Free job return calculator for Australian sole tradies. No signup, nothing saved.
Enter the job price and your hours to see what the job really paid you.
An estimate based on what you entered. A guide only, not tax or financial advice. Figures rounded to the nearest dollar.
Try the Smoko Challenge: which job returned the most per hour?
Take what you charged, ex GST. Take off your materials and other job costs, ex GST. Divide what's left by every hour the job took.
If you're registered for GST, the GST on your price goes to the ATO and you claim back the GST on your costs, so the calculator takes both out. If you're not registered, it uses what you actually charged and paid.
"Profit on the job" here is before income tax and before you pay yourself. It's what the job left you to cover your wage, super, insurance, vehicle and everything else.
Joel Walters, the Cairns painter who built Trackexa, ran his own jobs through this same sum. Trackexa showed him a 4-bedroom interior repaint was returning around $65 an hour after paint and materials, while his other work was around $100 an hour.
Both felt like good jobs while he was doing them. Only the after-job number showed the gap, and that changed how he priced those jobs.
On-site time is the easy part. These are the hours that quietly drag your rate down:
If the job needed it, it belongs in the hours.
Compare it with your own target rate, not someone else's. Your hourly profit has to cover your wage, super, tax, insurance, vehicle, tools and the quiet weeks. Work out what you need across a year, divide by the hours you can realistically work, and put that in the target box above.
Put paint and sundries (tape, filler, rollers, drop sheets) in materials. Count prep honestly, because patching and sanding are where repaints blow out. Second coats and cutting in go in on-site hours, and a return visit for touch-ups goes in too.
Add cable, fittings and any parts you bought for the job. Count the wholesaler run and the time writing up the certificate.
Include fittings, fixtures and tip fees. Count the trips back for parts and the time waiting on other trades.
Include adhesive, grout, waterproofing and trims. Count curing waits that force an extra trip, plus the time sealing.
Take the job price ex GST, subtract materials and other job costs ex GST, then divide what's left by every hour the job took. That means on-site time plus travel, quoting, buying materials and admin. The answer is your real hourly rate, the after-job number. It is often lower than the rate you had in your head when you quoted.
Yes. If the job needed it, it counts. Driving to site, the site visit, writing the quote, picking up materials, invoicing and chasing payment are all hours you gave that job. Leaving them out makes the job look better than it was, and it hides which jobs are quietly eating your week.
Work in ex GST if you're registered. The GST on your price belongs to the ATO, and you claim back the GST on your costs, so neither is your money. This calculator splits it out for you. If you're not registered for GST, use the amounts you actually charged and paid.
Track paint and sundries, then count every hour, including prep, second coats, travel and touch-up visits. Divide what's left by those hours. Joel, who built Trackexa, found a 4-bedroom interior repaint was returning around $65 an hour after paint and materials, while his other work was around $100 an hour. That changed how he priced those jobs.
Start from your own target, not someone else's. Your hourly profit has to cover your own wage, super, tax, insurance, your vehicle, tools and the quiet weeks with no work. Work out what you need over a year, divide by the hours you can realistically work, and compare every finished job against that number.
Big jobs often carry more hidden hours: extra prep, waiting on other trades, variations, more trips for materials and more admin. The invoice looks great, but once you divide by every hour it can come out lower than a quick, tidy job. That's why the per-hour number matters more than the size of the invoice.
No. The calculator runs entirely in your browser. Your numbers aren't saved, sent, logged or attached to analytics, and nothing you type is stored on your device. Close or refresh the page and they're gone. You don't need an account or an email address to use it.