Quoting bigger jobs without losing money
By Yamate · Last updated August 2026
1 · Why build the quote up instead of guessing it down?
Small jobs get priced from experience, and that is fine. Big jobs need a build-up, because the errors compound. A single number arrived at by feel cannot be checked, cannot be defended when the customer pushes back, and cannot tell you afterwards where the money went. The structure is the same in every trade:
| Layer | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Materials | Quantities from the takeoff, at current supplier pricing, plus waste allowance |
| Labour | Hours by task, at your real charge-out rate — not your wage |
| Plant and hire | Equipment hire, delivery, scaffolding, traffic control, tip fees |
| Subcontractors | Their quotes, in writing, with the same scope you are quoting |
| Site costs | Access, protection, cleaning, parking, travel between sites |
| Contingency | A deliberate allowance for what you cannot see yet |
| Margin | Applied on top of the total cost, deliberately |
If you can't produce this breakdown you don't have a quote, you have a guess with a dollar sign on it. You do not have to show the customer every layer, but you need it yourself, and you will want it when the job is finished and you are working out whether it was worth doing.
2 · How do you measure off the plans?
Measuring quantities off a plan — lengths, areas, volumes, counts — is called a takeoff, and it is the input every other layer depends on. Get it wrong and all six layers above it are wrong too. Once a job comes with drawings, a site visit and a tape measure stop being enough. Three ways people do it:
- By hand, with a printed plan and a scale rule. Free, slow, and error-prone on anything complicated.
- In a spreadsheet, measuring by hand and recording quantities. Better records, same measuring risk.
- With takeoff software, measuring directly off the PDF on screen. Faster, and the measurements are recorded and checkable rather than living on a marked-up printout.
For trades that regularly quote from plans — electrical, plumbing, fire, painting, concrete, plasterboard, landscaping on larger sites — dedicated takeoff tools earn their keep on re-quoting time alone. Groundplan is the Australian-built one to look at: upload the plan, measure straight off it on screen, build reusable templates for the materials and labour you use most, and export the bill of quantities.
3 · What's the difference between margin and contingency?
Contingency covers what you cannot see yet — the wall you have not opened, the ground you have not dug, the plan detail that is ambiguous. It is an allowance against uncertainty and it should scale with how much of the job is unknown. A new-build to a clear spec carries less than a renovation on a 1950s house.
Margin is your profit. It isn't a buffer, it isn't contingency, and it shouldn't be quietly spent absorbing surprises, that's what the contingency is for. Apply it deliberately on top of your full cost build-up.
4 · How do you write a scope you can defend?
On a big job, what you excluded matters as much as what you included. A quote that lists only inclusions invites the assumption that everything else is covered.
Worth stating explicitly: what is included, what is specifically excluded, what you have assumed (access, power and water on site, ground conditions, who removes waste, who does making good), how long the price holds — supplier pricing moves — and the payment terms including any deposit and progress claims.
Two habits that prevent most disputes: date the quote and give it an expiry, and put the assumptions in writing even when the customer seems relaxed. Relaxed customers become precise customers when an invoice arrives.
5 · Why do variations eat the profit?
Nearly every trade business that loses money on a large job lost it on unpriced variations, not on the original quote. The pattern is always the same: a small change is agreed verbally on site, the work is done, and it's either forgotten at invoice time or disputed when it finally appears.
The rule is simple and it should be absolute — price it and get it approved in writing before doing it, no matter how small, no matter how good the relationship. A short written note stating what changed, what it costs and what it does to the timeline is enough. It does not need to be a legal document, it needs to exist.
On progress-claimed jobs, keep variations visible as they accrue rather than saving them for the final claim, where they look like a nasty surprise instead of a series of agreed changes.
6 · How do you get better at quoting?
Compare the quote to what actually happened — hours against estimate, materials against allowance, variations against contingency. The quote is a prediction, and it only gets more accurate if somebody checks it. Trade businesses that do this get visibly better at quoting within a year; the ones that don't are still guessing on job fifty, with far more at stake. It is also the honest test of whether a job type is worth taking at all: some work is busy rather than profitable, and checking is the only way to find out.
Turn the quote into an invoice without retyping it →Yamate handles quoting, invoicing, chasing and job records for solo tradies and small crews, with saved prices, itemised or fixed-price quotes, and a running estimate of GST, tax and profit per job so you can see how a job actually landed. Every quote and invoice goes through preview-then-approve before a customer sees it. It is not tax advice and you still lodge your own returns. Founder plan $19/mo if you sign up before 30 September 2026, $29/mo after; Company plan $79/mo for ten people, $15/mo per person after that. 30-day free trial, no card needed. Prices in AUD.
FAQ
What is a takeoff?
Measuring quantities off a plan — lengths, areas, volumes and item counts — so materials and labour can be priced. Done with a scale rule on a printout, or on screen with takeoff software that measures directly off the PDF.
How much margin should I add?
Pick the figure from your trade, your risk and the job type — then apply it as a divisor on top of a real cost build-up. For a 25% margin, divide your total cost by 0.75. Keep it separate from contingency, and don't let a 25% markup (which is a 20% margin) stand in for it.
Fixed price or time and materials?
Fixed price transfers risk to you and rewards efficiency. Time and materials transfers risk to the customer but is harder to sell. Many tradies quote fixed where the scope is clear and use time and materials for fault-finding, repairs and remediation — stating which, clearly, up front.
How do I stop losing money on variations?
Price and get written approval before doing the work, every time, however small. Verbal agreements and price-it-later are what cause both write-offs and disputes.
How long should a quote stay valid?
Long enough to be fair and short enough to protect you from supplier price movement. State the expiry on the quote rather than leaving it open-ended, and re-price rather than honouring a stale number on a large job.
Should I charge for quoting a big job?
Some tradies charge for detailed estimating on large or speculative work, crediting it against the job if it proceeds. It is a reasonable way to filter out price-shoppers, provided you say so before doing the work.
Related
General information for Australian businesses, not legal, contractual or financial advice. Contract, licensing and progress-payment requirements for larger building work differ by state and territory and by contract value — check your state regulator and get advice on contracts before signing. This page describes the position as read in August 2026.