Most project-based businesses under-recover overhead by $30–$50/hr. Calculate your true overhead rate per billable hour — and stop leaking margin on every job.

You finished a job last quarter that should have come in at 11% margin.

You managed it well. Scope was clean. Crew executed.

The job closed at 2.8%.

You spent two weeks looking for the mistake. Bad materials? Change order you missed? Subcontractor overrun?

It wasn’t any of those things.

It was your overhead rate — the number you haven’t actually calculated since you set it three years ago. A flat 15% of base wage. Felt reasonable. Still does. For most project-based businesses, that flat percentage is the single biggest error in their construction overhead rate calculation — and it compounds on every job.

But here’s what 15% of base wage doesn’t cover: every hour your crew is in the field, they’re consuming your office, your admin, your insurance, your vehicles, your software, and your equipment. Those costs don’t care how tight the job was bid. They run every month, billed or not.

If that cost isn’t in your rate, it’s coming out of your margin. Every hour. Every job. Right now.

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