Fortis QuoteSmith

Overhead rate

£—/hr

Used for overhead recovery.

Profit tiers

—

C / S / St

Role costs

—

General / Skilled / Supervisor

Overheads

Overheads are business running costs. Labour is separate.

Core

What counts as overhead?

Rent, insurance, vehicle costs, software, marketing, accounting, tools/servicing, memberships — the costs of operating. Do not include labour here.

Overhead rate (£/hr)

Builder uses this: labour hours × overhead rate.

Quick check

£—/hr

Calculated / saved.

Overhead calculator (recommended)

Rent / workspace (per month £) Utilities (per month £) Insurance (per month £) Software / subscriptions (per month £) Marketing (per month £) Vehicle / travel (per month £) Accounting / admin (per month £) Other overheads (per month £)

Billable hours per month

Use a realistic billable number (not total hours worked).

Annual overheads (optional, per year £)

Memberships, servicing, certifications etc.

Monthly overhead

£0

Running costs only.

Annual add-on (monthly)

£0

Annual ÷ 12.

Hourly overhead rate

£0/hr

(Monthly + annual/12) ÷ billable hours.

Profit tiers

Set three tiers once. Choose per quote.

Margin

Conservative (%)

When competitiveness matters.

Standard (%)

Sustainable margin for regular work.

Stretch (%)

Higher complexity, urgency or risk.

How it’s applied

QuoteSmith applies the selected tier to your true cost (labour + overhead recovery + direct costs). Discounts are allowed — but margin erosion is shown clearly.

Default role wage costs

Delivery costs (wage + NI + pension). Not charge-out rates.

Labour

General operative (£/hr) Skilled / engineer (£/hr) Supervisor / manager (£/hr)

Why this matters

Most underquoting happens because labour is treated as “what we charge”, not “what it costs”. QuoteSmith separates delivery cost from profit so you can price intentionally.