heel600

I tried to find some books on flat rate pricing. It seems that everything is $2000 software.

Does anyone here have some price charts they would be willing to share?

I'm done with hourly. People complain about paying me $85 / hour for 2.5 hours to put in a ceiling fan, but don't bat an eye when I say $300 per fan.

I'm sure MDShunk has a great Excel spreadsheet.

user4818

I highly doubt you're going to get anyone to give up that kind of hard earned information.

Furthermore, spending $2000 on a pricing system is an investment. You need to spend money to make money. Stop being so cheap.

MDShunk

I have come to the opinion that you need to charge however it seems the customer will best tolerate it. This requires hourly on some work and flat rate on other work. That's strictly my opinion, but the blended method works well for me.

__________________
One reason not to give DIY advice:
Catch a man a fish and you can sell it to him.
Teach a man to fish and you’ve ruined a good business opportunity.

user4818

How do you know the difference when one is better than the other?

MDShunk

It's hard to explain... I suppose the choice is more visceral. Obviously, a job that doesn't really fit squarely into a flat rate task(s) or a job that's evolving as you work it aren't good candidates for flat rate work. A customer that asks, "how much to..." wants a flat rate price.

__________________
One reason not to give DIY advice:
Catch a man a fish and you can sell it to him.
Teach a man to fish and you’ve ruined a good business opportunity.

acmax

That does make sense. What about the commercial side of this pricing
question.Can you get by with flat rate,and how do you figure in the
material cost and fixtures.

MDShunk

Yeah, people call that a bid, a proposal, or a quote. It turns into a contract when the other person signs it.

__________________
One reason not to give DIY advice:
Catch a man a fish and you can sell it to him.
Teach a man to fish and you’ve ruined a good business opportunity.

mattsilkwood

software and experience.

heel600

I thought we were all here to learn, and help each other. I don't see why giving me some pricing guildlines is any different that Brian John giving me advice on testing something.

They are both products of training/experience.

Most of my work is for GCs/Builders/pool contractors where I have my pricing down.

I do one 'service' type job every 2 weeks or so. Not wanting to spend 2 grand on 25 jobs a year is not being cheap.

You wouldn't buy a bucket truck for a few jobs each year? You would rent one, or sub the job out.

I'm just looking for a few basic prices like :

Add a recptacle
Add a recessed light
Install ceiling fan

Yes, I know there are variables like if there is attic access, is there a light there already, etc.

MDShunk

"Add a receptacle" is not really that basic. It's three single spaced pages.

__________________
One reason not to give DIY advice:
Catch a man a fish and you can sell it to him.
Teach a man to fish and you’ve ruined a good business opportunity.

480sparky

I've probably got 10-15 hours wrapped up in setting just that much up in my custom pricing spreadsheet.

__________________
In winter, why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we complained about the heat?

acmax

REALLY I just spent the better part of today crunching numbers on an up fit. And just wanted some diversion on the forum to relieve the stress.
Smart alecThe OP is looking for advice. I personally think the hourly method is the safest.It usually will stop the request for favors that get asked on flat rate work.

MDShunk

No, I wasn't really trying to be a smart ass. The light bulb has not gone off for so many people that "flat rate" as is applies to residential service is really no different than commercial bid work. Same thing by a different name. Only with resi, the tasks are normally routine enough that you can have them all in a book.

__________________
One reason not to give DIY advice:
Catch a man a fish and you can sell it to him.
Teach a man to fish and you’ve ruined a good business opportunity.

acmax

Glad I'm not doing resi service work. Although if I don't land one of these bids soon I 'd be glad too. I'm getting low balled on everything.

oldman

You thought wrong. This place is just an online room to talk shop, BS, and possibly teach/learn if so inclined. Not a place to share info that probably took lots of time and/or money with some guy who has a chip on his shoulder and feels entitled to it.

That being said, no one on here can give you prices. So I'm gonna teach you how to fish.

Determine all your costs, and I mean all of them, including the beer you buy for the company fridge. Figure out what you want to purchase in the coming year (tools, truck,mail order bride. Decide how much salary you want to make. Decide how much profit you want to make. Add them all up and divide by your available man hours. If you are a solo op, figure 1200 man hours. If you are a two man shop, figure 2500 hours. 3+, figure 1500 hours per man, and 800 for yourself.

this gives you your billable hour labor rate.

Now determine the task you want to price. Take the time required to peform the task, and multiply by your billable hour rate. Add your material with a markup. This gives you your flat rate task price.

The formula is simple. Following it is hard. But you are currently asking guys who followed the formula to give you the answers. I just gave you the most help you'll ever receive. Good luck.

Mach

Would it be better to just use a labor unit for this? When I was doing side work I would just quote a price using labor units. Small items I would even give them a ballpark price (Sense it was not worth me to run out and look at it). This seemed to work well.

This can work backwards pretty easy, I worked for $20/hr on a small bid.

caveman

I recommend looking into the software in the links below.
You can create and print flat rate books using this software plus it does a whole lot more.
http://www.intacinternational.com/El...g_Software.htm

http://www.intacinternational.com/features.htm

sparkyboys

this is what i use:

http://electricalestimatingsoftware.com/

brian john

I use flat rate pricing for testing in a 99% commercial market all the time.
Makes life easy.

__________________
Brian John
Leesburg, VA

Magnettica

$20 an hour is good. You should have very little problems getting $85 an hour when you're licensed and insured. I don't care that u do side jobs but charge more or you may live to regret it later.

Oldman offered real good advice on coming up with an hourly rate/ flat rate.