If a job costs $600 and you add a 40% markup, the price is $840, but the gross margin is only 28.6%.
To earn a true 40% gross margin on $600 of cost, divide the cost by 0.60. The target price is $1,000.
Target price = Job cost ÷ (1 − desired margin)FREE JOB PROFIT CALCULATOR
Price the job without guessing away your margin.
Enter labor, materials, and other direct costs. Choose the gross margin you want, and get a target price, expected profit, markup, and deposit instantly.
✓ No signup✓ No spreadsheet✓ Your numbers stay private
YOUR JOB COSTSUse what the job costs you, not what you charge.
THE IMPORTANT DIFFERENCE
Margin and markup are not interchangeable.
BEFORE YOU PRICE
Count the costs the job actually creates.
Missing a cost is the fastest way to make a busy schedule look more profitable than it is.
Labor cost
Use your real burdened cost, not simply the hourly rate you want customers to see.
Materials
Include supplies, delivery, waste, and price changes that belong to this job.
Job expenses
Add rentals, subcontractors, travel, permits, disposal, and card or platform fees.
Risk and overhead
Make sure your target margin can support office time, insurance, tools, callbacks, and taxes.
FROM PRICE TO PROPOSAL
Turn the number into a client-ready quote.
Northmethod Quotes itemizes the work, calculates totals and deposits, saves your pipeline, and produces a clean PDF.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Price with your eyes open.
What is gross margin?＋
Gross margin is the percentage of the selling price left after subtracting the direct costs of completing the job. It is not the same as your final net profit because general business expenses and taxes may still need to be paid.
Is margin the same as markup?＋
No. Margin compares profit with the selling price, while markup compares profit with job cost. A 50% markup on $100 of cost creates a $150 price and a 33.3% gross margin.
What should I include in job cost?＋
Include labor cost, materials, subcontractors, rentals, travel, disposal, card fees, permits, and other expenses caused by that specific job. Allocate recurring overhead separately if your pricing method requires it.
What gross margin should a contractor use?＋
There is no universal target. The right margin depends on your trade, overhead, market, risk, capacity, and business goals. Use the calculator to test scenarios, then validate the result against your actual numbers.
Does Northmethod save these numbers?＋
No. The calculator runs in your browser. Northmethod does not receive the labor, cost, margin, or price figures you enter.