Category Money

Flat rate and time and materials pricing each have strengths. Compare how they work, who carries the risk, and which suits residential and commercial service work.

Customers see a billing rate far above the technician's wage. Here is the math that connects the two: loaded cost, unbilled hours, overhead and profit.

A step-by-step way for owner-operators to set an hourly labor rate: what to pay yourself, your overhead, realistic billable hours, break-even and profit.

What a written service estimate should include, the difference between an estimate and a quote, how to present options and how to protect yourself when the scope changes.

Overhead is every cost of running a service business that is not tied to one job. Learn what belongs in it, how to calculate overhead per billable hour and how to control it.

How to raise prices in a service business: the arithmetic of a small increase, how many customers you can afford to lose, and how to tell customers and your team.

Your break-even point is the revenue at which a service business covers all its costs. Learn the formula, a worked example and how to use it for pricing and planning.

The difference between being a W-2 employee and a 1099 contractor as a technician: taxes, overtime, insurance, how classification is decided and how to compare offers.

How on-call pay works for service technicians: when waiting time counts as hours worked, common pay arrangements, how stipends affect overtime and what to ask an employer.

Spiffs and bonuses reward technicians for specific results. Learn the common types, how they change your overtime rate, how they are taxed and what makes a plan fair.