Cupani tools

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?

Effective labor rate—
Share of posted rate—
Gap per billed hour—
Lost this period—
Lost per year—

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.

Glossary Effective labor ratePosted labor rateLabor sales

Gross profit per labor hour

How much gross profit does each labor hour bring in?

Gross profit—
GP per billed hour—
GP per clocked hour—
Gross profit margin—

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?

Productivity—
Efficiency—
Proficiency—
Paid hours not billed—

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?

Available hours—
Billable capacity at target—
Unbilled paid hours—
Recoverable labor sales per month—
Recoverable labor gross profit per month—

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 %.

Glossary Labor capacityAvailable hoursUnbilled hours

Hiring a tech: payback

How fast does a new tech pay for themselves?

Loaded cost per month—
Labor + parts sales per month—
Gross profit added per month (full speed)—
Payback—

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?

Labor GP—
Parts GP—
Tires, sublet & fees GP—
Total gross profit—
Total gross profit margin—

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.

$
$
$
    Total cost so far—
    Cost eats from each $1—
    Gross profit—
    Margin—
    Price needed for target—
    Change to the quote—

    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.

    Price for target margin—
    Markup that equals that margin—
    Your markup as a margin—
    Price at your markup—
    Multiplier as a margin—
    Price at the multiplier—

    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?

    Extra ROs needed to keep the same gross profit (extra ROs also discounted)—
    Break-even: you need 1 extra discounted RO for every—
    Gross profit given away per discounted RO—
    Gross profit left on a discounted RO—
    Extra discounted ROs needed per discounted RO—
    Extra discounted ROs needed per 10 discounted ROs—
    If the extra ROs pay full price: extra ROs per 10 discounted—

    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?

    Out-of-pocket cost—
    Lost labor profit (bay time you could have sold)—
    Goodwill risk (lost customer value)—
    Total cost of this comeback—
    Extra sales needed to cover it—
    Per year at your comeback count—

    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?

    Close ratio (by dollars)—
    Declined work—
    Extra sales per month at target—
    Extra gross profit per year—

    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?

    Repair orders needed per month—
    Cars per day—
    ARO needed at your current car count—
    Extra cars per month needed—

    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.

    Glossary Car countAROForecast

    Customer lifetime value

    What is a good customer worth over the years?

    Lifetime sales—
    Lifetime gross profit—
    Visits to pay back marketing—
    Lifetime GP per $1 of marketing—

    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?

    Break-even sales per month—
    Cars per month to break even—
    Cars per day—
    Break-even sales per day—

    Formula Break-even sales = fixed expenses ÷ gross profit % (as a decimal). Cars = break-even sales ÷ ARO (rounded up). Per day = ÷ open days.

    Glossary Breakeven pointFixed expensesContribution margin

    Shop value at an EBITDA multiple

    What could the business be worth at a given multiple?

    EBITDA—
    Business value at your multiple—
    Range at 1x lower to 1x higher—
    With real estate—

    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.

    Glossary EBITDAMultiple

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