Your report
Got it.
Here's how your numbers compare β and what to do about them.
Your gross margin
β%
Your net margin
β%
Gross margins by trade
Ranges compiled from 2026 industry benchmarking (Projul, build-folio, culta.ai). These are typical ranges for well-run companies, not targets.
The number most contractors guess at
Gross margin has to cover all your overhead β office, insurance, trucks, software, estimating time, and what you pay yourself to run the business instead of working in it. Across construction that runs 25β40% of revenue. Smaller companies usually sit higher, because there's less revenue to spread it across.
Here's the same job at different overhead rates:
| Overhead applied | Net profit | Net margin |
|---|
Cost plus 20% is not 20% profit
Markup is what you add on top of costs. Margin is what you keep as a share of the price. They're different numbers, and the gap widens as jobs get bigger.
| To keep this margin | Mark up by |
|---|---|
| 10% | 11.1% |
| 15% | 17.6% |
| 20% | 25.0% |
| 25% | 33.3% |
| 30% | 42.9% |
On $500,000 of work a year, quoting 20% markup while believing you're earning 20% margin costs roughly $16,500 β every year, quietly.
Two numbers worth working out this week
Your real overhead rate. Add up everything that isn't a job cost β rent, insurance, trucks, fuel for non-billable driving, software, phones, bookkeeping, the hours you spend estimating jobs you don't win, and what you pay yourself to run the business. Divide by last year's revenue. Twenty minutes with your P&L.
Your real labor burden. Payroll tax, workers' comp, and benefits on top of base wages. Most trades land between 25% and 40%, and it varies a lot by risk class. If your estimates use a guess, every bid you send is wrong before it leaves your desk.
Plug both into the calculator and run your last three jobs. That's usually where the surprise is.
Have us do it with you βKeep this page β or print it for your estimating folder.
