A flat-rate price is one price for a defined task, agreed before the work starts. Build it from the time the task normally takes at your billable rate, plus the parts it uses with their markup, and optionally an allowance for the occasions it goes wrong. This calculator builds that number and then shows what the price earns per hour when a job runs longer than expected.
Build a flat-rate price
The formula
Flat-rate price = expected hours × billable rate × (1 + allowance) + parts cost × (1 + parts markup)
Round the result to a price a customer finds natural, for example $159 or $165 rather than $160.50, and use the same rounding rule throughout your price book.
Where the billable rate comes from
Use a billable rate, not a wage and not a paid-hour cost. A technician is paid for more hours than can be charged, so the rate has to cover the cost of a billable hour plus overhead and profit. The technician true cost calculator works out the cost side, and the billable hourly rate calculator builds the rate from it.
Worked example
Illustrative numbers only. A seasonal tune-up usually takes 1.5 hours and uses $12 of supplies. At a billable rate of $95 an hour the labor is 1.5 × $95 = $142.50. The supplies marked up by 50% are $18.00. The flat-rate price is $160.50.
If a particular tune-up takes 2 hours, you still collect $160.50, which is $80.25 for each hour worked. If it takes 1 hour, the same price is $160.50 for one hour. Across many jobs the fast ones make up for the slow ones, which is the bet a flat rate makes.
The allowance
The allowance field adds a percentage to the labor to cover the cost of the work that goes wrong: a return visit, a missed part, a job that turns out harder than the standard time suggests. Set it from your own record of callbacks and overruns. If you do not have that record yet, leave it at zero rather than invent a number, and revisit it once you have tracked some jobs.
When a flat rate is the wrong tool
Diagnostic, emergency and open-ended work is hard to price in advance. A flat rate there either overcharges the customer or leaves you absorbing the overrun, and time and materials is usually the better fit. A flat rate also stays profitable only if the task times behind it are accurate, so compare your standard times with what your technicians actually record.
Common mistakes
- Pricing from the wage. A price built from what you pay a technician per hour leaves out the cost of the hours you cannot bill.
- Using a guessed time. The standard time is the foundation of the price. Time a sample of real jobs before you publish a price book.
- Forgetting parts handling. Parts carry sourcing, handling and warranty exposure. Selling them at cost loses money; the markup field covers it.
- Never revisiting prices. Costs change. Re-check your rates and standard times on a regular schedule.
FAQ
How do I calculate a flat-rate price?
Multiply the expected time by your billable rate, add an allowance if you use one, then add the parts with their markup. The calculator above does each step and shows the total.
What billable rate should I use?
One that covers the cost of a billable hour, overhead and profit, not a wage. The billable hourly rate calculator builds it from your own numbers.
What if the job takes longer than expected?
The price does not change, so your earnings per hour fall. The last field shows the effect: at 2 hours instead of 1.5, the example price earns $80.25 an hour instead of $107.
Should I tell customers how the price is built?
That is your choice. A flat rate hides the hourly figure from the customer by design; what matters is that the price is agreed before work begins and covers what the task includes.
This calculator is for education and planning. It runs entirely in your browser; nothing you enter is sent anywhere. It is not tax or accounting advice.