Tradie Quote Calculator, Australia

Charge-out rates in 2026 generally sit in the $70 to $120/hr ex GST range for residential work. Electricians and plumbers trend toward the upper end ($110 to $130) because of licensing, insurance and compliance overhead. Carpenters, painters and tilers sit in the middle ($75 to $95). Handymen are typically $60 to $80. Commercial work, after-hours and emergency callouts run 1.5 to 2× standard rates. These are charge-out rates, not take-home, they need to cover vehicle, tools, insurance, super, leave, downtime and admin.

15 to 25% is the industry norm for parts you buy at trade price and on-sell to the customer. Markup covers the time you spend sourcing, the cost of carrying inventory in your van, and the financial risk if a part is faulty or the customer doesn't pay. Some tradies go higher (30 to 40%) on small-ticket consumables where the markup dollar value is still trivial. Going above 50% on visible line items risks customer pushback, better to bake it into the labour rate.

Yes, but how depends on the job size. For small jobs, a flat callout fee (typically $80 to $150) covers the first hour including travel. For larger jobs, you can either build travel into the hourly rate (set a higher rate, no separate travel line) or charge travel hours separately at your normal rate. Quoting travel transparently as a line item is the cleanest approach for commercial customers; flat callouts are friendlier for residential. Be consistent so customers can compare quotes.

Always charge a callout for emergency, after-hours, weekend, or jobs less than ~2 hours. The callout protects you from sub-economic jobs where the travel and admin would otherwise wipe out the margin. For larger scheduled jobs (full day or multi-day), most tradies waive or absorb the callout because the hourly billing covers it. Some businesses charge a 'diagnostic fee' for emergency callouts that's credited against the repair if the customer proceeds.

No. You can only charge GST once your registration is in place, so leave the GST tick off in the calculator above until it is. The trap runs the other way: quote a $6,000 job unregistered, cross $75,000 of rolling turnover mid-job, and the work you invoice after your registration takes effect has to carry 10% you never priced in, out of your own margin. If you're within a few thousand of the threshold, register first and quote GST-exclusive with the GST shown as its own line, so the number the customer accepts is the number you invoice. Commercial customers claim that GST back anyway, so a GST line rarely costs you the job.

Fixed-price wins for well-defined jobs where you can scope confidently (new powerpoint, fence panel, tile a bathroom), customers prefer certainty and you keep upside if you're efficient. Hourly wins for diagnostic and unknown-scope work (intermittent fault, water leak source, renovations behind plaster) where a fixed price means padding heavily to cover risk. Many experienced tradies hybridise: a fixed callout to diagnose, then a fixed quote for the repair once they've seen the job.