Free Tool — Afford-It Calculator
Can you afford it?
See the number before you sign.
A new truck, a new hire, new gear — turn on what you're weighing and see how small a price increase covers it, or how much extra work would carry it for you.
The Afford-It Math
Thinking about a truck, a hire, or new gear?
Big moves feel risky until you see the number. Turn on what you’re weighing, set the costs, and the calculator shows how much you’d need to raise prices to cover it — then watch that number drop as you add extra work.
1 · Your business
Your total sales over a year.
A typical project or job ticket. Used for the per-job price increase and for any extra jobs below.
Out of every $100 in sales, what you keep as profit after everything is paid — materials, payroll, overhead, you. Most trades run 5–15%.
2 · What you’re weighing
Subtotal $1,250/mo
Gross monthly wage, before taxes and benefits.
Everything you pay above wages except health insurance — payroll taxes, unemployment, workers’ comp, and a retirement match. The 15.3% floor is a practical minimum; trades crews usually land 20–35%.
The employer’s share, per employee, per month. 2025 averages: about $650 single, $1,680 family.
$5,000 wage + $1,315 burden + $650 health insurance
Subtotal $6,965/mo
A monthly or financed amount. For a one-time cash purchase, divide it by how many months you want to earn it back.
Subtotal $300/mo
3 · Extra work to help carry it
More work you’d take on because of this move. Leave at 0 to see the cost on its own.
A job’s price minus its materials and direct costs. It’s higher than your bottom-line profit margin above — an extra job doesn’t have to re-pay overhead you already cover, so all of it helps with the new cost.
Set extra jobs above 0 to see how new work shrinks the price increase.
Your Price Increase
is the price increase that covers everything you switched on.
Raise your prices 9.86% and a typical $45,000 job carries $4,436 of the cost.
If you absorb it instead
You’d give up $98,580 of profit a year by not pricing for it.
How this is calculated
The new cost is everything you switch on — vehicle, hire, or other — times how many of each. A hire’s cost is wages, plus burden (the employer’s payroll taxes, unemployment, workers’ comp, and SIMPLE IRA match, as a percent of wages), plus health insurance as a flat monthly amount. Extra jobs help carry it: each one brings in profit — its price minus materials and direct costs — and that profit pays the cost down first, so the price increase only covers what’s left. Price increase % = remaining cost ÷ your total yearly revenue, including any new jobs. “If you absorb it” shows the other choice: the leftover cost taken straight out of profit, and what that does to the margin on your current revenue. Defaults use 2025 benchmarks (KFF Employer Health Benefits Survey for insurance; IRS for payroll taxes; current market ranges for workers’ comp) — change every slider to your real numbers.
Not sure which move your numbers can handle? Let’s look at it together.
Book a free call →From Behind the Books · The show
The episode behind this calculator.
Joe walks through the afford-it math on Behind the Books — why "can I afford it?" is the wrong question, what number actually decides it, and how a small price increase or one more job a month can turn a "no" into a "yes."
Watch on YouTube →