Fettle Advisory · Free business tool
A worthwhile job.
Or just more work?
Check what a job contributes and how much of your team’s time it uses, before you agree the price.
Try the checkWhat does the job leave?
Look beyond the quote total. Understand contribution, the time the work uses and what happens if delivery takes longer.
01 / Set out the work
Your starting figures
The starting values are a hypothetical example. Replace them with your own estimates. Enter 0 only where genuinely none. All cash figures exclude recoverable VAT.
Free and ungated. Figures and notes stay in this browser tab. Nothing you enter is sent to Fettle or saved by this tool.
02 / Understand the decision
Your result
Use the hypothetical starting figures or enter your own, then choose Calculate the impact.
Contribution is not net profit. Existing salaries and fixed overheads are excluded unless you add them as separate allocations. Payment timing, tax, finance costs and displaced work are not modelled.
03 / Use the insight
A full diary is not the whole answer.
Compare similar jobs using the same cost basis. If people or equipment are fully booked, consider which other work this job would displace. A contribution figure alone cannot make that decision.
For a worked comparison and printable decision sheet, compare two jobs before filling the diary.
For a specific discount decision, use the discount calculator.
How are the figures calculated?
Contribution = selling price − other variable costs − additional labour. Contribution margin = contribution ÷ selling price × 100. Contribution per delivery hour = contribution ÷ person-hours.
After selected allocations = contribution − (person-hours × allocated salary rate) − other allocated overheads. It is not net profit.
Target price = total variable cost ÷ (1 − target margin ÷ 100). It excludes allocations and does not establish what customers will pay.
What if I do not know a cost?
Use a recent comparable job, supplier quote or timed sample. Include likely travel and rework. Enter an estimate and use the scenario to test a plausible change. If a material cost is unknown, treat the result as provisional rather than entering zero.
Worked example: the job takes longer
Hypothetical: a £1,200 job with £350 other variable costs, £150 additional labour and 20 person-hours leaves £700 contribution, or £35 per hour. At 24 hours with unchanged costs, contribution remains £700 but falls to £29.17 per hour. If those extra hours cost another £100, contribution falls to £600 and £25 per hour.
The decision is about both cost control and capacity. These are illustrative figures, not Fettle client results.
A useful next step
Does the work reward the effort?
Talk through pricing, delivery costs and the work you want more of. Jamie can help frame the issue and explain whether a fuller review would be useful.
Free 15-minute conversation. No obligation.
Your figures are not shared automatically.