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Help Center › Admin screens, field by field › Settings → Costs & markups: every cost, markup and tax box
Settings → Costs & markups: every cost, markup and tax box
Labor cost, overhead, minimum job, mobilization, pricing method, seven markups, target margin, sales tax, deposit, rounding and quote validity.
Open the Contractor Hub, choose Settings, pick the Prices and quotes group and the Costs & markups tab. This tab holds the numbers that turn quantities into a price: your cost of labor, overhead, markups or margin, tax, deposit, rounding and how proposals show prices. It has two cards, Your costs and Your price to the customer, and one button.
Warning: Every dollar amount and percentage shipped as a default on this tab is a placeholder, not approved. Set your own figures. The defaults are listed so you can see what you start from.
Before you start
- Your real labor cost per crew-member hour (wage plus payroll taxes, workers’ comp and insurance).
- Your overhead percentage (trucks, office, insurance) and your minimum job.
- Your state’s sales tax rule. Check with your accountant.
Fields: Your costs
| Field (exact label) | What it does for VisionScaper | What to enter and example | Default / notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Labor cost per hour ($) laborRate |
Your burdened cost for one crew-member hour. Used wherever labor in an estimate has no rate of its own. The box hint says “burdened”. | A number such as your wage plus payroll taxes, workers’ comp and insurance, per hour. | Default 38 (placeholder, not approved; set your own). |
Overhead (%) overheadPct |
Added to direct cost to get your true cost. Hint: trucks, office, insurance. In Target gross margin mode it is also built into the price. | A percentage, e.g. your overhead as a share of direct cost. | Default 12 (placeholder, not approved). |
Minimum job ($) minJob |
If a quote’s total price is below this amount, it is raised to this amount and the proposal notes the minimum job charge added. | A dollar amount. | Default 350 (placeholder, not approved). |
Mobilization per job ($) mobilization |
A flat charge added once to every quote that has a price. | A dollar amount. 0 means none. | Default 0. |
Fields: Your price to the customer
| Field (exact label) | What it does for VisionScaper | What to enter and example | Default / notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Pricing method mode |
Chooses how cost becomes price. Markup by category: each cost type gets its own markup on top. Target gross margin: everything is priced so gross profit is the target % of the price. (A 50% markup equals a 33% margin.) | Pick from the drop-down. | Default Markup by category. |
Materials markup % markup.material |
Markup added on top of material cost (Markup mode). | A percentage. | Default 50 (placeholder, not approved). |
Labor markup % markup.labor |
Markup on labor cost. | A percentage. | Default 100 (placeholder, not approved). |
Equipment markup % markup.equipment |
Markup on equipment cost. | A percentage. | Default 30 (placeholder, not approved). |
Subcontractors markup % markup.sub |
Markup on subcontractor cost. | A percentage. | Default 20 (placeholder, not approved). |
Disposal markup % markup.disposal |
Markup on disposal cost. | A percentage. | Default 25 (placeholder, not approved). |
Delivery markup % markup.delivery |
Markup on delivery cost. | A percentage. | Default 20 (placeholder, not approved). |
Other markup % markup.other |
Markup on anything not in the six groups above. | A percentage. | Default 30 (placeholder, not approved). |
Target gross margin (%) marginPct |
The profit share of the price you want. Only used when Pricing method is Target gross margin (box hint: “margin mode only”). | A percentage below 100. | Default 40 (placeholder, not approved). |
Sales tax (%) taxPct |
Tax added to proposals. Hint: your state’s rate (the hint cites 6.35% for CT); check with your accountant. | A percentage. | Default 6.35 (placeholder, not approved). |
Tax applies to taxOn |
Which part of the job is taxed. | Whole job (e.g. CT, where landscaping is taxable) / Materials only / No sales tax. | Default Whole job. |
Deposit when signed (%) depositPct |
The deposit due when the customer signs. Also the default deposit line in the payment schedule. | A percentage. | Default 30 (placeholder, not approved). |
Round section prices up to ($) roundTo |
Each section price is rounded up to a multiple of this amount (unless you typed a price yourself). | e.g. a whole dollar step. 0 turns rounding off. | Default 5 (placeholder, not approved). |
Quotes are good for (days) validDays |
Default “Price good until” date on new quotes, counted from today. | A number of days. | Default 30 (placeholder, not approved). |
On proposals show showPrices |
Whether the customer sees a price for each section or only the total. Each quote can override it. | Price for each section / Total only. | Default Price for each section. |
| Save costs & markups (button) | Stores everything on this tab. | Press once. | Message “Saved.” |
Steps
- Open Settings → Prices and quotes → Costs & markups.
- In Your costs, enter Labor cost per hour ($) and Overhead (%), then Minimum job ($) and Mobilization per job ($).
- In Your price to the customer, pick the Pricing method.
- If you chose Markup by category, fill the seven markup boxes. If you chose Target gross margin, fill Target gross margin (%).
- Set Sales tax (%) and Tax applies to.
- Set Deposit when signed (%), Round section prices up to ($) and Quotes are good for (days).
- Choose On proposals show.
- Press Save costs & markups and wait for “Saved.”
- Open one quote to see the new numbers.
Tips
- A box left empty, or with text that is not a number, is saved as 0. Fill every number.
- Markup and margin are different. 50% markup equals a 33% margin.
- A different tax rate or a changed deposit applies to quotes you open or create afterwards.
If something goes wrong
- A quote total looks too high. Check Minimum job and Mobilization; both are added to any quote.
- Margin mode ignores my markups. That is by design. Switch the Pricing method back to Markup by category.
- Saved does not show. The button is disabled while saving. If it fails, an error message is shown; try again.