Restoration
Restoration Profit Calculator
Works gross profit on a restoration job, where the equipment days are the variable to watch.
Result
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
Revenue less direct costs gives gross profit and margin, with the direct side covering labour, materials, subcontractors and equipment charged to the job. Restoration has one unusual direct cost: drying equipment, charged per unit per day, which accrues while the job sits rather than while anyone works. A job that dries in three days and one that takes eight have very different equipment lines for the same labour, which is why monitoring and documenting progress affects profitability directly.
What moves the number
- Equipment days, which accrue whether or not a technician is on site.
- Whether drying was monitored and equipment pulled when readings allowed.
- Subcontracted trades on the reconstruction side.
- Whether the approved scope matched the work actually performed.
Where this one goes wrong
Leaving equipment on site longer than the readings justify is the quiet profit leak, and it cuts both ways: removing it too early means a failed dry and a return, while leaving it because nobody checked means paying for units that were no longer needed and risking an insurer declining the extra days. Monitor daily, document the readings and pull equipment when the structure is dry. The other thing to watch is work performed outside the approved scope: doing extra because it seemed sensible, without getting it approved, means doing it unpaid.
Before you quote
- Monitor drying daily and pull equipment when readings justify it.
- Document the readings that support each equipment day billed.
- Get scope changes approved before performing them.
Questions
About this calculator
What eats profit on a water damage job?
Equipment days. Air movers and dehumidifiers are charged per unit per day and accrue whether or not anyone is on site, so a job left drying longer than the readings justify costs real money and may have those days declined. Daily monitoring is the control.
Should equipment be pulled as soon as possible?
As soon as the readings justify it, not sooner. Removing equipment before the structure is genuinely dry means a failed dry, a return visit and potentially a mould claim. The readings rather than the schedule decide, which is why they are documented daily.
What if I do work outside the approved scope?
You may well not be paid for it. Insured work is reimbursed against an approved scope, so extra work that seemed sensible but was not approved is frequently absorbed. Getting changes documented and approved before performing them is how that is avoided.
The formula
gross profit = revenue - direct costs
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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.
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 |
|---|---|
| Revenue | $78,000 |
| Direct labour | $16,000 |
| Materials and equipment | $11,000 |
| Other direct costs | $2,200 |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Gross profit main result | $48,800 |
| Gross margin | 62.6% |
| Total direct cost | $29,200 |
| Profit per working day | $2,218 |
That is $48,800 at a 62.6% margin, about $2,218 for every working day. Overhead still has to come out of it.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only revenue, this is what happens to gross profit. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Revenue ($) | Gross profit |
|---|---|
| $39,000 | $9,800 |
| $58,500 | $29,300 |
| $78,000 example above | $48,800 |
| $117,000 | $87,800 |
| $156,000 | $126,800 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Revenue ($)
- 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.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Gross profit | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Gross 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.