How to calculate profit on a trades job

Calculate a job’s result by subtracting the costs assigned to that job from its revenue on a consistent tax basis. Then state which costs are missing or excluded. A positive partial-cost result is not the same as net profit for the whole business.

Explore the wider job costing and profit guides for the steps around this decision.

A transparent worked example

Job input	Illustrative amount
Revenue on the chosen basis	EUR 1,000
Labour assigned	EUR 400
Materials used	EUR 250
Allocated travel	EUR 50
Result before other unallocated costs/tax	EUR 300

The result is 1,000 minus 400 minus 250 minus 50. If overhead, equipment or other costs remain unallocated, name them. The table contains invented teaching inputs, not observed JobDiary customer results.

Define the inputs

Use actual person-hours and a documented labour-cost rate. Allocate materials consistently, distinguishing what was used from reusable stock. Avoid counting travel or equipment twice under both direct cost and an allowance.

Agree the treatment of VAT and accounting categories with the accountant. Keep invoice revenue, cash received and quoted value separately labelled. An unpaid invoice can contribute to an operating result without creating money collected.

Check completeness before trusting the number

Review missing time entries, unmatched receipts, agreed extras and remaining project work. If a project is unfinished, estimate the cost of completing it before comparing its total price with current costs.

JobDiary supports profit per job and operating reports. Confirm what the actual report includes and what information your team must supply. The system cannot calculate omitted labour or materials accurately simply because a screen is labelled profit. Use the result as an operating signal, with statutory accounts and tax responsibilities handled appropriately.

Connect this to the next step

Continue with Markup vs margin for tradespeople. If the next issue is elsewhere in the workflow, use How to build a price book for a small trades business.

See JobDiary job costing to check how the product supports this work. Use the current product description and a trial to verify the fit for your business.

Sources and scope

• Local Enterprise Office: costing and pricing

Source scope reviewed on 1 October 2026. Worked examples are illustrative; they are not market averages or customer results.