Owner Calculators.
The shop math owners do on napkins, done for you. Type your numbers and the answer updates as you go, with a plain-English read on what it means.
Everything runs in your browser. Nothing you type is saved or sent. The formulas match the Fancy Terms Glossary. Results are estimates for planning, not financial advice.
Labor & techs
Labor rate analysis
Are you collecting the labor rate you post?
Formula Effective labor rate = labor sales ÷ billed hours. Share of posted rate = effective rate ÷ posted rate. Lost = (posted rate − effective rate) × billed hours, times 12 if you entered one month.
Gross profit per labor hour
How much gross profit does each labor hour bring in?
Formula Gross profit = total sales − COGS. GP per billed hour = gross profit ÷ billed hours. GP per clocked hour = gross profit ÷ clocked hours.
Glossary Gross profit per hour
Tech productivity, efficiency & proficiency
Are your techs busy, fast and billing the hours you pay for?
Formula Productivity = clocked ÷ available. Efficiency = billed ÷ clocked. Proficiency = billed ÷ available (= productivity × efficiency). Paid hours not billed = available − billed (zero if billed is higher).
Glossary Technician productivityTechnician efficiencyTechnician proficiencyBilled hoursClocked hours
Bay & tech capacity
How many hours could your bays bill, and what are idle hours costing?
Formula Available hours = techs × hours per tech. Billable capacity = available hours × target proficiency. Unbilled hours = available − billed. Recoverable sales = (capacity − billed) × effective labor rate up to unbilled hours × effective labor rate. Recoverable GP = those sales × labor GP %.
Hiring a tech: payback
How fast does a new tech pay for themselves?
Formula Loaded cost = wage × paid hours × (1 + taxes & benefits). Labor sales = billed hours × ELR. Parts sales = labor sales × parts-to-labor ratio. Added GP = labor sales − loaded cost + parts sales × parts margin. During the ramp, sales grow evenly (month 1 of 3 = 1/3 speed) while pay is full. Payback = first month the running total of added GP covers the up-front cost.
Glossary Fully loaded labor costLabor sales per technicianParts-to-labor ratio
Margin & pricing
Gross profit margin
What do you keep from labor, parts and the whole shop?
Formula Gross profit = sales − COGS. Gross profit margin % = (sales − COGS) ÷ sales × 100, for each line and for the total.
Glossary Gross profitGross profit marginLabor gross profitParts gross profitTire gross profitSublet gross profitCOGSLabor cost percentage
Before-sale cost ticker
Watch each cost eat into the sale, before you quote it.
Formula Margin % = (price − total cost) ÷ price × 100. Price needed = total cost ÷ (1 − target margin).
Glossary Margin
Markup vs. margin & parts pricing
Convert markup to margin, and price a part to a target margin.
Formula Margin = markup ÷ (1 + markup). Markup = margin ÷ (1 − margin). Price = cost ÷ (1 − margin) = cost × (1 + markup) = cost × multiplier. A multiplier of M is a markup of M − 1 and a margin of 1 − 1 ÷ M.
Glossary MarkupMarginMarkup vs. marginParts matrixParts gross profit
Discount impact
How many more cars do you have to fix to make up a discount?
Formula Gross profit lost per discounted RO = RO × discount. Gross profit left on a discounted RO = RO × (margin − discount). Extra discounted ROs needed per discounted RO = GP lost ÷ GP left = discount ÷ (margin − discount). So 1 extra discounted RO covers (margin − discount) ÷ discount discounted ROs. If the extra ROs pay full price instead: extra ROs per discounted RO = discount ÷ margin.
Glossary Discounts and allowancesNet sales
Sales & customers
Cost of a comeback
What does one comeback really cost the shop?
Formula Out of pocket = redo hours × loaded cost + parts + other. Lost labor profit = billable hours lost × (effective labor rate − loaded cost), because the tech is paid either way. Goodwill risk = chance the customer leaves × lifetime gross profit. Total = all three. Sales to cover it = total ÷ gross margin. Per year = cost × comebacks per month × 12.
Glossary Comeback rateWarranty
Close ratio & declined work
How much of the work you present gets approved, and what is a better close worth?
Formula Close ratio % = approved $ ÷ presented $ × 100. Declined work = presented − approved. Extra sales = presented × target − approved. Extra GP per year = extra sales × gross margin × 12.
Glossary Close ratioDeclined work
Sales goal: car count & ARO
How many cars a day does your sales goal take?
Formula Sales ≈ car count × ARO, so car count needed = sales goal ÷ ARO (rounded up); cars per day = that ÷ open days; ARO needed = sales goal ÷ current car count.
Customer lifetime value
What is a good customer worth over the years?
Formula Lifetime sales = ARO × visits per year × years. Lifetime gross profit = lifetime sales × gross margin. Visits to pay back = marketing cost ÷ (ARO × gross margin). GP per $1 = lifetime GP ÷ marketing cost.
Glossary Customer retention rateMarketing cost per new customer
Planning & value
Break-even sales
How much do you have to sell each month to cover your bills?
Formula Break-even sales = fixed expenses ÷ gross profit % (as a decimal). Cars = break-even sales ÷ ARO (rounded up). Per day = ÷ open days.
Shop value at an EBITDA multiple
What could the business be worth at a given multiple?
Formula EBITDA = annual sales × EBITDA margin. Business value ≈ EBITDA × multiple (range: multiple − 1 to multiple + 1). Real estate is a separate asset added on top.
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