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Decision tools

Equipment Profit Calculator

See monthly and annual operating profit from the price you charge and the volume you can actually sell. Payback stays on the next step.

Profit assumptions

Selling price defaults to the job-pricing recommendation ($51.33). Set a value to lock an override for Profit and ROI.

Monthly operating profit

$1,440

After materials, labor, operating, and other monthly costs

Annual profit

$17,280

Monthly revenue

$3,080

Monthly gross profit

$2,240

Revenue minus materials and per-job overhead

Estimates are based on the information you provide and should not be considered financial advice. We do not store your calculator inputs on a server.

Estimates

Test your assumptions

Conservative, Expected, and Optimistic change monthly jobs (utilization vs the volume you entered). Selling price, purchase price, labor, and materials stay as entered. Utilization is not rated machine capacity. All figures are estimates.

  • 60 jobs/month expected
  • $51.33 average selling price
  • $5,000 equipment purchase
  • $25.00/hour labor
  • $12.00 materials/job
  • $500 estimated monthly labor

Conservative

36 jobs/month

60% of expected volume

6.9 months

Estimated payback

Estimated monthly revenue
$2,008
Estimated monthly contribution
$904
Estimated first-year ROI
175.0%

Expected

60 jobs/month

100% of expected volume

4.3 months

Estimated payback

Estimated monthly revenue
$3,080
Estimated monthly contribution
$1,440
Estimated first-year ROI
278.7%

Optimistic

84 jobs/month

140% of expected volume

3.1 months

Estimated payback

Estimated monthly revenue
$4,152
Estimated monthly contribution
$1,976
Estimated first-year ROI
382.5%

Bar length tracks estimated monthly contribution (higher is stronger). Payback and ROI are estimates, not accounting results.

What changes the decision?

One shock at a time versus your expected assumptions. Each row reuses the same payback engine.

  • +25% utilization

    3.5 months

    Jobs/month vs your expected volume — not rated machine capacity

    0.8 months faster

  • -10% selling price

    5.5 months

    Shock to the selling price currently used

    1.2 months slower

  • +20% equipment cost

    5.0 months

    Shock to purchase price, not setup

    0.7 months slower

  • +20% labor cost

    4.0 months

    Shock to hourly labor rate

    0.3 months faster

  • +20% material cost

    3.9 months

    Shock to materials per job

    0.4 months faster

Profit before payback

A machine can look cheap and still lose money on every job, or look expensive and throw off cash if utilization is real. Confirm operating profit at a conservative volume before you trust a payback number.

Frequently asked questions

What does monthly operating profit include?

Revenue minus materials, allocated labor, monthly operating cost, and other monthly costs under your assumptions. It is a planning figure, not an accounting profit.

How is selling price chosen?

It defaults to the job-pricing recommendation. Enter a value to lock an override for Profit and ROI. Set the field to 0 to follow the recommendation again.

Is this the same as the ROI calculator?

No. This view is for monthly and annual operating profit. Payback period and annual ROI are on the next step.

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Research

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