Pricing and margin check
Shows what each part, SKU or lane really earns after true costs, or what one finished job or batch actually earned once scrap and your own hours are counted.
Updated September 16, 2026 · Finance · In the $149 pack
What you get
Either a margin ranking with a modeled price change, or an estimate-versus-actual review of one completed job or batch with the variances and the next-quote corrections named.
What you need to hand
- Which question you are asking: which lines earn money, or what one finished job or batch earned
- For a line review: your SKUs, parts or lanes with prices, volumes and direct costs
- For a completed job: the accepted quote, what you invoiced and collected, and the actual material, machine hours, labor and outside-process bills
- Your fixed overheads, your machine or truck hourly rates, and how you want your own time treated
- How long the work really takes, including setup, scrap and the unbilled parts
How you might ask
We quoted a batch of 400 machined brackets at $27.50 each and invoiced $11,000, of which $4,200 is still unpaid. Setup ran three hours over, we scrapped 22 pieces, the customer approved a deburring operation we never billed, and I spent five hours on the program myself. Did it make money?
Worked example: Billed, banked and earned are different numbers
An authored, fictional illustration so you can see the shape of the result. Not a customer outcome.
Input
Completed synthetic order N-2041. Original cost estimate $37,440; approved guard-rail cost estimate $3,120. Billed revenue $52,000; cash received $34,400. Actual materials $27,410, including a $464 replacement upright; the freight-damage claim against the carrier is unresolved. Actual subcontract install: 146 crew-hours at $62, including eight hours to swap the bent upright and six hours not accounted for. Actual freight $3,180 because a third partial load was needed. Allocated overhead $2,760 on the owner's supplied basis. The $1,450 freight invoice appears twice in the uploads with the same invoice number: one shipment, not two. No other costs or remaining commitments are reported by the owner.
Illustrative result
- Actual direct cost: $27,410 materials + $9,052 install labor (146 × $62) + $3,180 freight = $39,642. Contribution: $52,000 − $39,642 = $12,358; contribution per recorded crew-hour: $12,358 ÷ 146 = $84.64, rounded to cents.
- After supplied allocated overhead: $12,358 − $2,760 = $9,598. This order result is not business-wide net profit. The freight invoice is counted once, and no recovery from the carrier is booked while the claim is open.
- Combined estimated cost: $37,440 + $3,120 = $40,560. Actual listed cost: $39,642 + $2,760 = $42,402, an adverse $1,842 variance: materials $464, install labor $868, freight $280, overhead $230. Eight of the fourteen extra crew-hours were the upright swap; ask what the other six were before changing future estimates.
- Cash received is $34,400, not $52,000. Outstanding receivable: $17,600. Do not describe contribution or billed revenue as money already in the bank.
Checks before using
- Compare estimate and actual on the same scope and cost basis, including the approved change order.
- Duplicate document uploads are not evidence of duplicate shipments or duplicate payments.
- The open carrier claim stays out of the result until it is settled in writing.
- Confirm that all supplier invoices have landed and that the overhead allocation is right before relying on the order result.
Get the full instructions
This is step "Did this order make money?" in the "From enquiry to paid invoice" pack: six connected skills that carry an order from enquiry to paid invoice, each with a worked example. One payment of $149 USD, delivered as a ZIP you keep. Works with your own ChatGPT account.