Excavation pricing, straight answers
How do I price an excavation job?
Add up your true direct costs — labor including burden, materials with markup, and job extras like equipment or disposal. Add a share of overhead and a contingency for surprises. That's your break-even, the floor you never quote below. Then apply your profit margin: price = break-even ÷ (1 − margin). This calculator runs exactly that math as you type, so the price you quote protects your margin instead of guessing.
What is labor burden and why does it matter?
Burden is everything an hour of labor costs beyond the paycheck: payroll taxes (typically 8–10% of wages), workers' compensation (a few percent for low-risk trades, well over 15% for high-risk ones like roofing or concrete), liability insurance, and paid time off. All-in burden commonly lands between 15% and 40% on top of base pay — and forgetting it is one of the most common ways a profitable-looking job loses money. If you're solo and paying yourself, you can leave it at 0%.
Should I add a contingency?
On jobs with unknowns — hidden damage, access surprises, weather — many pros add 5–10% of job costs as contingency. It protects you when something goes sideways, and if nothing does, it's simply margin. The calculator folds it into your price the same way it folds in overhead, so the customer just sees one clean number.
What's the difference between markup and margin?
Markup is a percentage added on top of your cost; margin is your share of the final price. Adding 100% on top — charging double your costs — is the same thing as a 50% margin. Quoting a markup when you mean a margin is one of the most common ways contractors underprice a job, so this calculator keeps it simple: you enter what you add on top — no cap — and it always shows what share of the final price that leaves you.
What hourly rate should I charge for excavation work?
Work backward from your own numbers instead of copying competitors: add up what you want to earn in a year plus every cost of being in business, then divide by your realistic billable hours — most excavation & site work operators bill far fewer hours than they work. That result is your floor. Local demand, licensing, and skill decide how far above it you can go.
How much should I mark up materials?
Somewhere between 15% and 50% is common practice across the trades, and it isn't padding: the markup pays for sourcing time, supply runs, returns, warranty callbacks, and the money you float between buying materials and getting paid. If the customer supplies materials, price the labor accordingly — you still carry the workmanship risk.
What counts as overhead?
Everything that costs money whether or not you're on a job: the truck and fuel, insurance and bonding, tools and their replacement, phone and software, advertising, licenses, and unpaid time like quoting and driving. No single job pays for those — the overhead percentage spreads them across every job you price.
Can I turn the price into an estimate?
Yes — one tap. “Turn into an estimate” opens the free excavation invoice generator with your numbers as line items. Overhead and profit are folded proportionally into the rates, so the customer sees a clean, itemized estimate that totals your price — never your margin. Your first 3 printed documents are free.
Is this calculator free? Where do my numbers go?
Free and unlimited, no account needed. The math runs in your browser and your rates save only on your own device — we never see your numbers. A free account is only needed later, when you print an estimate or invoice.