Flat Rate Pricing Calculator
This free flat rate pricing calculator runs the same math a flat rate manual does — loaded labor, real parts cost, overhead, and the margin your business actually needs — and hands back the one firm price that belongs in your book.
Your flat-rate price
$404.69
Direct cost (labor + parts)
$129.50
Gross profit per job
$275.19
How the math works
Direct cost = labor hours × loaded labor rate + parts cost. We load that with your overhead percentage, then solve price so that (price − cost) ÷ price hits your target gross margin. High-parts tasks are floored at tiered parts markup plus margin-priced labor, so a big part never drags the whole job to break-even.
Not sure what to enter? The loaded labor rate comes from the free HVAC hourly rate calculator, and the parts floor uses the same tiers as the parts markup calculator. To see the formula worked on real repairs, read the plumbers’ flat rate pricing guide — then fill a whole book with the free trade price book templates.
How to build a flat rate manual with this calculator
A flat rate manual is this calculation repeated for every task you sell. You set the shop numbers once and only two inputs change from task to task.
- List the tasks. Start with the 30 to 60 repairs and maintenance jobs you invoice most. Your last three months of invoices are the list.
- Set the shop numbers once. Loaded labor rate, overhead percentage, and target gross margin stay the same for the whole manual.
- Run each task. Enter the labor hours your techs really take, drive time included, and what you pay for the part. Write down the price.
- Put the prices where techs quote from. A printed manual works. A price book in your field software works better, because the price on the invoice can’t differ from the price in the manual.
Four example rows at the calculator’s default settings ($45/hr loaded labor, 25% overhead, 60% target margin). The hours and parts costs are examples, so swap in your own.
| Task | Labor hours | Parts cost | Direct cost | Flat rate price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capacitor replacement | 0.75 | $12.00 | $45.75 | $142.97 |
| Contactor replacement | 1 | $28.00 | $73.00 | $228.13 |
| Condenser fan motor replacement | 1.5 | $140.00 | $207.50 | $648.44 |
| Blower motor replacement | 2 | $260.00 | $350.00 | $1,093.75 |
Don’t want to start from a blank page? The free flat rate price book template comes with the task list already filled in, and the guide to building a flat rate price book walks through the same steps in more detail.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use this as a flat rate manual calculator for a whole price book?
Yes, one task at a time: set your loaded labor rate, overhead, and target margin once, then change only the labor hours and parts cost for each task and write down the price. That works well for a manual of a few dozen tasks. If your book already lives in Housecall Pro, the Margin Leak Finder is faster because it checks every line of your export against your target margin in one pass.
Is this the same math a flat rate manual uses?
Yes. A flat rate manual is a book of pre-calculated task prices, and each one is built the same way this calculator works: task labor at a loaded rate, plus parts, plus overhead, priced to a target margin. The difference is the inputs — a purchased manual uses national averages, while this calculator uses your shop's real numbers, which is what makes the price defensible.
How do you calculate a flat rate price?
Flat rate price = job cost ÷ (1 − target gross margin). Job cost is labor hours × your loaded labor rate plus parts, loaded with your overhead percentage. At a 60% target margin, a job with $200 in loaded cost prices at $200 ÷ 0.4 = $500. That’s the formula this calculator runs, with a floor for parts-heavy tasks.
What’s the difference between margin and markup?
Margin is profit as a percentage of the price; markup is a percentage added to the cost. They’re not interchangeable: a 50% markup on a $100 cost gives a $150 price — only a 33% gross margin. Shops that hear “we need 50%” and apply a 50% markup end up 17 points short. Price to margin: cost ÷ (1 − margin).
What is a good gross margin for a flat rate price?
Most small home-service shops target 55–65% gross margin on flat-rate service work; this calculator defaults to 60%. Below about 50%, overhead and slow weeks eat what looks like profit on paper. The right number for your shop starts from your break-even hourly rate — the margin has to be left over after real loaded costs, not wage alone.
Does the flat rate price include parts markup?
Yes. The calculator prices the whole job to your target margin, then floors the result at tiered parts markup plus margin-priced labor. On small-parts jobs that floor is what saves you: a $6 capacitor priced at straight margin doesn’t cover the truck roll, but its 4x tier markup does. You’ll never quote below marked-up parts plus properly priced labor.