Auto-Detailing Pricing Calculator
Build a per-vehicle detailing quote from your actual labor rate, supply costs, and overhead. Covers vehicle class scaling, mobile vs. shop overhead, and markup vs. margin.
How this is calculated
Each service row is scaled by the vehicle class multiplier:
effectiveHours = baseLaborHours × multiplier,
effectiveSupplyCost = baseSupplyCost × multiplier.
The class multiplier reflects that larger vehicles take more time and product.
Multipliers are editable defaults — adjust to your shop.
laborCost = Σ effectiveHours × detailerRate
suppliesRaw = Σ effectiveSupplyCost
suppliesCost = suppliesRaw × (1 + waste%)
overhead = fixed $ | %labor | %(labor + supplies)
directCost = labor + supplies + overhead
totalCost = directCost × (1 + contingency%)
price (markup) = totalCost × (1 + markup%)
price (margin) = totalCost / (1 − margin%)
Overhead in pctTotal mode uses post-waste supplies as the base,
consistent with the directCost calculation. Tax and licensing are excluded.
The detailer rate belongs in the box already loaded, meaning pay plus payroll taxes, insurance and the hours nobody pays you for. The service business hourly rate calculator builds that figure from a year of costs and billable hours, and what burden adds on top of a wage is worked out line by line on its own page.
Once a package price holds up against your own costs, the same line items carry straight into the auto detailing invoice template, and a season of them is what the auto detailing business plan template asks you to project. Cover while a customer's vehicle is in your hands is a separate question, taken up in auto detailing business insurance.