Free Contractor Tool
Contractor Bid Calculator 2026
Build a complete job bid in seconds — enter your material costs, labor, overhead, and desired profit margin to get a ready-to-use bid total with full cost breakdown.
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Build Your Job Bid Estimate
Adjust the inputs below to match your job. Materials, labor, overhead, contingency, and profit all update your bid total in real time.
Total Job Bid
$10,606.68
Break-even: $9,223.20 · Effective rate: $265.17/hr
Labor cost
$2,200.00
40 hrs × $55.00
Materials
$5,000.00
Overhead
$1,584.00
22% of direct
Profit
$1,383.48
15% target
Gross margin
13.0%
Caution — thin margin
Markup %
47.3%
over direct cost
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Materials | $5,000.00 |
| Labor (40 hrs × $55.00/hr) | $2,200.00 |
| Overhead (22%) | $1,584.00 |
| Contingency (5%) | $439.20 |
| Profit (15%) | $1,383.48 |
| Total Bid | $10,606.68 |
Break-even (no profit)
$9,223.20
minimum to cover all costs
Effective hourly rate
$265.17/hr
bid total ÷ labor hours
This calculator provides rough estimates for planning purposes. Actual bids depend on local labor markets, material pricing, job complexity, and business overhead. Always review with your accountant or estimator before submitting a bid.
Ballpark estimate only
These figures are rough estimates for planning purposes only. Actual results will vary based on your specific situation, local market conditions, and contractor pricing. Do not use these estimates for budgeting, contracts, or financial decisions without first obtaining written quotes from licensed professionals.
📋 Important: All calculator results are ballpark estimates
The figures shown are approximate estimates based on typical averages and should be used for general planning purposes only. They are not a substitute for a professional assessment or written contractor quote. Actual costs and results will vary significantly based on your specific circumstances, local market conditions, equipment choices, and contractor pricing. Always confirm any estimate with a licensed contractor or qualified professional before making purchasing or financial decisions.
How to Use This Calculator
Select your trade
Choose the trade type that best matches your job — HVAC, roofing, solar, or general contractor. This helps contextualize the results even though the calculation logic applies across all trades. If you work across trades, just pick the closest match.
Enter your direct costs
Enter your estimated material cost using the input or slider, total labor hours for all field workers on the job, your all-in labor rate per hour (include wages, taxes, and burden), and any subcontractor costs. These three figures make up your direct job cost — the true baseline before overhead and profit.
Set your overhead percentage
Overhead covers all the costs you incur whether or not you have a job running: insurance, vehicles, tools, office, admin, and your own salary as owner if you don't do field work. Divide your total annual overhead by your annual revenue to get your overhead rate. Most contractors fall between 18–28%. The default is 22%.
Set your contingency buffer
Contingency protects you from the unknowns every job carries — a day of bad weather, a material price increase, a callback, or a small scope change. Most experienced contractors build in 5–10%. This is separate from your profit — it's a cost buffer, not a bonus.
Set your target profit margin
Adjust the profit margin slider to your target gross margin on this job. Most contractors target 15–25%. The calculator shows you both your gross margin percentage and your markup percentage so you can verify you're not confusing the two. If the gross margin shows red, your bid is dangerously thin and needs to be reviewed before submission.
What Goes Into a Contractor Bid
Material costs
Everything you purchase specifically for this job: equipment, materials, supplies, permits, and disposal. Get real supplier quotes where possible — using rough estimates here is where most underbids start. For HVAC, roofing, and solar, materials are often 40–60% of total job cost.
Labor costs
Total field hours multiplied by your fully-burdened labor rate. The burdened rate includes wages, payroll taxes (FICA, FUTA, SUTA), workers' comp, and any benefits. Contractors who only factor in wage rates are systematically underpricing every job. A $25/hr wage typically burdens to $35–$45/hr fully loaded.
Subcontractor costs
If you bring in other trades for electrical, structural, or specialty work, those costs are a direct job cost. They should be included at their full invoiced value before you apply overhead and profit. Never absorb subcontractor costs into your own overhead calculation.
Overhead allocation
Your overhead rate converts a direct-cost job into a fully-loaded cost. Without allocating overhead, every job looks profitable in the field but the business loses money. Track actual overhead annually, update the rate each year, and apply it consistently to every bid — large and small.
Contingency buffer
A line item that protects your profit from the small-to-medium surprises that every job encounters. It is not padding — it is risk management. Jobs without a contingency line frequently end up cutting into the profit margin when surprises occur, turning a good margin job into a break-even or loss.
Profit margin
Profit is not what's left over — it is a planned cost of doing business. It funds equipment replacement, growth investment, owner distributions, and the safety net for bad months. Target gross margin (profit as a % of bid price) not markup. A 20% markup does not equal a 20% margin — it's closer to 16.7%.
Stop Building Bids Manually — Generate Professional Proposals in the Field Instantly
This calculator gives you a quick ballpark. But winning jobs requires a professional proposal in the customer's hands before you leave the site. SubcontractorHub's AI Proposal Builder (EasyQuote) lets your reps generate a complete, branded bid on a tablet at the job site — with equipment options, tiered pricing, and embedded financing — in minutes, not days.
EasyQuote pulls your cost data, applies your overhead and margin rules automatically, and presents the customer a polished proposal they can approve and finance on the spot. No more emailing Word docs the next morning. No more customers who "need to think about it" and then go with the next guy.
See EasyQuote in ActionBuild a complete bid on a tablet at the customer's home
Overhead and margin rules applied automatically
Show tiered options — good, better, best
Embedded financing from GoodLeap and Service Finance
Customer approves and signs before you leave
Closed job flows directly to operations — no re-entry
Common Questions About Contractor Bids
What should a contractor bid include?
A complete contractor bid includes: direct material costs, labor costs (hours × burdened labor rate), any subcontractor costs, overhead allocation (insurance, vehicles, office, admin — typically 18–28% of direct costs), a contingency buffer (5–10% for unknowns), and your profit margin (10–20% for most trades). Missing overhead is the most common reason contractors underbid jobs.
What is a good profit margin for contractors?
Most profitable contractors target 15–25% gross margin on installed jobs. Net margin (after all business overhead) should be 10–20%. Margins below 10% net leave no room for error, rework, or slow periods. Many contractors mistake markup for margin — a 25% markup on cost yields only a 20% gross margin.
What's the difference between markup and margin?
Markup is the percentage added to your cost to get the price: a $10,000 job with $8,000 cost has a 25% markup. Margin is profit as a percentage of the price: that same job has a 20% gross margin. Mixing these up leads to systematic underpricing — a contractor targeting 25% margin but using 25% markup is actually pricing at only 20% margin.
How do I calculate overhead for a contractor bid?
Add up all fixed costs that aren't directly tied to a specific job: insurance, vehicle payments, tools and equipment depreciation, office rent, administrative salaries, software, and owner salary (separate from field labor). Divide by your annual revenue to get overhead as a percentage. Most contractors land between 18–28%.
Should I always bid the same markup on every job?
No. Higher-complexity, higher-risk, and smaller jobs should carry higher margins. Large, straightforward, repeat-customer jobs can run thinner. The best practice is to target a blended margin across your full job mix — not to apply an identical markup to every estimate.
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All calculations are estimates based on historical information and should be verified by the user.