Free tool

What are you really earning per hour?

A $250 job in four hours looks like $62.50 an hour. Add the drive, the quoting, the texting, the supplies and the card fee, and it usually isn't. Put your numbers in and see the real figure.

The job

What you charge

Hours on the vehicle

What you don't bill for

Round-trip drive time

min

Door to door, both ways, including the wait if there is one.

Admin per job

min

Quoting, texting back and forth, scheduling, invoicing, chasing payment.

Supplies and consumables

Chemicals, pads, towels, water, fuel — what this specific job burned through.

Paid by card — subtracts 2.99% + $0.30 in processing, the rate DetailerMade charges. Untick if this one was cash.

Your real hourly rate

$42.73/hr

After supplies, processing and 1.1 hr of unbilled time.

What it looks like

$62.50/hr

Price divided by hours on the vehicle — the number most detailers quote themselves.

The gap

$19.77/hr

You're earning 32% less per hour than you think.

Where the money goes

Job price: $250.00
Supplies: −$25.00
Card processing: −$7.77
You keep: $217.23
Total hours it actually cost you: 5.1 hr

How this is worked out

What you keep: Job price − supplies − card processing (2.99% + $0.30 if paid by card).
Hours it really cost: Hours on the vehicle + round-trip drive time + admin time.
True hourly rate: What you keep ÷ hours it really cost.
The gap: The difference between that and the flattering version — job price ÷ hours on the vehicle.

This works on a single job and doesn't include fixed monthly costs like insurance, software or vehicle payments — those come out of what's left. For the whole-business picture, use the profit calculator. Nothing you type is sent anywhere; it's all worked out in your browser.

Stop estimating this job by job

DetailerMade tracks revenue, expenses and mileage as you work, so your real numbers are on a dashboard instead of in a calculator you had to go looking for.

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