Your crew hourly wage, payroll burden, overhead on direct cost and target net margin are the same on every job you bid. Save them once and every trade bid calculator here opens with your numbers instead of a stranger’s ballpark.
Kept in this browser only, on this site’s own storage. Nothing is uploaded, and clearing your browser data clears it. Forgetting them leaves the numbers already on this bid alone.
Keep this bid so it is still here when the customer calls back. Every number on this form is saved together, under a name you choose, along with the figure it gave you, and restoring one puts the whole job back exactly as you priced it. Mark each one won or lost when you hear — the ones you have not heard back on stay listed as waiting, with how long they have been out. Once a few have come back, this panel says how long yours actually take, and how many are still out past that. Once enough of them have been decided, it also says whether the bids you save here have been landing differently lately than they used to. Once a few here are decided, this panel says what the ones you won averaged against the ones you lost, so you can see where your price tips. On a lost bid you can also note what the job went for, if you heard — then it says how far off you actually were, which is the part guessing gets wrong in both directions. On a won one, note what the job came to once it was done and this panel says what those jobs actually kept, so you can see whether the ones you are winning are worth winning — and it tells you how many of your won jobs are still missing that figure, rather than going quiet about it. Restoring a bid also pins the figure it was saved at above this panel, so when the customer asks what it costs without the tear-off, the new number is shown against the one they already have — and by how much, in money and in percent.
Kept in this browser only, on this site’s own storage. Nothing is uploaded, and clearing your browser data clears it — download a backup to keep a copy or open your bids on another device. Bids are kept per tool, so these are the ones you saved here.
FOR SNOW-REMOVAL CONTRACTORS
Price the winter, not the driveway.
A $350 seasonal that looked fine at eight storms is often underwater at fourteen — especially if ice is “included.” This calculator prices a route from minutes on site, deadhead, a loaded truck, salt, and the event count you actually expect. You get a per-push price, a seasonal, the ice drain, and the storm count where a cheap quote dies.
One row per stop. Minutes are a starting point — time your own truck and replace them. Ice minutes default to 65% of plow + sidewalk (salt and walks, not a full push) and stay editable.
Site typePlow minWalk minSalt bagsIce minIce bags
Your costs
A long storm on a 4-hour route is often two passes. Set passes to 1.3 or 2 if you typically re-hit the route before it ends. Payroll burden is employer taxes, workers’ compensation, and paid time off — the part that never shows up on the wage.
The winter you are bidding
Use your trigger depth and your last few winters, not a national average. A 1-inch trigger fires more often than a 2-inch trigger. This is not a weather forecast.
Questions contractors actually ask
How do I price a snow removal contract?
Time each stop, price those minutes at a loaded operator-and-truck hourly, add salt, then multiply by the storms and ice events you expect. Do not start from a neighbor’s driveway price.
Per push or seasonal?
Offer both. Seasonal only works if the quote survives a long winter plus ice. Paste a number you are considering and the tool will say how many storms it can absorb.
What about unlimited ice?
Ice is usually salt and sidewalks, not a full plow — and there are often more ice events than snow events. Price them as their own line or the “included” clause eats the season.
Your winter bid
$—
seasonal contract price
Per-push price (one snow event)
Per ice-event price
Per-site seasonal
Per-site per-push
Minutes per snow pass
Billed hours this winter
Loaded hourly (operator + truck)
Salt this winter (in the cost)
Total winter cost
Winter profit
Effective hourly rate
Walk-away seasonal
Walk-away per-push
Storms this quote survives
Where the minutes go
Transparent arithmetic from your own inputs. Starting minutes and salt bags are common ballpark figures, not an industry standard, a benchmark, or a guarantee — time your own route and replace them.
Hand the customer a proposal
The price above is for you. This is the page you print or save as a PDF and give to the customer — your details, their details, the scope, the deposit split, and a line for them to sign. Your business details are saved on this device so you only type them once; the customer’s details are never saved.
Everything on the printed page is text you typed or a number this calculator worked out. It contains no warranty, lien, or cancellation wording — those depend on your jurisdiction and your contract, and this tool is not the place to invent them.
Common questions
How do I price a snow removal contract?
Time each stop (plow + sidewalk + drive time), price those minutes at a loaded operator-and-truck hourly, add salt, then multiply by the storms and ice events you actually expect. Margin is a share of the seasonal price, not a markup on one driveway.
Is a seasonal snow removal contract better than per push?
Seasonal is only better for the contractor if the quote covers a long winter plus ice events. A $350 driveway seasonal that looked fine at eight storms often loses money at fourteen, especially with unlimited ice.
How many snow events should I estimate?
Use your own trigger depth and last few winters, not a national average. In many Northeast and Midwest metros a 1-inch trigger fires more often than a 2-inch trigger. This tool does not forecast weather — it prices the event count you enter.
Want the margin, walk-away price and overrun headroom as well, or pricing a different trade? Price this job in the Bid Price Engine, one calculator for 121 trades.