How to Bake Your Overheads Into Every Epoxy Quote
Insurance, software, licensing, and bookkeeping run whether you are working or not. Spread them across your days, jobs, and square footage so every quote actually covers them.
Last updated October 29, 2026
Add up everything you pay whether or not you work (insurance, software, phone, bookkeeping, licensing), then divide that annual total across your working days, jobs, or square footage covered. The Fixed Cost Spreader does the math for all three at once, so you can add the right number (per day, per job, or per square foot) straight into your pricing.
How to read the inputs
Business Volume
- Working days/week × weeks worked/year sets your working days per year; jobs/year × typical area/job sets your annual area covered, and both feed every denominator at once
Cost Rows & Frequency
- Six starter-pack rows ship blank on purpose. Type your real premiums and bills, then pick each row’s actual billing frequency (weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually)
The Three Spreads
- Every row, and the total, are each divided three ways (per working day, per job, and per ft² or m²), so use whichever one matches how you actually price a job
Worked example
Take the calculator’s own starter-pack defaults for business volume: 5 working days/week, 48 weeks/year (240 working days) and 60 jobs/year. Then set Typical Area Per Job to your own average, here 500 ft² (about a two-car garage), which works out to 30,000 ft² of annual coverage. Fill in six real bills: Public/General Liability Insurance $1,800/year, Workers Compensation $2,400/year, Software Subscriptions $150/month, Phone & Internet $120/month, Bookkeeping/Accountant $200/month, and Trade License & Training $600/year. The total comes to $10,440 a year in fixed overhead. Spread across the year that is $43.50 per working day, $174.00 per job, and $0.348 per ft². Three different numbers, and three different ways to bake the same $10,440 into a quote depending on how you price.
See your own overhead spread
Start from the six starter-pack cost categories, or add your own. Set your business volume once and every row updates all three ways at the same time.
Full tool lets you set a billing frequency per cost row, and add unlimited custom rows.
Open the live calculator →Common mistakes
- Quoting only material and labor and never adding a line for fixed overhead, which means working for free on the overhead portion of every job
- Leaving Typical Area Per Job at its default instead of your own average job size. It is a denominator, so a default larger than your real jobs understates the $/ft² figure and a smaller one inflates it
- Underestimating total overhead because it is spread out and irregular: annual insurance premiums, quarterly bookkeeping fees, and one-off license renewals are each individually easy to forget when pricing a job
- Not re-running the spreader after a slow season or fewer working weeks, which leaves the same fixed costs divided across fewer working days, so the true per-day burden rises even though nothing in the cost rows changed
- Double-counting a cost that already scales with mileage or ad spend inside this flat spreader instead of using the dedicated Vehicle Operating Cost or Marketing Cost Per Day calculators
Once you know your true per-day, per-job, and per-ft² overhead numbers, treat them as a floor under every quote, not a suggestion. Add them on top of material and labor, before profit. Once overhead is covered, the next layer on top is profit. See how to price a job for a real profit margin.
Frequently Asked Questions
What counts as a fixed cost here, and what does not?
A fixed cost is something you pay whether or not you work that week: insurance, software subscriptions, phone and internet, bookkeeping, and license or training renewals are the calculator’s starter-pack examples. Costs that scale with mileage or ad spend, like vehicle fuel or marketing, do not belong here. The calculator’s own disclaimer points you to the dedicated Vehicle Operating Cost and Marketing Cost Per Day calculators instead, so you never double-count them.
Why does the calculator show four different denominators instead of one number?
Because contractors price jobs differently. A day-rate crew needs the per-day figure, a flat-bid contractor needs the per-job figure, and anyone bidding by the square foot needs the per-area figure. Using whichever one matches how you actually quote is what keeps overhead from being double-recovered or missed entirely. The annual total is there for reference, but it is the per-day, per-job, or per-area number that actually goes into a quote.
Should I leave the Typical Area Per Job field at its default?
Only if it matches your work. It opens at 860 ft² (80 m² in metric), which is a starting point rather than your number. Annual area is jobs per year multiplied by this figure, so a default larger than your real jobs understates the per-ft² figure and a smaller one overstates it. Set it to your own average job size before trusting the $/ft² output.
How often should I recalculate this?
Any time your business volume changes: a slow season, a stretch of holidays, an injury that cuts your working weeks, or simply landing more or fewer jobs than usual. The same annual fixed costs get divided across fewer or more working days and jobs, so the true per-day or per-job burden moves even though nothing in your cost rows changed. It is also worth a refresh whenever you add or drop a recurring cost, like a new software subscription or an insurance renewal at a different premium.