Which four numbers are they?
| Number | What sets it |
|---|---|
| Charge-out rate | Your income target, overheads and billable hours |
| Margin | The true cost of the job, divided — not marked up |
| Call-out fee | Travel and diagnosis time you're doing anyway |
| Deposit | Your material outlay, and the state cap on building work |
Set them in that order. The rate feeds the quote, the quote sets the deposit, and a call-out fee only makes sense once you know what an hour of your time is worth. Get the first one wrong and the other three inherit the mistake.
What should you charge per hour?
Your charge-out rate isn't your old wage — it has to cover your costs, your unbillable hours and the income you actually want, which is why it usually lands at 2–3× an equivalent wage.
How do you quote a job and win it?
A good quote covers your true cost, itemises the value, and lands the same day. Speed is the underrated half: a clear quote while the job is fresh gives the customer one less reason to keep shopping.
Should you charge a call-out fee?
Get paid for turning up. A fair, upfront call-out fee covers your travel and diagnosis, and it filters out the callers who were never going to book anything.
How much deposit can you ask for?
A deposit covers your materials and locks the booking in. On residential building work there are legal maximums that differ by state, so check the cap before you name a figure.
What about bigger jobs?
Once a job runs to tens of thousands, pricing from experience stops working. Big jobs need a layered build-up — materials, labour, plant, subbies, site costs, contingency and margin — and a written variation for every change, because that's where the profit actually leaks.
Where does pricing go wrong most often?
- Pricing off your old wage. An employee's hourly rate covers none of the insurance, tools, vehicle, fuel, software or unbillable hours you now pay for yourself.
- Adding a markup and calling it margin. On a $2,400 job that slip is $200, every time, and it compounds across a year of quotes.
- Guessing billable hours. A 45-hour week is usually 25 to 30 billable hours once quoting, driving and admin come out. Assume 40 and every rate you calculate is too low.
- Quoting slowly. The job often goes to the first decent quote, so a good price sent on Friday can lose to a fair one sent on Tuesday.
- Leaving the quote open-ended. Without an expiry date you've promised that price through every supplier increase.
Can the app price it with you?
Once you've set your rate, Yamate builds the quote on your phone — line items, your margin, GST — and follows up if the customer goes quiet, so you quote fast and win more.
Try Yamate free — quote on site in minutes →Free pricing tools
FAQ
What's the first pricing number a tradie should work out?
Your charge-out rate, because every other price is built on it. Take the income you want plus your yearly overheads, divide by the hours you can honestly bill in a year, and that's your minimum rate ex GST.
Is markup the same as margin?
No, and mixing them up is the most expensive arithmetic error in trade quoting. A 30% markup gives you about a 23% margin. To hit a margin you divide the cost — for 25%, divide by 0.75 — rather than multiplying.
Should I quote a fixed price or charge by the hour?
Customers usually prefer a fixed price for the certainty, and it rewards you for being quick. Either way you need your true hourly rate first, because that's what a fixed price is built from.
General information for Australian businesses, not financial advice.