Plumbing
Plumbing service call minimum charge
Recover dispatch travel labor and overhead at a target job margin.
Your inputs
Complete the fields for your selected method. Zero means intentionally zero, not unknown. Currency selection labels amounts; it does not convert exchange rates.
How this calculation works
minimum price=(dispatch+labor+travel+overhead)/(1-margin).
Gross margin is profit divided by selling price. Enter all costs on the same time basis. Rates and productivity are your assumptions, not industry averages. Same scope and time basis for all call costs; no wage or local pricing database.
What information do I need?
Use records for the same job, equipment or accounting period. Only the fields for your selected entry method are required. An unknown amount is not zero.
Input definitions and where to find them
- Dispatch cost per call (selected currency): Matching invoice, quote, statement, bookkeeping record or explicit budget amount for dispatch cost per call. Use the stated period and exclude amounts already counted in another field. Zero means intentionally excluded/not incurred, not unknown.
- Direct labor per call (selected currency): Actual whole-call person-hours × loaded person-hour cost.
- Travel cost per call (selected currency): Actual crew travel and vehicle cost allocated to one call.
- Allocated overhead per call (selected currency): Use matching records or a clearly identified owner assumption for allocated overhead per call, in the displayed unit and the stated row/period scope.
- Target gross margin (%): Owner-selected gross profit as a percentage of SELLING PRICE, not markup on cost.
Use the Where to find this value controls beside the inputs for available work-it-out helpers. Estimates remain your assumptions; a helper does not verify the source figures.
Worked example
Example amounts use US dollars (USD).
Example answer: Required selling price is $200.00 for the illustrative inputs below.
Example inputs
- Dispatch cost per call: $20.00
- Direct labor per call: $80.00
- Travel cost per call: $30.00
- Allocated overhead per call: $30.00
- Target gross margin: 20.00 %
- Required selling price
- $200.00
- Total cost
- $160.00
- Gross profit
- $40.00
These illustrative values are not recommended rates or industry averages. Replace every example input with your own figures.
Use the result well
Recover dispatch travel labor and overhead at a target job margin.
Keep inputs on the same scope and time basis. Calculations retain precision internally; displayed values generally round to two decimal places, with extra precision for very small values and whole-unit rounding where required. Economic comparisons describe your supplied assumptions and do not guarantee future results.
This tool provides business arithmetic. It does not approve engineering designs, establish legal or tax treatment, select equipment or certify safe operating conditions.