Pressure Washing Profit Margin

What profit margin means

• Profit margin compares job profit to job revenue. If a job is quoted at $500 and the estimated cost is $325, estimated profit is $175. The margin is $175 divided by $500, or 35%.

Gross vs net job profit

• A simple job profit check often starts with direct job costs such as labor, materials, helper cost, fuel, and fees. A more complete review may also include overhead allocation, lead cost, equipment wear, and other business costs.

Costs to include

• Labor cost
• Chemicals and materials
• Fuel and travel
• Equipment wear
• Helper or subcontractor cost
• Payment processing fees
• Advertising or lead cost
• Overhead allocation

Profit margin formula

• Profit dollars equal job price minus total job cost. Profit margin equals profit dollars divided by job price. Effective hourly profit equals profit dollars divided by total job hours.

Example job profit calculation

• Example only: a $425 job with $296 in estimated total costs leaves $129 in estimated profit. The margin is $129 divided by $425, or about 30.4%. If total hours were 3.25, estimated hourly profit would be about $39.69.

Why revenue is not the same as profit

• A $500 job is not a $500 gain if it required labor, chemicals, fuel, wear, fees, and overhead. Looking only at revenue can make a job feel stronger than it is. Margin checks help separate sales from actual job performance.

Warning signs a job is underpriced

• The quote barely covers labor and materials
• Drive/setup time was left out
• Minimum fee was not applied to a small job
• Profit margin looks low after overhead
• The job needed more time than expected but the quote did not change

Disclaimer

ProfitQuoteCalc content and calculators are educational estimating aids only. Your actual prices may vary by market, job difficulty, labor, insurance, equipment, materials, overhead, taxes, risk, and customer expectations. Review your numbers before using any estimate in a quote.