Contractor Markup & Margin Calculator
Price a job and check margin after overhead, contingency, discount and tax.
Invented worked example.
Entries save on this device.
- Direct costs
- $500.00
- Assigned overhead
- $50.00
- Contingency reserve
- $55.00
- Price before discount
- $726.00
- Discount
- $6.00
- Price before tax
- $720.00
- Tax
- $20.00
- Effective markup after discount
- 19.01%
Private job costing
Worked example · US dollars
- Direct costs
- $500.00
- Overhead
- $50.00
- Contingency
- $55.00
- Price before tax
- $720.00
- Tax
- $20.00
- Total
- $740.00
- Profit before tax
- $115.00
- Margin before tax
- 15.97%
Common markup and margin equivalents
| Markup | Margin | Price before tax |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | 9.09% | $1,100.00 |
| 15% | 13.04% | $1,150.00 |
| 20% | 16.67% | $1,200.00 |
| 25% | 20.00% | $1,250.00 |
| 30% | 23.08% | $1,300.00 |
| 35% | 25.93% | $1,350.00 |
| 40% | 28.57% | $1,400.00 |
| 50% | 33.33% | $1,500.00 |
| 75% | 42.86% | $1,750.00 |
| 100% | 50.00% | $2,000.00 |
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How to use the pricing calculator
The opening numbers are the site’s fictional worked example. Replace them with your direct costs, including fully burdened labor. Use one total or separate materials, labor, subcontractors, equipment and other costs. Assign the job’s overhead once, then set a contingency percentage on costs plus overhead.
Choose a markup, a target margin before discount, or an existing price. The result updates as you type. Enter any discount and the selling amount that is taxable after that discount. A blank field stays unfinished; enter 0 when none applies.
Read the result before sending a quote
The large total includes sales tax. Profit and margin use the selling price before sales tax, after the discount, and after assigned overhead and contingency. A contingency reserve remains in the cost basis even if you later spend less. This calculator does not classify reserve as already-earned profit.
A target margin is applied before discount. The effective margin beside the result shows what remains after it. An existing price can produce a loss; the tool displays that loss. When the selling price or cost basis is zero, the corresponding percentage is undefined.
The example has $500 of direct costs, $50 overhead and a $55 contingency reserve. A 20% markup gives $726 before discount. The $6 discount leaves $720 before tax; $20 of tax makes a $740 total. Profit is $115 and the after-discount margin is 15.97%.
Save a private costing record
This browser saves your costing inputs. Copy the result, download the inputs and totals as CSV, or print a short costing summary. A shared link contains the entered numbers. Keep that link and the private export with your costing records.
For a separate customer document, use the Excel estimate template and its customer-only layout. The construction cost estimating guide explains scope and measured quantities. Compare cost context in the construction estimating statistics before choosing your own inputs.
Method and corrections
The arithmetic follows the site’s original costing workbook: costs and assigned overhead, contingency on that sum, then markup or a target margin, a fixed discount and tax on your declared taxable selling amount. Currency stages round to cents. Every starting value is a synthetic example, not a market price or suggested tax rate. Cost definitions follow the GAO Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide.
Method checked October 28, 2026; review due April 28, 2027. Report a calculation correction with the input values and the result you expected, without client details.