Pricing a job so it doesn't leave you upside down

The gap between a price that looks competitive and a price that actually covers what the job costs you is usually a handful of items that don't make it into the quote at all.

• Materials wastage — price for what you'll actually use on site, not the theoretical minimum a supplier's spec sheet says
• Transport and fuel to the site, especially for jobs outside your usual working area
• Time lost when a job runs over — a fixed price with no buffer punishes you for problems you find once walls are open, not before you quoted
• Your own tools and consumables wearing out — a job priced without accounting for this is quietly subsidised by whatever you charge on the next one

A simple habit that helps

Itemise materials, labour, and a contingency line separately when you're working out a price internally, even if you present the customer with one final number. Two things follow from this: if the scope changes partway through, you can show exactly what changed rather than guessing at a revised figure — and you catch your own underpricing before you've committed to it, not after.

None of this means charging more for its own sake — it means the price you give reflects what the job actually costs you, so you're not finding that out the hard way halfway through.