PRESSURE WASHING BUSINESS COSTS
Know what the job
actually costs.
Strong pricing starts by separating direct job costs from the monthly costs of keeping the business running.
Calculate a job ↗Labour
Count crew-hours for on-site work, setup, pack-down and travel where travel time is paid. Owner time still has an economic cost even when no formal wage is drawn.
Chemicals and treatments
Include detergents, biocides and specialist products from actual expected usage. Different surfaces and contamination levels can change both treatment choice and dwell time.
Water, power and fuel
Water charges, generator fuel and other consumable utilities belong in job-level economics where they vary with the work.
Equipment wear and maintenance
Pumps, hoses, reels, nozzles, surface cleaners, seals and engines wear with use. Build servicing and replacement into the jobs creating that wear.
Vehicle and travel
Vehicle cost per kilometre or mile is separate from paid travel time. Long-distance work can therefore reduce margin even when the cleaning itself is efficient.
Fixed overhead
Typical overhead can include insurance, storage, software, accounting, phone, marketing, training and administration. Allocate it across realistic paid jobs rather than maximum diary capacity.
Payment fees and leakage
Card processors, booking tools, refunds, rework and overruns can reduce retained profit. Include predictable leakage explicitly rather than assuming headline revenue becomes profit.
Tax
Collected VAT, GST, HST or sales tax is not operating profit. Apply tax according to actual obligations after determining the pre-tax business price.
Use the full cost base
The free calculator combines these categories into one job model so the final price can be checked against a target margin and minimum charge.
Open the free calculator ↗