Most roofing businesses are good at the job itself, getting the work done on time, handling crews, managing materials. But when it comes to knowing what each project actually costs and how much profit is left after, it’s often unclear.
Many still rely on square foot pricing or competitor benchmarks. That’s where things go wrong. As a bookkeeper for roofing contractors, I have written this blog that walks you through a practical, numbers-first method to estimate job costs, price for profit, and helps you to avoid getting buried by hidden overheads.
By the end, you'll know:
Let’s get into it.
Relying on market rate or “$X per square foot” sounds simple, but it ignores:
Even busy contractors can lose money with the wrong pricing model.
Let’s walk through a smarter approach, using the GPP system.
Overhead = all the stuff you pay for, whether you’re working or not.
Think:
Real example: One roofer added up all overhead and found it totaled $1.5 million/year. That’s the real cost he needs to recoup through job pricing.
Man hour = 1 field worker, 1 hour on-site.
Calculate:
Crew size × work weeks/year × hours/week
Example:
4 crew members × 40 weeks × 45 hours/week = 7,200 man hours/year
Now divide your total overhead by sellable hours:
$1,551,000 ÷ 7,200 = $215/hour in overhead
That’s your hidden cost most roofers miss.
Paying your guy $28/hour?
Add 20–30% labor burden (taxes, insurance, etc.)
→ Real cost = $28 × 1.2 = $33.60/hour
Overhead/hour: $45
Direct labor/hour: $34
Total: $79/hour
Add 20% markup:
$79 × 1.2 = $95/hour
That’s your minimum billable rate.
Now multiply by estimated job hours. No guesswork. Just clarity.
Example Bid: 1,000 sq. ft. Patio
Add materials ($3,400 × 1.2) = $4,080
Total project price: $12,630
Done. Clean. Accurate. No “per square foot” drama.
If you want to tighten up your operations and scale, track:
✅ Before: A roofing firm struggled with subcontractor chaos and constant delays.
After: Implemented tracking tools + payment scheduling.
→ Fewer surprises. Happier crews. Better cash flow.
✅ Before: Another roofer wasn’t meeting monthly targets. Pricing felt “off.”
After: Adopted the man-hour costing system.
→ Profit per job increased. Break-even point clear. Confidence restored.
You don’t need to be an accountant to run a profitable roofing business. But you do need a system.
One that’s based on your numbers, not industry averages.
One that tells you how much to charge, not how much to hope for.
Start by tracking overhead and labor the right way.
Build every bid around that.
We help roofing business owners set up clean, real-time systems for tracking project costs, profits, and labor. Want to explore what that looks like for your firm?
📩 Let’s talk. Schedule a free discovery call here.
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