PRICE A JOB
Price up the job right from the van.
Job pricing now lives inside Paid30, where it can do the part a calculator never could — turn the price straight into a quote your customer can accept on their phone. It's free with your account.
What it works out for you
- Your running costs are built in — van, diesel, insurance, tools and phone spread across the days on site.
- Your markup on materials is added, so you're paid for the merchant run and the waste.
- You see the price to quote, the VAT and exactly what you earn before you say a number out loud.
- One tap turns it into a quote with two tidy lines: Materials & Parts and Labour & Fitting.
- Your day rate, markup and earnings stay private — the customer only ever sees the price.
Sign up takes 3 minutes — you only pay when you get paid.
How to price a trade job properly
A price that only covers materials and your day rate quietly loses money. The van, diesel, insurance, tools, phone and unpaid quoting time all have to be carried by the jobs you do win, which is why running costs per day belong in every price.
Add a markup on materials to cover collection, waste and the risk of price changes, then check what's left at the end. If it looks thin, the problem is usually the day rate, not the customer.
Common questions from trades
What's the difference between markup and profit margin?
Markup is what you add on top of your cost; margin is what's left as a share of the price you charged. A 20% markup on £100 of materials gives you £120 — but that's a 16.7% margin, not 20%. Mixing them up is the most common way trades undercharge.
How much markup should I put on materials?
Most UK trades work on 10–25%. It pays for merchant runs, waste, returns and the risk of a price rise between quoting and buying. Bigger one-off items usually carry less, fiddly consumables more.
What should I include in running costs per day?
Van finance or repairs, diesel, insurance, public liability, tools and replacements, phone, accountant, software, and the days you spend quoting rather than earning. Add the yearly total and divide by the days you actually work on site.
Why do I need an account to use it?
Because it saves your day rate, markup and running costs, then turns the price into a real quote you can send. That only works with an account — and it's free to create, with no monthly fee.
Should my quote show VAT separately?
If you're VAT registered, yes — show the price before VAT, the VAT and the total, with your VAT number on the invoice. If you're not registered, quote one figure and don't mention VAT at all.
Other free tools for your job
Late payment calculator
Interest and compensation on an overdue invoice.
CIS deduction calculator
20% or 30% CIS deductions on labour.
Chaser message generator
Chasing texts that keep customers on side.
Price the job, then send it in two taps.
Put your materials, markup, day rate and running costs in once. Paid30 keeps them saved, works out what to quote, and turns it into a quote or an invoice with a 30-minute pay-now discount.
- No monthly fee
- No card machine needed
- Keep 100% of your rate
- CIS & VAT handled
Sign up takes 3 minutes — you only pay when you get paid.