How do you guys cost your jobs?

[Octopus]

I know my overheads, I aim for 220 days per year ....... My "hourly" rate includes my overheads, so all I have to think about is the number of hours a job will take!

surely simplifying things would make it easier, and quicker to do quotes ?

 

[Mark.W]

I know my overheads, I aim for 220 days per year ....... My "hourly" rate includes my overheads, so all I have to think about is the number of hours a job will take!
surely simplifying things would make it easier, and quicker to do quotes ?

Yeah I agree, it does seem to simplify things , and this exactly the advice I was after. This is why I asked how everyone else costs their jobs. Cheers

 

[telectrix]

£40 a call-out... small jobs @ £30/hour after 1st 30mins. larger jobs, if above 1 day then £25/hour. anything i can't write on a beermat, then a written estimate/quote.

 

[Octopus]

My first hour charge has been £50 since 2011 ..... for small jobs

 

[Mark.W]

I think I am just very "Bullet pointed"

I like to see on paper, what I have earned, what my O/H costs are, what my materials cost are etc.

If I was to add my O/H into my labour costs I wouldn't really know what to pay myself and I think that may come with time.....

 

[Octopus]

If I was to add my O/H into my labour costs I wouldn't really know what to pay myself and I think that may come with time.....

I use Quick Books, so at the end of every month I can see to the penny how much profit I've made, and precisely what my overheads were .....

BUT as we all know overheads vary per month so budgeting and having spare cash in your business account is very important.

 

[telectrix]

say you want wages of £15/hour..... work out the cost of tour overheads per week ( e.g. £200), then divide by 40. thats 200/40 = 5. so you charge 15+5 =20/hour.

 

[buzzlightyear]

when a customer ring up and they say what is your h/r none .
I charge by the job.

 

[buzzlightyear]

we need to adopt what they do in Spain ,charge to see the job ,before they start it .

 

[Mark.W]

I use KashFlow, which is nice for quoting, invoicing etc. Looked at Xero but not really looked at Quick Books. I've only been Self Employed since May last year, before that I was always on the cards, so this is a good learning curve for me, and your advice and knowledge is much appreciated. At the moment my O/H vary from £400 to £900pm because I've had van signage, clothing etc. I think once that all settles down I'll have a better understanding of my monthly O/H's.

 

[buzzlightyear]

I have accountant ,my missis ,f**k quick books .but cooking the books .

 

[sparkdog]

£250 a day! I need to put my charges up.

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

Even for domestic?

Typical pricing for me in domestic work in Bath is £40 first hour £30 subsequent hours for small straight forward jobs.
Charge higher for out of hours call outs and weekends. If the job is larger then I will give a day rate for the job, the rate varying depending on nature of job. if its chasing, drilling and physical work then a bit more. If its just changing a couple dozen accessories in a house then a lower day rate.

 

[Nigel]

I charge electricians out at £35 per hour or £350 per day.

I look to make a 100% mark up on my guys.

10% only on materials which is pretty standard in the non-domestic setting.

An ideal for me is a 20% profit on a job once everything is paid.

 

[Octopus]

I use KashFlow, which is nice for quoting, invoicing etc. Looked at Xero but not really looked at Quick Books. I've only been Self Employed since May last year, before that I was always on the cards, so this is a good learning curve for me, and your advice and knowledge is much appreciated. At the moment my O/H vary from £400 to £900pm because I've had van signage, clothing etc. I think once that all settles down I'll have a better understanding of my monthly O/H's.

Your first year will always have high costs due to the things you have identified.

For the last 6 years my annual overheads have been around £6 k per year. I have been SE for 8 years, the first 2 years were higher...

You need to do a business plan which identifies what your monthly costs are such a fuel, the the annual costs such as insurances, mot, servicing, scheme fees, calibration etc and know when they fall....

This way you will know what your fixed annual costs are and what your variable annual costs are ....

I plan to buy new tools in months when high fixed costs fall ...