Free tool
Did this job actually make you money?
Finished a job, sent the invoice, and still wondered where the money went? This works out what you really kept, once you count what your tradie actually costs you instead of just their hourly rate. Accountants call it your gross profit margin. Built by registered tax agents, using 2026-27 super rates.
Did this job make money?
Put in one job you have already done. Use figures without GST, because GST was never yours to keep.
Everyone on the tools, added together.
Not what you charge. What they cost you. The next tab works it out.
Blades, bits, sealant, fixings, the stuff nobody invoices for.
What the job cost you
$0
Materials, labour, subbies, the lot
What you actually kept
$0
per hour on site
Kept out of every dollar
0%
Accountants call this gross margin
Added on top of your costs
0%
Accountants call this markup
Markup and margin are not the same thing, and this is where most quotes go wrong. Adding 20% to your costs gives you a 17% margin, not 20%. Over a year on thin jobs that gap is someone's wage.
What an employed tradie really costs you
The rate on their payslip is not the rate they cost you. Super, leave, workers comp and the hours you cannot bill all sit on top.
Entitlement is usually 10. Use what really happens.
Yard time, travel between jobs, toolbox talks, cleaning the ute.
Check your policy. Construction rates run higher than most.
Allowance, replacements, boots, gloves, safety gear.
Phone, training, tickets and licences, uniform.
Cost to employ, a year
$0
Wages, super, cover and kit
Hours you can actually bill
0
A year, after leave and yard time
True cost per billable hour
$0
Put this in the Job margin tab
Super is 12% for 2026-27. It applies to ordinary time earnings and must be paid by the quarterly due date, or it stops being deductible and the shortfall charge applies. If you are not sure your super is landing on time, that is worth a conversation.
Leave loading is included here because most trade awards pay it. Super is applied to wages including leave loading, which is the usual treatment where the loading is not for lost overtime.
What should I charge?
Put in what the job will cost you, say how much of every dollar you want to keep, and this gives you the number to put on the quote.
35 means you keep 35c in every dollar you invoice. This is your gross margin.
Quote this, without GST
$0
inc GST
What you would keep
$0
On this job
That means adding this to your costs
0%
Accountants call this markup
| If you add this markup | You get this margin |
|---|---|
| 10% | 9.1% |
| 20% | 16.7% |
| 30% | 23.1% |
| 50% | 33.3% |
| 100% | 50% |
If you have been quoting on markup and wondering why the bank balance never matches the jobs, this table is usually the answer.
Numbers not stacking up? We will sit down and go through them with you. No surprise fees, we quote up front, always.
Book a chatThis calculator gives a general estimate only, based on the numbers you enter. It isn't tax or financial advice and doesn't take your personal situation into account. Speak to a registered tax agent before making decisions.
What is a good gross profit margin for a trade business?
There is no single right answer, because it depends on how much of the job is materials and how much is labour. A sparky doing mostly labour on service calls will run a very different margin to a builder passing through two hundred thousand dollars of materials.
Chasing someone else's benchmark is the wrong question anyway. The margin you need is the one that covers your overheads and leaves something behind. Work out what your rent, insurance, vehicles, software, accounting fees and your own wage cost you for the year, divide that by the revenue you expect to do, and that percentage is your floor. Quote below it and you are working for nothing. A 40% gross margin is no good if your overheads eat 45%.
Gross margin is not your profit
Gross profit is what is left after the direct costs of doing the job. Your rent, insurance, accounting fees, software, vehicle costs, advertising and your own wage come out after that. Plenty of trade businesses run a healthy gross margin and still end the year with nothing, because the gap between gross profit and overheads was never checked.
Why your tradie costs more than their hourly rate
This is the number most owners get wrong, and it is the reason jobs that looked fine on paper come out flat.
If you pay someone $38 an hour, that is not what they cost you. On top of it sits 12% super, workers compensation, leave loading, their annual leave and public holidays, the sick days they take, and every hour they are on the clock but not on a job. Travel between sites, loading the ute, toolbox talks, waiting on a delivery. You pay for all of it and you cannot bill any of it.
Run your own numbers in the second tab and see the gap for yourself. It is usually bigger than people expect, because two things stack: the on costs lift what you pay, and the unbillable hours shrink what you can recover it across. If you have been costing jobs at the payslip rate, every job you have quoted this year is thinner than you think.
Markup and margin are different, and it matters
Markup is what you add to your cost. Margin is what you keep from the price. They are not the same number and mixing them up quietly costs trade businesses a fortune.
Add 20% to a $10,000 cost and you quote $12,000. Your gross profit is $2,000 on a $12,000 job, which is a 16.7% margin, not 20%. The bigger the job, the bigger the hole.
If you want a 30% margin, you need a 42.9% markup. If you want 40%, you need 66.7%. The third tab does this for you so you are not doing it in your head on a driveway.
What to do if your margin is too thin
- Check your labour cost first. It is the number most likely to be wrong.
- Count consumables. Blades, bits, fixings and sealant never get invoiced and always get used.
- Look at unbillable hours. Dropping two hours a week of yard time per employee moves your cost per hour more than most price rises.
- Quote on margin, not markup.
- Check your variations are actually being charged. Most trade businesses do free work and call it customer service.
Do I include GST in a margin calculation?
No. GST is money you collect for the tax office and pass on at BAS time. It was never yours. Work every margin on ex GST figures, both the price and the costs, or the number will be wrong in both directions.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between gross profit and net profit?
Gross profit is the price of the job less the direct costs of doing it: materials, labour, subcontractors, plant hire and consumables. Net profit is what is left after your overheads as well. Gross profit tells you whether the job was priced right. Net profit tells you whether the business works.
Should I include my own wage in job costs?
If you are on the tools, yes. Your time on a job is a direct cost and leaving it out makes every job look better than it is. If you run a company and pay yourself a director's salary, that salary and the super on it are business costs like any other.
How much super do I pay on wages in 2026-27?
12% of ordinary time earnings. It has to be received by the fund by the quarterly due date. Pay it late and you lose the deduction and cop the super guarantee charge on top, so it is one of the few things genuinely worth paying early.
What margin should I quote to cover my overheads?
Work out your overheads for the year, divide by the revenue you expect, and that gives you the gross margin you need just to break even. Everything above that is profit. If you want help putting real numbers to it, that is the kind of thing we do with clients every quarter, not once a year.