# Build a flat-rate price book for my service trade business

Flat-rate task prices built from real labor, material, and overhead costs, so every tech quotes the same profitable price.

- Topic: Finance & Accounting
- Framework: Few-Shot
- Level: Advanced
- Tags: Finance, Fill-in Template
- Source: https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/prompts/build-a-flat-rate-price-book-for-my-service-trade-business

## Prompt

```text
Help me build a flat-rate price book for my trade service business.

**Trade:** [PLUMBING / ELECTRICAL / HVAC / HANDYMAN]
**Common tasks:** [e.g. "replace toilet flapper", "install GFCI receptacle", "replace 50-gal water heater" - list 10-40]
**Typical time per task:** [HOURS, INCLUDING SETUP AND CLEANUP - or "estimate and mark"]
**Typical material cost per task:** [COSTS]
**Annual overhead:** [RENT, TRUCKS, INSURANCE, SOFTWARE, OFFICE STAFF, MARKETING]
**Billable hours per tech per year:** [e.g. "1,100 of 2,000 paid hours"]
**Tech pay and burden:** [WAGE, PAYROLL TAXES, BENEFITS, WORKERS' COMP]
**Target net profit:** [e.g. 15%]
**Current service call fee and warranty policy:** [DETAILS]

Steps:
1. Calculate my break-even cost per billable hour (labor + burden + overhead), showing the math.
2. Calculate the hourly selling rate that hits my target net profit.
3. Set material markup tiers (e.g. higher markup on low-cost parts).
4. Price each task: (hours x selling rate) + marked-up material, rounded to a clean number. Show a column for the margin.
5. Suggest good/better/best add-ons where natural (e.g. shut-off valve upgrade with a faucet install).
6. Flag tasks where my times or costs look unrealistic or where a fixed price is risky (unknown conditions); recommend diagnostic or T&M pricing for those.

Return: the cost and rate calculation, a price book table (Task, Hours, Material, Price, Margin %, Notes), a list of tasks to price as T&M, and rules for techs on when to deviate from the book.

Never invent costs; mark guesses as [ESTIMATE - CONFIRM]. Check pricing and disclosure rules for my state with my accountant.
```

## What to fill in

- PLUMBING / ELECTRICAL / HVAC / HANDYMAN
- HOURS, INCLUDING SETUP AND CLEANUP - or "estimate and mark"
- COSTS
- RENT, TRUCKS, INSURANCE, SOFTWARE, OFFICE STAFF, MARKETING
- e.g. "1,100 of 2,000 paid hours"
- WAGE, PAYROLL TAXES, BENEFITS, WORKERS' COMP
- e.g. 15%
- DETAILS
- ESTIMATE - CONFIRM

Free to copy and use. From ThinkWithPrompt (https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/), a library of 2,663 curated AI prompts.