Welcome to the first issue of Stack Earns. No long introduction — you're busy. Here's what we're covering this week: the single most common financial mistake in trades businesses, and the straightforward fix that most owners never bother to do.
The Pricing Problem Nobody Talks About
Most trades business owners price jobs based on gut feel and what the competition is charging. It feels reasonable. It keeps you busy. And it is slowly bleeding your business dry.
Here is the problem: when you price a job, you probably think about materials, your hourly labour rate, and maybe a rough profit margin on top. What most owners miss is labour burden — the true cost of an employee beyond their hourly wage.
When you pay a technician $30/hour, your actual cost is closer to $42–48/hour once you factor in payroll taxes (employer's share of FICA is 7.65%), workers' compensation insurance, general liability insurance, vehicle costs, tools, uniforms, and paid time off. That gap — between the wage you pay and the true cost of that employee being on a job — is where most trades businesses quietly lose money.
The real-world impact: On a $5,000 job that takes two technicians two days, underestimating labour burden by $15/hour per person adds up to $480 in unaccounted cost. Do ten jobs like that a month and you have just given away $4,800 — money that should have been profit.
The Fix: A Simple Loaded Labour Rate Calculation
Your loaded labour rate is the number you should be using when you price every job. Here is how to calculate it:
Start with the employee's hourly wage. Add payroll taxes (multiply the wage by 1.0765 to account for the employer's FICA contribution). Add a proportional share of their annual workers' comp premium, divided by the hours they work per year. Add vehicle costs if they drive a company vehicle, divided by annual hours. Add a proportional share of their tool budget and uniform allowance.
The result is typically 40–60% higher than the raw wage. A $30/hour technician usually has a loaded rate of $44–50/hour. That is the number that goes into your job costing — not $30.
A practical shortcut: If you do not want to calculate this precisely right now, use a multiplier of 1.5 on your direct labour wage as a conservative estimate. It is not perfect, but it is significantly better than using the raw wage.
This Week's Tool Pick
Jobber — if you are still scheduling jobs in a spreadsheet or a whiteboard, Jobber is the upgrade most trades businesses should make first. It handles quoting, scheduling, invoicing, and client communication in one place, and it integrates with QuickBooks. Plans start at around $49/month.
One More Thing
Next week we are covering the five software tools every trades business owner should know about in 2026 — including which ones are worth paying for and which ones you can skip. If you have a tool you love or hate, hit reply and let me know.
Until Tuesday,
Stack Earns