A target monthly price is not a prediction of what customers will accept. It is an internal business number: the price your own cost assumptions require to leave the operating margin you selected.
Enter your own labor, travel, supplies and overhead. The free checker does the margin math automatically.
Calculate target price →Step 1: estimate the monthly cost to serve the account
Combine the recurring costs attributable to the stop.
Labor can include both service and travel time. Travel cost can separately represent mileage, fuel or another distance-based assumption. Supplies can represent chemicals and consumables. Overhead can capture a reasonable share of the costs that exist even when nobody is standing beside the pool.
Step 2: convert cost into a target selling price
If monthly cost is 140 and the selected target margin is 30%, the target price is 200. At that price, the modeled profit is 60, which is 30% of 200.
Do not confuse margin with markup
Adding 30% directly to 140 produces 182. That is a 30% markup on cost, but the resulting margin on the selling price is only about 23.1%. Dividing by one minus the target margin is what solves for a true 30% margin.
Step 3: compare the target with the current fee
A positive gap means the modeled current fee is below the price required for that target margin. A negative gap means the current fee is above the calculated threshold.
Use target price as an internal decision aid
The calculation helps with new quotes, repricing reviews and route audits. It does not tell you what competitors charge or what a particular customer will accept. Those questions come after you understand your own economics.
The paid workbook calculates target monthly price and price gap for recurring accounts automatically.
See the full workbook →