Overhead Rate Calculator
Turn monthly overhead and realistic billable hours into the minimum hourly rate you need to charge — before you quote a single job.
How the Math Works
Annual billable hours = field staff × sold hours per week × work weeks. Most shops overstate this by counting scheduled instead of sold hours.
Overhead per hour = annual overhead ÷ annual billable hours.
Break-even rate = loaded labor cost + overhead per hour. Charge below this and you lose money on the clock.
Target charge rate = break-even rate ÷ (1 − target profit). That's the floor you should quote from.
Example: $12,000/mo overhead = $144,000/yr. 2 techs × 28 sold hrs × 48 weeks = 2,688 hrs. Overhead per hour ≈ $53.57; add $38 labor for a $91.57 break-even rate.
Build the Rate Into Every Job
Our flat-rate price books bake your labor rate, overhead, and margin into 1,332+ pre-priced services — so the floor is built in instead of recalculated every week.