Flat-Rate Pricebook Builder
Stop guessing on prices. Pick your trade, plug in your numbers, and get a real flat-rate pricebook with the math done for you.
Step 1: Pick Your Trade
Select your trade to load industry-standard defaults.
Plumbing
Select
HVAC
Select
Electrical
Select
Step 2: Enter Your Numbers
These are pre-filled with industry averages. Adjust to match your business.
Covers FICA, workers comp, insurance. Typical: 20-35%.
Your monthly overhead divided by jobs per month.
Covers sourcing, pickup, storage. Typical: 15-25%.
💰 Target Profit Margin
The percentage of the final price you keep as profit. This is margin, not markup.
Your Pricebook
Adjust Prices With Modifiers
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How to Build a Flat-Rate Pricebook
A flat-rate pricebook is the difference between running a business and running a guessing game. When every job has a pre-calculated price, your techs stop making up numbers in the field and your revenue becomes predictable.
Why Flat Rate Beats Time and Materials
Time and materials billing punishes you for being good at your job. The faster your tech works, the less you charge. That's backwards. Flat-rate pricing rewards efficiency and gives the customer a clear price before work starts.
Predictable revenue. You know exactly what every job is worth before the truck rolls. No more hoping a four-hour job doesn't turn into six.
Better close rates. Customers want to know the price upfront. "It depends on how long it takes" is not confidence-inspiring. A flat rate closes more calls because the customer knows exactly what they are paying.
No more "how long will this take" conversations. With flat rate, the price is the price. Your tech focuses on doing the job right, not watching the clock.
The Unit-Based Pricing Method
The best pricebooks are built from pre-priced units or subsystems. Instead of pricing each job from scratch, you break work into reusable pieces - disconnect existing unit, run new line set, make electrical connection, pressure test, startup and commission.
Each unit has a known labor time, material cost, and overhead allocation. To price a new job, you combine the relevant units, add them up, and apply your margin. This makes pricing consistent across your whole team and makes it easy to add new jobs to the book.
Think of it like building with blocks. Once you have priced the blocks, any job is just a combination of blocks you already know the cost of.
Why Margin Matters More Than Markup
Most contractors think in markup - "I double my cost" or "I add 50%." The problem is markup lies to you about how much money you are actually making.
A 50% markup on $100 gives you $150. But your margin is only 33% - you keep $50 out of $150. If you wanted a true 50% margin, you need to charge $200. That is a $50 difference on every job, and across hundreds of jobs per year it is the difference between a profitable business and a struggling one.
Build your pricebook using margin, not markup. For a deeper breakdown, use our Markup vs Margin Calculator.
How to Handle Job Variability with Modifiers
Not every water heater install is the same. Some are in a clean garage, some are in a crawl space that requires an hour of extra labor just to access. That is where modifiers come in.
Modifiers are percentage or flat-dollar adjustments you apply on top of the base job price. Instead of rebuilding the entire quote, you add a modifier for the specific condition.
Common modifiers include: tight space or difficult access (+15-25%), after-hours or emergency (+25-50%), second-story or rooftop (+10-20%), permit required (+flat fee), and hazardous material handling (+flat fee). These let your techs adjust prices in the field without guessing or calling the office.
What Good Margins Look Like
Service and repair calls: 45-55% margin. These are urgent, high-value jobs. The customer needs it fixed now. Your expertise and availability are worth a premium.
Install and replacement work: 35-45% margin. Customers shop these jobs more, but the ticket sizes are larger. You make it up on volume and consistency.
Commercial and contract work: 30-40% margin. Lower margins, but predictable volume and repeat business. The trade-off is stability.
If your margins are consistently below these ranges, you either have a pricing problem (too cheap), a labor efficiency problem (jobs taking too long), or an overhead problem (too much fixed cost relative to revenue). Use the Job Costing Calculator to figure out which one.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a flat-rate pricebook?
A flat-rate pricebook is a list of every job your company performs with a fixed price already calculated. Instead of estimating each call on the fly, your techs open the book, find the job, and give the customer a price on the spot. It includes labor time, materials, overhead, and your profit margin baked into every line item. No surprises for you or the customer.
How do you build a flat-rate pricebook for plumbing, HVAC, or electrical?
Start by listing your most common jobs. For each job, calculate the labor hours, material costs, and overhead allocation. Then apply your target margin using the formula: Selling Price = Total Cost / (1 - Margin %). Group jobs by category (service, repair, install) and add modifiers for variables like after-hours work or difficult access. Most shops start with 20-50 jobs and expand from there.
What is the difference between margin and markup in a pricebook?
Markup is the percentage you add on top of cost. Margin is the percentage of the final price that is profit. A 50% markup on a $100 cost gives you a $150 price - but your margin is only 33%, not 50%. To hit a 50% margin, you need a 100% markup. Always build your pricebook using margin, not markup. The formula is: Selling Price = Cost / (1 - Margin %). This way your profit targets are based on revenue, not cost.
How do I price jobs I have never done before?
Break the job into units you already know how to price. A new job is usually a combination of familiar tasks - disconnecting equipment, running pipe, making connections, testing. Price each piece using your known labor rates and material costs, add them up, then apply your margin. You can also call suppliers for material pricing and estimate labor by comparing to similar jobs you have completed.
Should I use the same margin for every job?
No. Different job types carry different risk and value. Service and repair calls typically support higher margins (45-55%) because you are solving an urgent problem. Install work runs lower (35-45%) because customers shop around more. Commercial contracts may run 30-40% due to volume. Set margin targets by category and adjust based on competition, complexity, and customer type.
How many jobs should a pricebook have?
A solid pricebook covers 50-200 jobs depending on the trade and scope of services. Start with your top 20 most common calls - these probably cover 80% of your revenue. Then expand to cover specialty work, add-ons, and less frequent repairs. The goal is that your tech never has to guess a price in the field. If they are making up numbers, you need more line items.
This Is 5 Jobs. Your Business Has 200.
This builder prices a handful of your most common jobs. A real pricebook covers 50-200 jobs across every service category. The Growth Report shows you how to build the full system - pricing, operations, and growth - so you stop leaving money on every call.