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Quick Flat Rate Calculator

List your materials, enter your hours and hourly rate, and get the price to quote.

1. Materials
2. Labor and markup

Don't know your hourly rate? Find it with the hourly rate calculator →

How to use the flat rate calculator

  1. List your materials. Add each part with the quantity and what you pay your supplier, after any discount.
  2. Enter your hours. Include set-up, clean-up and walking the customer through the work, not only tool time.
  3. Enter your hourly rate. Use your full billing rate, not your wage.
  4. Set your material markup. It starts at 30%. Change it to match your shop.

Click calculate and you'll get a single price to quote, plus the breakdown behind it.

The flat rate formula

Every flat rate price is built from the same two parts:

Flat rate = (hours × hourly rate) + (material cost × (1 + markup))

Then round it to a clean number. A price ending in 0 or 5 looks deliberate. A price like $138.60 looks like you're adding up a bill, and that invites the customer to question every line.

Worked example: replacing a GFCI receptacle

  • Materials: one GFCI receptacle at $22
  • Markup: 30% of $22 = $6.60
  • Labor: 1 hour at $110 = $110
  • Total: $110 + $22 + $6.60 = $138.60, rounded up to $140

Markup vs. margin

These get mixed up all the time, and it costs electricians money. Markup is a percent of what you paid. Margin is a percent of what you sold it for.

A $100 part marked up 30% sells for $130. Your margin on that sale is $30 ÷ $130 = 23%, not 30%. If you want a 30% margin, you need a 43% markup. This calculator uses markup, because that's how most electricians think about parts.

How much should you mark up materials?

Most electrical contractors mark up materials somewhere between 25% and 40%. Many go higher on small, cheap parts like wire nuts, connectors and cover plates, where 30% of a few dollars doesn't pay for the trip to buy them.

Markup isn't extra profit for nothing. It pays for the time spent ordering, picking up and returning parts, the stock on your van, parts that get damaged, and the warranty you stand behind when a part fails.

Flat rate vs. hourly

Flat rate works best for jobs you can scope before you start: panel swaps, adding circuits, installing fixtures, fans, EV chargers and smoke detectors. The customer knows the price up front, and if you're fast, you keep the difference.

Bill by the hour, or charge a diagnostic fee, when you can't see what you're getting into, like troubleshooting or tracing a fault. Once you find the problem, quote the fix at a flat rate. For more on why, read why time and material is killing your electrical business.

Keep reading

Flat rate pricing questions

How do you calculate a flat rate price for an electrical job?

Multiply the hours the job will take by your hourly rate, then add your material cost plus your markup. For example, 1 hour at $110 plus $22 of parts marked up 30% is $138.60, which you'd round to $140.

How much should electricians mark up materials?

Most electrical contractors mark up materials 25% to 40%, and more on small, cheap parts. Markup covers the time spent buying, picking up, storing and returning parts, plus the warranty you give on them.

What's the difference between markup and margin?

Markup is a percent of your cost. Margin is a percent of the selling price. A $100 part marked up 30% sells for $130, but your margin on it is only 23% ($30 ÷ $130).

What hourly rate should I enter?

Enter your full billing rate, not your wage. It needs to cover wages, payroll costs, the van, insurance, unbilled time and profit. If you're not sure what that number is, use the free electrician hourly rate calculator first.

When should I charge hourly instead of flat rate?

Use flat rate for work you can scope before you start, like swapping a panel, adding circuits or installing fixtures. Bill troubleshooting and jobs you can't see into by the hour, or charge a diagnostic fee and then quote the fix at a flat rate.

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