Quoting Cost Calculator
Work out the true cost of acquiring each won job — hours per quote × your rate, divided by your win rate. Bake the figure into every quote you actually win.
The True Cost of Acquiring Each Won Job
Every quote you write takes time — site visits, write-ups, follow-ups. Most of those hours never get billed because not every quote wins. This calculator works out the real cost of acquiring each won job by multiplying your hours per quote by your hourly rate and dividing by your win rate. The result is the dollar figure to bake into every quote you DO win, so the unbilled hours are covered.
Your Business Volume
How much work you do in a year — drives the alternative output views (per year / day / area).
Your Quoting Numbers
Three inputs, one formula: (Hours × Hourly rate) ÷ Win rate = Cost per won job. Hours per quote includes everything from first contact to signed proposal.
- Quick site visit, decent close rate → Hours
2· Rate60· Win rate25%= $480 / won job - Repeat customers, short quotes, high win rate → Hours
1· Rate50· Win rate50%= $100 / won job - Detailed estimator, long quotes, selective wins → Hours
4· Rate80· Win rate40%= $800 / won job
Enter your hours per quote above to see the cost per won job.
Improving your win rate is the highest-leverage move here — going from 25% to 40% drops your cost per won job by ~38%. Tighter qualification, sharper quotes, and faster follow-ups pay for themselves quickly. Pair with the Marketing ROI Calculator for the full picture of customer acquisition cost.
How the Quoting Cost Calculator Works
- Set your business volume — working days per week, weeks worked per year, jobs per year, and typical area per job. These drive the per-year/day/area outputs.
- Enter your average hours per quote — include the site visit, the write-up, the follow-up calls, and any back-and-forth. Be honest; most contractors underestimate.
- Enter your hourly rate — typically your billable rate. This is what your time is worth, not your wage.
- Enter your win rate (%) — the percentage of quotes that turn into paying jobs. If you quote 4 jobs to land 1, that's 25%.
- Read the headline: Cost per Won Job. That's the figure to bake into your "Quoting & Sales Time" overhead line on the Business Profile.
Examples
Frequently Asked Questions
What hourly rate should I use?
Your billable rate is the right answer for most contractors — what you'd charge a customer per hour. If you do the quoting yourself, that's the opportunity cost of your time. If a junior staffer does it, you can use their pay rate × ~1.5 to cover their overhead. The point is to value the time honestly so your pricing covers it.
How do I work out my win rate?
Count your quotes vs jobs over the last 6–12 months. If you quoted 40 jobs and won 12, your win rate is 30%. If you don't track it, start now — it's one of the most important numbers in your business. Most contractors land somewhere between 20% (cold leads, premium pricing) and 60% (warm referrals, competitive pricing).
What hours count as "quoting time"?
Everything from first contact to signed quote: phone calls, site visits, driving to and from, measuring, taking photos, writing the proposal, sending follow-ups, answering questions, and revisions. Most contractors think a quote takes 30 minutes when it really takes 2–3 hours all up. Track honestly for a couple of weeks if you're unsure.
Why divide by win rate instead of just multiplying?
Because the hours spent on quotes you LOSE still cost you. If you spend 2 hours on every quote at $60/hr ($120/quote) but only win 25% of them, you actually spend $120 × 4 = $480 in quoting time for every 1 job you win. Dividing by win rate (0.25) gives the same answer: $120 / 0.25 = $480. The math is identical; the formula just bakes in the failures.
My win rate is really high (say 80%) — do I still need this?
Yes, but the number is smaller. At 80% win rate, you quote 1.25 jobs to win 1. So a 2-hr quote at $60/hr = $120, and $120 × 1.25 = $150/won job. Smaller than the $480 example above, but still a real cost that shouldn't be ignored.
Does this replace charging for quotes?
No — it's the alternative for contractors who don't charge separately for quotes. If you DO charge for quotes (paid estimates, design fees), reduce or skip this overhead because customers are funding the quoting time directly. If quotes are free, this is how you recover the cost from the jobs you win.
Should I show this on the quote as a line item?
No — bake it into your overall pricing or hourly rate. Customers don't want to see "Cost of failed quotes: $480" on their estimate. It belongs hidden in your overhead allocation, alongside insurance, software, and other fixed costs.
Important Notes
- Cost per won job = (Hours per quote × Hourly rate) ÷ Win rate. Equivalent to Hours × Rate × (Quotes per win).
- Per-year = per-won-job × jobs/year. Per-day = per-year ÷ working days. Per-area = per-year ÷ annual area covered.
- Win rate is a percentage between 0 and 100; the calculator clamps at 1% minimum to prevent division-by-zero.
- Counterintuitive but important: improving your win rate (say from 25% to 40%) drops this cost dramatically — better lead qualification, sharper quotes, and faster follow-ups pay for themselves quickly.
- Pair with the Marketing ROI Calculator to understand the full cost of getting and converting leads.