Quoting is where tradies quietly win or lose money. Quote too low and you work for free; quote too slow and the customer has already booked someone else; quote with no detail and you cop endless "but I thought that was included" arguments. Getting quoting right is a skill, and it's learnable. Here's a simple, repeatable system for quoting a job properly — and getting paid what it's worth.
The quoting formula
A complete quote is built from six parts:
labour + materials + markup + travel + contingency + GST
Get each piece right and your margin takes care of itself. The tradie quote calculator runs the whole calculation for you, but it's worth understanding each line.
1. Charge your rate, not your wage
This is the single biggest mistake new operators make. Your charge-out rate is not what you'd earn per hour as an employee. It has to cover everything an employer would otherwise pay for: your tools, vehicle, insurance, phone, software, admin time, superannuation, sick days, public holidays, and the hours you spend quoting jobs you don't win — plus a profit on top.
