The numbers · 5 min · 15 September 2026
Gross margin on trade quotes: how to keep your profit every time
You can win the job and still lose money on it. That happens when the material prices in the quote are guesses or market figures instead of what you actually pay at your wholesaler. Here is how to protect your margin on every single quote.
A tradesperson rarely loses margin on the craft. It disappears in the quote: materials set to a round number, the driving forgotten, the waste not counted. The job is won - but the gross margin is thinner than you think, and you only find out once the invoice is paid.
What gross margin is - briefly
Gross margin is what is left when the cost price is subtracted from the sales price. The cost price is your materials plus your hours plus what the job actually costs you to carry out. Gross margin can be shown in kroner and as a percentage - and it is the percentage that decides whether the company makes money when the year is totted up.
What eats the margin
- Materials set to a market figure or last year's price instead of your current net price
- Driving and transport that never make it onto a line
- Waste and spillage on materials that end up as your bill
- Preparation, cleanup and disposal that take hours nobody counted
- Administrative time to write and follow up on the quote itself
Each of them is small. Added together they are the difference between a quote that looks fine and one that actually turns a profit.
Your own net price file is the difference
The most important number is the cost price of the materials - and it is personal. Two companies buy the same item at two different prices, because the discounts were negotiated separately. Calculate with a generic market figure and you are calculating with someone else's price. Calco prices materials from your wholesaler's net price file, meaning what you pay, not an average. Then the cost side is real, and the gross margin becomes something you can trust.
Set your markup - Calco does the maths
Your hourly rate and your markup drive the prices. You decide the margin; Calco applies it to every line and adds up materials, quantities, hours and VAT. If the job grows along the way, you edit with Recalculate - and your margin follows onto the new lines instead of having to be worked out from scratch.
How to protect the margin on your next quote
- Add your wholesaler's net price file, or request it directly in the app, so the cost prices are your own
- Set your real hourly rate and your markup once - they apply to every quote
- Include driving, waste and cleanup as lines, not as something you hope to earn back
- Read the quote through before you send - if every item is there, the margin holds all the way to the invoice
Frequently asked questions
- What is a good gross margin for a tradesperson?
- It depends on the trade, the company's costs and how you work - there is no single right number. Calco prescribes no industry norm; you set your own markup, and Calco calculates consistently against it, so you can see the margin and decide for yourself whether it is high enough.
- Why use my own net price file instead of market prices?
- Because your discount was negotiated separately. Market prices are someone else's average. With your own net price file the cost side is your actual purchasing, and the gross margin becomes accurate.
- Does Calco include driving and VAT?
- Yes. Driving can be included as a line, and VAT is added to the total, so the quote shows both what the customer pays and what you actually earn.
- Does it count as a new quote if I adjust the margin?
- No. You can adjust and recalculate without using a new quote in your subscription.
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