Construction estimate calculator with overhead and profit
Your bid price is direct cost plus general conditions, company overhead and profit, less any discount. This calculator shows each step and what profit survives the discount.
Bid price from direct cost, overhead and profit
Fill in what each trade costs, then the rates that turn cost into a price. The result recalculates as you type and never leaves the browser.
Bid price and coverage
Net bid: $453,898.89
- Direct cost of the trades
- $375,000.00
- General conditions
- $22,500.00
- Cost of work
- $397,500.00
- Company overhead
- $35,775.00
- Total cost
- $433,275.00
- Profit before discount
- $34,662.00
- Bid before discount
- $467,937.00
- Discount
- -$14,038.11
- Net bid
- $453,898.89
- Sales tax
- $0.00
- Contract total
- $453,898.89
Margin, markup and the discount limit
- Cover above direct cost
- $78,898.89
- Profit left after the discount
- $20,623.89
- Effective margin
- 4.54%
- Effective markup on total cost
- 4.76%
- Discount that leaves no profit
- 7.41%
The tax line applies the rate you type to the net bid. That is arithmetic and not tax advice; which rate a contract carries is a question for your accountant.
Net bid = direct cost × (1 + general conditions) × (1 + company overhead) × (1 + profit) × (1 − discount). In margin mode the profit factor becomes a division: total cost ÷ (1 − margin), and the bid before discount is that figure ÷ (1 − discount).
Questions about Construction estimate calculator with overhead and profit
What is the difference between markup and margin on a bid?
Markup is measured against cost, margin against price. A 10 percent markup on 100,000 dollars of cost gives a bid of 110,000 and a margin of 9.1 percent. To earn a 10 percent margin on the same cost you must bid 111,111. The switch above runs the calculation both ways.
How much should a builder add for overhead and profit?
There is no industry figure to copy. Overhead is your own annual office cost divided by the volume you expect to sell, and profit is what the risk of the job is worth. Take both from your accounts; a borrowed percentage is the fastest way to bid a losing job.
Does a discount come out of profit or out of overhead?
Out of profit first, then out of overhead. Cost does not fall because you reduced the price. The calculator shows the discount that would take profit to zero, and once the reduction passes that point the bid is no longer covering the office.
Can I use this for a change order?
Yes, for the pricing itself. Enter the added trade cost and the same rates, and the result is what the change should sell for. What it cannot do is carry the time impact or the effect on the schedule of values, which have to sit with the contract.
Use the calculation with your own project data
Request a trial period and tell us which workflow you want to test. We prepare Home Builder Software around that part of your work without fixing a term before we know the scope.