Admin, travel, training, and unpaid gaps reduce billable hours. Dividing by all paid hours usually understates the necessary charge.
Try this with your own numbersFormula and worked example
Hourly rate = (compensation + overhead + profit) / billable hours
| Input | Example |
|---|---|
| Annual owner compensation target | 50,000 |
| Annual fixed overhead | 30,000 |
| Annual profit target | 20,000 |
| Annual billable hours | 1,200 |
| Calculated result | 83.3333 per billable hour |
Choose reliable inputs
Separate parts, technician time and bay availability for each repair order. For this auto detailing calculation, use repair orders, parts invoices and technician time logs and a consistent definition of one detail package.
- Consumables: include the portion belonging to this detail package or reporting period, and record where the value came from.
- Technician hours: include the portion belonging to this detail package or reporting period, and record where the value came from.
- Bay occupancy: include the portion belonging to this detail package or reporting period, and record where the value came from.
Use the same currency for every money input. Do not mix weekly costs with monthly revenue, or count the same expense in both an itemised cost and allocated overhead.
Should I use paid hours or billable hours?
Admin, travel, training, and unpaid gaps reduce billable hours. Dividing by all paid hours usually understates the necessary charge.
Compensation is a business planning input; this is not a payroll or tax calculation.
What if this input changes?
If annual owner compensation target rises by 10%, this example changes by 4.1667 per billable hour. This shows the effect of one change; it does not predict what will happen.
Open the calculator, save your baseline, then change the input supported by the least reliable estimate in your records. Compare both scenarios before committing to a price or capacity promise.