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84 guides on Trade contractors · show all guides

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• Job costing & pricingJul 10, 20268 min

  Qualify Leads Before Quoting: How Contractors Stop Wasting Estimates on Tire-Kickers

  Every estimate you give to a tire-kicker is labor and mileage that could have gone to a paying job. Qualify leads before quoting and you get that time back. I...

• Job costing & pricingJul 10, 20269 min

  Procurement Deposits Liability Not Income: A Designer's 2026 Guide

  Procurement deposits liability not income is the first rule of clean books for any designer handling client furniture purchases. When a client sends you forty thousand dollars to buy a...

• Job costing & pricingJul 10, 20267 min

  Pricing Unfamiliar Work: How Contractors Bid on Jobs They've Never Done Before

  This comes up again and again on Jobber community, Houzz Pro forum: "How to price deep cleaning services without undervaluing your work" — or waterproofing, or cabinet installs, or commercial...

• Job costing & pricingJul 10, 20267 min

  Pricing Jobs Outside Service Area: Travel Surcharge or Not?

  Pricing jobs outside service area is a recurring question for contractors: how to price a job that is outside your normal working area. The cost is more than fuel. You...

• Job costing & pricingJul 10, 20266 min

  Pricing Change Orders: How Contractors Protect Profit on Every Add-On

  Pricing change orders is not the same as pricing the original bid. The original bid was a competitive proposal you prepared in your office with time to think. A change...

• Job costing & pricingJul 10, 20268 min

  When Turn Down Profitable Work? The Capacity Test for Contractors in 2026

  Every contractor hits the same wall. The phone rings, the job pays real money, and your crew is already at fifty hours. When turn down profitable work is not a...

• Job costing & pricingJul 10, 20265 min

  When Should You Raise Prices to Keep Up With Rising Payroll Costs?

  This comes up again and again in contractor forums: when should you raise prices to keep up with rising payroll costs? Most of the answers are gut reactions. The real...

• Job costing & pricingJul 10, 20266 min

  Vendor Discount vs Markup Design Fee: How Contractors Price Furnishings Without Exposing Cost

  This comes up again and again on the Jobber community and Houzz Pro forum. A contractor gets a steep vendor discount on furnishings and does not know whether to pass...

• Job costing & pricingJul 10, 20269 min

  How to Book Vendor Credits and Returned Materials Without Overstating Job Cost

  This comes up again and again on Houzz Pro forum: "I returned $800 in tile and got a credit memo. If I just leave it in my checking account, my...

• Job costing & pricingJul 10, 20267 min

  You Underbid a Job — Now What? Eat the Loss or Renegotiate

  This comes up again and again on Jobber community: Ever underbid yourself on a job and then realized your worth later on. If you are staring at a job that...

• Job costing & pricingJul 10, 20266 min

  Tracking Subcontractor Cost Estimates: Why I Separate Them to See My Real Margin

  If you bundle subcontractor costs into a single labor line on your estimates, you cannot see what the job actually made. I see this constantly with contractors who lump everything...

• Job costing & pricingJul 10, 20267 min

  Solo vs Company Profit Margin: One Contractor Keeps 50%, a Company Keeps 15%

  A solo operator doing residential work can finish the year with a 50% net margin. A company running three crews is often structured to keep 15%. Solo vs company profit...