Rex says
Money math without the spreadsheet headache. Plug in your numbers and I'll show you exactly where the dollars land.
Try a scenario
Click to load — tweak from there.Inputs
Result
Quote price
$357.14
Fully loaded cost
$250.00
Equivalent markup %
42.9%
Gross profit per job
$107.14
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How to use this
- 1Enter material cost ($).
- 2Enter burdened labor cost ($).
- 3Enter machine time cost ($).
- 4Enter outside processing (plating, heat treat) ($).
- 5Enter shop overhead (%).
- 6Enter target gross margin (%).
- 7Read your quote price on the right — it updates as you type.
- 8Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone.
About this calculator
A job shop quote needs to recover every real cost — material, burdened labor, machine time, and outside processing like plating or heat treat — then add margin on top, not blend margin into a vague multiplier. This calculator sums your direct costs, applies a shop overhead percentage (rent, utilities, admin, quality) to get fully loaded cost, then calculates the sell price needed to hit a target gross margin percentage, distinguishing margin (percentage of sell price) from markup (percentage of cost) since the two numbers are frequently confused and lead to under-pricing when someone thinks a '30% markup' delivers a 30% margin — it actually delivers about 23%.
Worked example
Using the values the calculator loads with:
Inputs
- Material cost: 45 $
- Burdened labor cost: 60 $
- Machine time cost: 80 $
- Outside processing (plating, heat treat): 15 $
- Shop overhead: 25 %
- Target gross margin: 30 %
Results
- Quote price: $357.14
- Fully loaded cost: $250.00
- Equivalent markup %: 42.9%
- Gross profit per job: $107.14
What each field means
Inputs
- Material cost ($)
- The material cost used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 45 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Burdened labor cost ($)
- The burdened labor cost used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 60 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Machine time cost ($)
- The machine time cost used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 80 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Outside processing (plating, heat treat) ($)
- The outside processing (plating, heat treat) used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 15 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Shop overhead (%)
- The shop overhead used in the calculation, measured in %. Starts at 25 % so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 0–150 %.
- Target gross margin (%)
- The target gross margin used in the calculation, measured in %. Starts at 30 % so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 0–80 %.
Results
- Quote price
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars and shown as the headline result. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Fully loaded cost
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Equivalent markup %
- Returned as a percentage. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Gross profit per job
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
FAQ
What's the difference between margin and markup?
Margin is profit as a percentage of the sell price; markup is profit as a percentage of cost. A 30% margin requires roughly a 43% markup, and a 30% markup only produces about a 23% margin. Confusing the two is one of the most common pricing mistakes in job shops, and it silently erodes profitability.
What overhead percentage should I use?
Calculate it directly from your books: total annual overhead (rent, utilities, admin salaries, insurance, quality, sales) divided by total annual direct costs (material + labor + machine time) across all jobs. Most small-to-mid job shops land between 20-50% depending on how lean the operation is and how much support staff they carry relative to production.
What margin should a job shop target?
It varies by market and risk profile, but 20-35% gross margin is typical for competitive contract manufacturing, with higher margins (35-50%+) achievable for specialized, low-competition, or rush work, and thinner margins (10-20%) common on high-volume repeat production where the customer has leverage.
Should I quote the same margin on every job?
No — risk, complexity, and how badly you want the capacity filled should all shift target margin up or down. A first-article prototype job with unknown scrap risk deserves a higher margin than a proven repeat run of a part you've made a thousand times.
Accuracy and 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.
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Cite this calculator
Writing about this topic? Grab a citation — every link helps keep these tools free.
RevenueLab. (2026). Job Shop Quote Markup Calculator. Retrieved from https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/job-shop-quote-markup
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/job-shop-quote-markup" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Job Shop Quote Markup Calculator — RevenueLab</a> (2026).</p>
Source: [Job Shop Quote Markup Calculator — RevenueLab](https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/job-shop-quote-markup) (2026).