{
  "slug": "fleet-account-margin",
  "title": "Fleet Account Margin Calculator",
  "heading": "Fleet Account Margin Calculator",
  "category": "financial",
  "url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/fleet-account-margin",
  "summary": "See if a discounted fleet contract still clears your minimum margin at volume.",
  "description": "Fleet accounts promise volume, but the discounted labor rate and parts markup that win the contract often erode margin below what the shop needs to stay healthy, especially once net-30 payment terms and priority scheduling commitments are factored in. This calculator compares your standard retail margin against a proposed fleet rate structure to show the margin percentage point drop and the volume of additional work needed just to maintain the same total gross profit dollars the shop was generating from that bay capacity at retail pricing — a useful gut check before signing a multi-vehicle service contract that locks in a rate for a year or more.",
  "formula": "Fleet GP% = (Fleet Labor Rate − Loaded Cost) ÷ Fleet Labor Rate. Volume Needed to Match Retail GP$ = Retail GP$ per Hour × Retail Hours ÷ Fleet GP$ per Hour.",
  "dateModified": "2026-09-30",
  "run_url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/api/public/calc?tool=fleet-account-margin",
  "inputs": [
    {
      "id": "retailRate",
      "label": "Standard retail labor rate",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 145,
      "unit": "$/hr",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "fleetRate",
      "label": "Proposed fleet labor rate",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 110,
      "unit": "$/hr",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "loadedCost",
      "label": "Loaded tech cost per hour",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 38,
      "unit": "$/hr",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "retailHours",
      "label": "Hours currently sold at retail (displaced)",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 40,
      "unit": "hrs",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    }
  ],
  "outputs": [
    {
      "id": "fleetGPPct",
      "label": "Fleet labor gross margin",
      "format": "percent",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": true
    },
    {
      "id": "retailGPPct",
      "label": "Retail labor gross margin",
      "format": "percent",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "gapPct",
      "label": "Margin percentage point gap",
      "format": "percent",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "volumeNeeded",
      "label": "Fleet hours to match retail GP$",
      "format": "decimal",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    }
  ],
  "worked_example": {
    "inputs": [
      "Standard retail labor rate: 145 $/hr",
      "Proposed fleet labor rate: 110 $/hr",
      "Loaded tech cost per hour: 38 $/hr",
      "Hours currently sold at retail (displaced): 40 hrs"
    ],
    "outputs": [
      "Fleet labor gross margin: 65.5%",
      "Retail labor gross margin: 73.8%",
      "Margin percentage point gap: 8.3%",
      "Fleet hours to match retail GP$: 59.4"
    ]
  },
  "how_to": {
    "title": "How to use this",
    "steps": [
      "Enter standard retail labor rate ($/hr).",
      "Enter proposed fleet labor rate ($/hr).",
      "Enter loaded tech cost per hour ($/hr).",
      "Enter hours currently sold at retail (displaced) (hrs).",
      "Read your fleet labor gross margin on the right — it updates as you type.",
      "Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone."
    ]
  },
  "scenarios": [
    {
      "name": "Conservative",
      "description": "Lower-end numbers — what if things land soft?",
      "values": {
        "retailRate": 87,
        "fleetRate": 66,
        "loadedCost": 23,
        "retailHours": 24
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Typical",
      "description": "Defaults — the most common real-world setup.",
      "values": {
        "retailRate": 145,
        "fleetRate": 110,
        "loadedCost": 38,
        "retailHours": 40
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Ambitious",
      "description": "Higher-end numbers — what if things really pop?",
      "values": {
        "retailRate": 232,
        "fleetRate": 176,
        "loadedCost": 61,
        "retailHours": 64
      }
    }
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.",
    "Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.",
    "This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant."
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "q": "How much discount can a fleet contract afford to give?",
      "a": "Enough to stay meaningfully above your loaded tech cost per hour, generally keeping fleet GP% within 10-15 points of retail. Discounting so deep that fleet GP% drops below 40-45% typically isn't sustainable once you factor in the guaranteed priority scheduling those contracts usually demand."
    },
    {
      "q": "Does volume actually offset the lower margin?",
      "a": "Only if the fleet work fills genuinely idle bay capacity rather than displacing retail work you'd have booked anyway. If fleet vehicles bump retail customers during your busy hours, you're trading higher-margin work for lower-margin work at the same volume, which is a net loss."
    },
    {
      "q": "What else should be in a fleet contract besides rate?",
      "a": "Payment terms (net-30 fleet terms tie up cash flow that retail's pay-at-pickup doesn't), priority scheduling commitments, and a minimum monthly volume guarantee from the fleet operator so the discount isn't given away for unpredictable, sporadic volume."
    },
    {
      "q": "Should parts markup also be discounted for fleet?",
      "a": "Consider keeping parts markup closer to standard even while discounting labor, since parts margin is a smaller lever fleet buyers typically negotiate on than labor rate, and preserving it partially offsets the labor rate concession."
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/effective-labor-rate",
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/sublet-markup-margin"
  ],
  "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "citation": "RevenueLab — Fleet Account Margin Calculator (https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/fleet-account-margin)"
}