Free job costing template
Quoting a margin and making one are different things, and the gap between them is where most trades businesses lose money without ever seeing it. This template puts the four cost categories that matter — labor with burden, materials, subcontractors and equipment — against the revenue for a single job, and shows the resulting margin next to what you quoted. Run it on a handful of finished jobs and the pattern usually becomes obvious quickly.
The four categories that matter
Labor at burdened cost rather than wage, materials including delivery and waste, subcontractor invoices, and equipment or rental time. Anything else is noise at this level of detail.
Compare quoted against actual
The comparison is the whole point. A job type that consistently comes in under its quoted margin is either mispriced or mis-scoped, and both are fixable once you can see it.
| Item | On hand | Reorder | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12/2 NM-B wire, 250 ft | 3 rolls | 5 rolls | |
| EV charger, 48Aneeded for Miller job · arriving Thu | 0 units | 1 unit | |
| Breaker, 20A single-pole | 42 units | 20 units | |
| Wire duct 2"×2" | 12 sticks | 20 sticks |
Common questions
- How often should I do this?
- On every job if you can. If not, sample a few of each job type per quarter.
- What margin should I expect?
- It varies widely by trade and by whether you carry material. The useful comparison is against your own quoted margin, not against a benchmark.