How to price handyman jobs is the question a good tradesperson asks after a year of being busy and broke, and how to price jobs as a handyman has one answer: hours per task from your own record, an hourly rate that carries everything the wage does not, materials at cost with a markup, a minimum charge that makes the small visit worth the drive, and the overhead and profit on top. The estimate template on this site works that arithmetic: the material total with waste, the hours at the loaded rate, the overhead percentage and the markup, printed as the lines the customer's proposal carries.
Hours per task from your own record
Keep a note of the hours each kind of task takes for a season: a faucet, a ceiling fan, a door rehang, a patch and paint, a shelf. Those numbers are the company's labor units and they replace every guess. Add the time to shop for parts and the drive, because the customer is not paying for a bare task but for the visit. A task the record has never seen is priced with a margin for the unknown and recorded when it closes.
Load the rate: what the wage does not carry
Divide the year's overhead, insurance, the van, tools, fuel, phone, software and the unpaid hours, by the billable hours actually sold, and the result is what every hour has to carry on top of the wage. A handyman who charges the wage alone works a full year for the privilege. The loaded rate is the number on the estimate; the customer sees a price, not the rate.
Materials, the minimum, the trip charge and the markup
Price materials at cost with a markup and tax them where the state does; set a minimum charge for the visit and a trip charge for the drive on large jobs; then apply the overhead percentage and the markup that leaves the profit. Quote the customer a job price with the list. Pro on this site keeps every estimate against the customer and the property, so the hours worked can be written against the hours quoted and the labor units improve with every job.
Questions people ask about how to price handyman jobs
Should a handyman charge by the hour or by the job?
Build the price from hours internally and quote a job price with the task list; an hourly quote invites the customer to watch the clock instead of judging the result.
How do I set a handyman hourly rate?
Wage plus the year's overhead divided by the billable hours actually sold, so insurance, the van, tools, fuel and unpaid time are carried by every hour on the estimate.
What minimum charge should a handyman have?
Enough that the smallest visit covers the drive, the shopping and the first hour at the loaded rate; the minimum is a line on the estimate, not an apology.