Trade Business Overhead Calculator
This trade business overhead calculator adds up what it really costs to run your business for a year, then shows it per month, per working day and per chargeable hour.
Your yearly overheads
Enter the annual cost of running the business — a best estimate is fine. Leave anything that does not apply at 0.
Turn it into a rate
To recover overheads in your prices, spread them across the days and hours you can actually charge for.
A practical guide, not tax or accounting advice. Figures exclude VAT.
Want more FieldHive calculators in your Google results?
Google lets you choose the sites you want to see more of. Add FieldHive as a preferred source and our free trade calculators show up more often when you search.
Add FieldHive as a preferred sourceOne click. You can change it any time in your Google settings.Was this calculator useful?
We keep our trade calculators free to use — no sign-up to run them and no pop-ups. If it helped, an honest review helps us improve them and helps other trade businesses find them.
Leave an honest Google reviewReviews are optional. Please only review based on your genuine experience.The costs you pay whether you work or not
The van, the insurance, the phone, the accountant — they cost the same in a quiet week as a busy one. If your rates do not recover them, the business slowly runs at a loss.
Most trades know their day rate but not what it actually costs to keep the business running. That is how a fully-booked year can still end with nothing left over.
This calculator adds up your yearly overheads, then shows them per month, per working day and per chargeable hour — the figure your rates have to cover before wages and profit.
Overheads in the numbers that matter
Enter your costs once and the calculator breaks them down every way you need.
From a yearly total to an hourly cost
A solo trade with £12,000 of overheads, working 232 days and billing 6 hours a day.
£12,000
£1,000
232
1,392
£51.72
£8.62
Overheads hide in every hour you bill
Spread across the hours you can actually charge for, overheads become a real cost per hour — before you have paid yourself a penny.
That per-hour figure is the amount every billed hour has to cover just to keep the lights on. Add your wage and a margin on top and you have a rate that genuinely pays.
The costs trades forget
It is easy to remember the van and insurance and forget the rest — but the small ones add up to real money over a year.
Software and subscriptions, PPE and small-tool replacement, phone and broadband, marketing, bank charges, training and certifications, accountancy — none feel big on their own, but together they can be a big slice of your overheads.
Who is this calculator for?
Keep your costs and your prices in step
This calculator sets the number. FieldHive keeps your pricing in one place, so when your costs change you can update your rates across every quote — one connected record from enquiry to final payment.
Turn overheads into a rate
Use these alongside your overhead figure.
True Labour Cost Calculator
Build overheads, wage and profit into an hourly rate.
Calculate labour cost →Free tools for the job
Put these numbers to work — free FieldHive tools, no sign-up.
Quote & Estimate Builder
Build a professional quote or estimate — line items, VAT and a valid-until date.
quote to cover overhead →Trade Business Break-Even Calculator
Find the revenue you need to break even.
find your break-even point →Quote Profit Margin Calculator
Check the gross profit and margin on a job before you send it.
bake it into your margins →Trade business overhead questions
Quick answers to the questions people ask most.
Know what your business really costs
Add up your overheads, see the cost per hour, and build it into rates that cover everything — with FieldHive keeping it connected.
