Post-job pricing review
Pressure washing job costing: compare the estimate with what happened
The quote tells you what you expected before the job. Job costing tells you what the work actually took. A five-minute review of crew time, chemicals, travel, and direct costs can show exactly what to change before you price the next similar job.
Quick answer
After a pressure washing job, record actual crew hours, loaded labor cost, chemicals and supplies used, travel and setup cost, equipment or other direct costs, and the final revenue for the agreed scope. Then calculate: actual job cost = actual labor + chemicals + travel/setup + equipment/direct costs + any overhead allocation you use. Compare that total with the estimate. Adjust the next estimate only when you understand why the difference happened.
Estimate, quote, and job cost are three different records
Estimate: before the job
Your private expectation for crew time, chemicals, travel, overhead, minimum fee, and target margin.
Quote: what the customer sees
The agreed scope, options, exclusions, terms, and total price. It should not show loaded labor cost or margin.
Job cost: after the job
The actual time and cost required to complete the agreed work, plus any approved change or unplanned return visit.
If those records are mixed together, it is hard to tell whether the estimate was wrong, the scope changed, or the crew simply had an unusual day. Keep the customer quote clean and keep the costing review internal. The estimate-versus-quote guide explains what belongs in each customer and contractor view.
The five-minute job closeout checklist
Record these details while the job is still fresh. A perfect spreadsheet filled in two weeks later is less useful than six honest numbers entered before the crew leaves.
- Actual crew hours: count everyone who worked. Two people on site for three hours is six crew-hours, not three.
- Loaded labor cost: multiply crew-hours by the internal hourly cost you already use for pricing.
- Chemicals and supplies: note actual mix, degreaser, surfactant, fuel, disposable items, and unusual cleanup materials.
- Travel, setup, and return time: include the trip, unloading, hose setup, customer handoff, cleanup, and any second visit.
- Other direct cost: record rented equipment, disposal, damaged consumables, subcontracted work, or a job-specific fee.
- Final revenue: use the amount for the completed scope after approved add-ons, discounts, credits, or refunds.
- One reason note: write why the biggest difference happened instead of leaving a number with no explanation.
Do not count the same cost twice. If equipment wear, insurance, or admin time is already included in your loaded labor rate or overhead allocation, do not add it again as a separate line.
Use three simple comparisons
| Check | Formula | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Labor variance | actual crew-hours - estimated crew-hours | Whether production, setup, cleanup, or staffing took longer than planned. |
| Cost variance | actual total job cost - estimated total job cost | How much the completed job moved above or below the original cost plan. |
| Actual job margin | (final revenue - actual job cost) / final revenue | The margin left after the costs included in your job-costing method. |
Use the same cost categories in the estimate and the closeout. If the estimate includes overhead but the actual side does not, the comparison will look better than it really is. This is an internal job review, not tax or accounting advice; use your bookkeeper's categories for formal financial reporting.
Worked example: estimated cost versus actual cost
This example only demonstrates the review. The labor rate, costs, and customer price are not suggested rates or market benchmarks.
| Item | Estimated | Actual | Variance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | 4 crew-hours x $40 = $160 | 5.5 crew-hours x $40 = $220 | +$60 |
| Chemicals and supplies | $55 | $70 | +$15 |
| Travel and setup | $45 | $45 | $0 |
| Equipment and overhead allocation | $65 | $65 | $0 |
| Total job cost | $325 | $400 | +$75 |
| Final customer revenue | $650 | $650 | $0 |
| Job margin | 50.0% | 38.5% | -11.5 points |
The useful question is not “Should every quote go up?” It is “Why did this job need 1.5 extra crew-hours and more chemical?” If the answer is heavy growth that was visible in the lead photos, the next estimate needs a stronger soil adjustment. If the answer is a failed spigot that nobody could have seen, keep the note but do not rebuild your whole price book around one unusual job.
Turn the variance into a better next estimate
| What ran over | Check first | Possible next-estimate change |
|---|---|---|
| Setup time | Long hose run, poor parking, locked access, furniture, or water issues. | Add setup minutes and ask a better access question during intake. |
| Wash time | Surface type, slope, production speed, heavy growth, or crew experience. | Lower the production-rate assumption for matching jobs. |
| Chemical use | Mix strength, repeat application, oil, organics, oxidation, or waste. | Increase the allowance only for the matching condition or service. |
| Return visit | Customer prep, blocked access, weather, equipment issue, or missed scope. | Fix the process or terms before adding the cost to every future job. |
| Margin | Missing cost, unapproved extra work, discount, or weak minimum fee. | Correct the cost floor, scope-change step, discount rule, or minimum. |
For future leads, collect access and surface facts with the pressure washing job intake checklist. Then use the pricing calculator to turn the updated cost assumption into a margin-aware price before building the customer quote.
Copy-ready internal job review
This note is for you or the crew, not the customer.
When not to change your pricing
- Do not rewrite every rate because one job ran long.
- Do not average together driveway washing, house washing, roof soft washing, and restoration work as if production were identical.
- Do not bury unapproved extra work in future customers' prices. Use a clear scope-change approval step instead.
- Do not treat a crew training day, equipment breakdown, or one-off access failure as normal production without checking repeat jobs.
- Do change an assumption when several comparable jobs show the same miss and you can name the cause.
If the customer adds work or the site differs from the agreed scope, use the pressure washing quote change workflow before doing the extra work. Job costing helps you learn afterward; it does not replace customer approval.
A simple weekly routine
- Close out every completed job with the same cost categories.
- Once a week, sort jobs by service type and look for the largest labor or cost variances.
- Separate one-off surprises from repeating misses.
- Update one estimate assumption at a time: production speed, chemical allowance, setup time, minimum fee, or scope wording.
- Check the next few comparable jobs to see whether the change improved the estimate.
If you need to rebuild the complete pre-job workflow, start with how to estimate a pressure washing job. The job-costing notes give you better inputs; the estimate turns those inputs into the next customer price.
Next step
Close out one recent job while you can still remember the setup, chemical use, and crew time. Find the biggest variance, write one reason, and carry only that justified change into the next similar estimate.