Know what the job needs to earn before you promise a price
Pressure-washing revenue is not the same thing as job profit. A job can bring in a good-looking payment and still produce a weak return after labor, materials, travel and overhead.
Start with direct job costs
Estimate the labor required and add the materials and chemicals that will be consumed. Then account for travel and setup time that is easy to forget when you think only about production time.
Separate break-even from target profit
Break-even tells you what the job needs to cover its estimated costs. Your target profit determines how much more the job needs to produce. Keeping those concepts separate makes pricing decisions easier to understand.
Don't use the market as your only calculator
Competitor pricing can be useful context, but another contractor's price is based on another contractor's labor, equipment, overhead, geography and business model.
For a fast check, run one real job through the free SGL calculator. Enter your own numbers and review the economics before you send the quote.
After you price the job
Once the number works, professional paperwork makes the next step easier. SGL's $19 Starter Office Kit is designed to turn the quote into reusable customer and job documents without a subscription.
Understand the math: markup is not margin
Estimated operating contribution is quoted revenue minus estimated direct job costs and an appropriate allocation of overhead. Margin is estimated contribution divided by selling price. Markup is contribution divided by cost. They are different percentages, so mixing them can lead to underpricing.
Worked example using fictional numbers
Assume labor is $120, chemicals $25, travel/setup $35 and allocated overhead $40. Total estimated cost is $220. If you quote $400, estimated contribution is $180, estimated margin is 45% ($180 ÷ $400), and markup on cost is about 81.8% ($180 ÷ $220). None of these numbers includes unknown repairs, surprise scope changes or taxes.
Work backward from a target margin
For illustrative cost C and target margin m, a simple planning formula is price = C ÷ (1 − m), provided the cost figure includes everything the formula is meant to cover and 0 ≤ m < 1. A $220 cost and a hypothetical 30% margin would imply $220 ÷ 0.70 ≈ $314.29. The formula does not tell you whether customers will accept that quote.
What usually erases planned job profit
- Underestimating travel, loading and crew hours.
- Having to redo work or pay a second visit.
- Unexpected equipment or consumable usage.
- Providing extra service without a documented change order.
- Discounting without recalculating the expected margin.
- Forgetting normal business overhead because it wasn't bought for that specific job.
Make the post-job review part of the process
Re-enter actual costs after completion, investigate the two largest differences, and note whether access, equipment setup or scope was the cause. Consistent reviews make later estimates more defensible. The Business OS organizes job and profit review; the Three-Tier Proposal Builder helps compare three properly costed customer options. Neither guarantees sales or profit.
Before sending the next quote: Record the scope, costs, estimated contribution, target margin, risk factors and intended follow-up. Keep customer-facing paperwork concise and accurate.