Pricing the work
How to build a price book for a small trades business
Build a price book from repeatable service lines, their cost assumptions and a review date.
The short answer
Build a price book from repeatable service lines, their cost assumptions and a review date.
Build a price book from repeatable service lines, their cost assumptions and a review date. A useful line tells you what is included and how the price was formed. It is not a list of numbers copied from another tradesperson’s quote.
Explore the wider pricing and quoting guides for the steps around this decision.
Start with work you price repeatedly
| Field | Suggested entry |
|---|---|
| Service and unit | Mowing visit, hour, metre or item |
| Included scope | Preparation, main work and cleanup |
| Labour assumption | Crew size and estimated person-hours |
| Material input | Quantity, unit cost and supplier-check date |
| Travel or equipment | Explicit allowance and basis |
| Price rule | Cost plus stated markup, or a target margin calculation |
| Exclusions | Work requiring a separate survey or quotation |
| Review date | When assumptions must be checked again |
Use different lines for materially different work. A first clearance and a regular maintenance visit may consume different labour, disposal and equipment time even at the same site.
An illustrative service line
Suppose a line contains EUR 60 of direct costs and an allocated EUR 15 allowance, giving a modelled EUR 75 cost. A 25% markup produces EUR 93.75 before tax treatment. A 25% margin requires EUR 100: 75 divided by 0.75. These are teaching inputs, not a recommended market price.
Keep the calculation method with the line so another person does not mistake markup for margin. Decide with your accountant how recoverable VAT and other costs are treated in the model.
Maintain the assumptions
Update supplier costs and labour allowances when the underlying inputs change. Record the quote version sent to the customer rather than silently rewriting an already agreed price when the price book changes.
JobDiary includes a price book and quote templates within the wider job record. Test how the current setup carries a line into a quote and preserves the accepted scope. A price book helps consistency, but a site with different access, quantities or disposal still needs judgement and clear exclusions.
Connect this to the next step
Continue with Lawn-care job costing for business owners: labour, travel and margin. If the next issue is elsewhere in the workflow, use Quoted cost vs actual cost: a weekly job review.
See JobDiary quoting and invoicing 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
Source scope reviewed on 1 October 2026. Worked examples are illustrative; they are not market averages or customer results.
When it is in JobDiary.
The method above is the point. This is what it looks like when the diary is doing it for you.
See how it works| Time | Job | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 08:30 | 7 The GreenMow, edge, hedge | Done |
| 09:15 | 23 Seabury DriveMow, weed | Done |
| 10:00 | 9 Brookfield LawnMow, feed | In progress |
| 11:05 | 12 Castle ParkMow, hedge rear | Next |
| 12:00 | 31 Church RoadMow | Scheduled |
| 13:15 | 18 The RiseMow, edge, bins out | Scheduled |
Product screens use demonstration data.
What this guide is based on
JobDiary was developed around a real Co. Louth trades operation with2 vans and live business records since 2025. This guide provides an editorial framework; worked examples are illustrative. Product screenshots use demonstration data.
