Flat Rate Price Builder

1. Select the repair type. Choose from the pre-built task library. Parts cost and labor hours auto-fill based on industry averages. Pick "Custom" to enter your own values from scratch.

2. Adjust parts cost and markup. Override the default parts cost with your actual supplier pricing. Small commodity parts like wax rings and flappers typically carry 200% markup. Fixtures like faucets and disposals use 100-150%.

3. Set your labor rate and hours. Your billable rate should cover plumber wages, overhead, truck costs, and profit. Adjust labor hours based on your team's average completion time for this repair.

4. Review your flat rate against the national average. The comparison bar shows where your price falls relative to the national range. If you are more than 20% below the low end, you are likely leaving money on the table.

Hourly billing penalizes your best plumbers. A journeyman who replaces a faucet in 45 minutes earns your company half the revenue of a slower apprentice who takes 90 minutes. Flat rate pricing flips that equation. Your price reflects the value of the repair, not the speed of the plumber.

Customers prefer flat rate because it eliminates uncertainty. When a homeowner hears "it'll be $95 an hour plus parts," their anxiety spikes. Every minute the plumber spends on the phone or walking to the truck feels like money burning. A flat rate quote of $325 to replace the faucet removes that stress entirely. Higher close rates follow directly.

Flat rate also makes your business predictable. You know exactly what revenue each service call will generate before the plumber leaves the shop. That makes dispatching, payroll forecasting, and profit tracking dramatically simpler. Most plumbing companies that switch from hourly to flat rate see revenue increase 15-30% within the first year with no additional marketing spend.

Building your price book from scratch. You are starting a new plumbing company or transitioning from time-and-material to flat rate. Use this tool to price out every common repair, compare to national averages, and build a complete price book your plumbers can use in the field.

Quarterly price updates. Parts costs change with supply chain shifts. Run your top 10 repairs through the builder each quarter with updated supplier pricing to make sure your flat rates still hit your profit margin targets.

Training new plumbers on pricing. Show a new hire exactly how the flat rate breaks down: parts revenue, labor revenue, cost, and profit. When plumbers understand the math, they present prices with more confidence and close more jobs.