Break-Even Calculator for a Booked Inspection
By Luis Johnson, founder of Lunere Digital. Published
Somebody quoted you a price per appointment and you want to know whether it's reasonable. The answer isn't an industry average, it's arithmetic on your shop: your job value, your margin, how many bookings actually happen and how many you close.
This gives you the ceiling. Anything under it pays, anything over it costs you money to be busy.
Your numbers, example inputs
What one booked inspection can cost you before it stops paying
Every value below is an example input. Nothing is sent anywhere, and nothing is saved.
- Gross profit per signed job
- $5,250
- Inspections needed per signed job
- 4.8
- Most you can pay and still hit 5.0x
- $221
- Break-even cost per booked inspection
- $1,103
Why the show rate hurts more than the close rate
Drop your close rate from 30 to 25 percent and you need about one more inspection per job. Drop your show rate from 70 to 50 percent and you need nearly two more, and every one of those is a drive your estimator already paid for in fuel and an hour.
That's why the no-show rule matters more than the per-appointment price when you're comparing offers. An appointment that's refunded when nobody answers the door is a different product from one that's not, even at the same number.
The ceiling isn't the target
The break-even figure is where profit hits zero. Nobody should buy at that number. Pick the return you want in the last field and work to that instead, and leave yourself room for the months where the close rate dips.
What margin should I use?
Gross margin on the job, after materials and crew, before your overhead. If you don't know it to the point, run the calculator twice, once at your optimistic number and once five points below, and plan at the lower one.
Does this work for small jobs?
It works, and it usually shows that small-ticket work can't carry a per-appointment price at all. That's useful to know before you sign anything.
Read next
- What a Booked Inspection Should Cost YouThere is no published cost per booked inspection for foundation work. Here is how to set your own ceiling from job value, close rate, margin and overhead.
- Cost Per Signed Job CalculatorWork out what one lead source really costs you per signed job, using your own spend, booking rate, show rate and close rate. Nothing is saved or sent.
- What This Costs, and How the Math WorksHow the money works: a one time setup, then a flat fee per qualified inspection that happens, no retainer, and ad spend that goes to the platform on your own card.
- You Pay When an Inspection Actually HappensThe billing model in full: what counts as a qualified inspection, when the charge lands, the 72 hour refund rule, and why the unit is the appointment.