilisation, renting at peak.
- Track margin separately for mitigation and reconstruction.
Questions
About this calculator
Why is restoration profitability hard to judge?
Because revenue is event-driven and lumpy while costs are not. A storm quarter and a quiet one look nothing alike, and the equipment and core staff cost the same in both. Annual figures rather than a good quarter are the only honest measure.
How big should the equipment fleet be?
Sized closer to average utilisation than to peak, with renting or subcontracting covering surges. A fleet capable of handling a regional event sits idle most of the year while being paid for, and that unused capital is one of the main drags on margin in this trade.
Should mitigation and reconstruction be measured separately?
Yes. They have different margins, different cash cycles and different competition, and a business that only knows its blended figure cannot tell which half is carrying the other. Many restoration companies are strong at one and mediocre at the other without realising it.
The formula
net profit = revenue - direct costs - overhead
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How to use this calculator
- Revenue ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $78,000.
- Direct labour ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $16,000.
- Materials and equipment ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $11,000.
- Other direct costs ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $2,200.
- Overhead ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $19,000.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to net 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 |
|---|---|
| Revenue | $78,000 |
| Direct labour | $16,000 |
| Materials and equipment | $11,000 |
| Other direct costs | $2,200 |
| Overhead | $19,000 |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Net profit main result | $29,800 |
| Net margin | 38.2% |
| Total direct cost | $29,200 |
| Profit per working day | $1,355 |
That is $29,800 at a 38.2% margin, about $1,355 for every working day.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only revenue, this is what happens to net profit. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Revenue ($) | Net profit |
|---|---|
| $39,000 | -$9,200 |
| $58,500 | $10,300 |
| $78,000 example above | $29,800 |
| $117,000 | $68,800 |
| $156,000 | $107,800 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Revenue ($)
- A money amount, starting at $78,000.
- Direct labour ($)
- A money amount, starting at $16,000.
- Materials and equipment ($)
- A money amount, starting at $11,000.
- Other direct costs ($)
- A money amount, starting at $2,200.
- Overhead ($)
- A money amount, starting at $19,000.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Net profit | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Net margin | A percentage. |
| Total direct cost | A money figure. |
| Profit per working day | A money figure. |
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.