Tailor and Alterations Shop Profit Calculator — Hem Price, Break-Even, Bench Hours

1. What you sell

Hems and simple repairs sold

Hem price ($)

Hem bench minutes

Hem thread and supplies ($ each)

Standard alterations sold

Standard alteration price ($)

Standard alteration bench minutes

Standard alteration supplies ($)

Full garment reworks sold

Full rework price ($)

Full rework bench minutes

Full rework supplies ($)

2. Labor and the bench

Seamstress or tailor pay ($ per hour)

Payroll tax and extras (%)

Bench hours available per week

Season length (months)

3. Machines, rent and fixed costs

Machines, dress forms and pressing equipment ($)

Seasons you will use them

Rent and utilities ($ per month)

Other fixed cost this season ($)

4. Prepaid packages and margin

Prepaid-package customers

Package price ($)

Hems per package customer

Target margin on each job (%)

Enter your numbers or load the example, then click Work out the season.

Result

Each service

Service	Price	Cost	Profit	Margin	Per bench hour	Price for target

The season at different volumes

Volume	Jobs	Revenue	Profit	Bench hours	Bench used

The arithmetic, and what it leaves out

Each job costs its bench minutes at the tailor's pay plus payroll extras, plus its supplies. Profit is price less that cost.
Profit per bench hour is price less supplies, divided by the hours on the bench, before the tailor's pay, so it compares jobs on the one thing a busy season runs out of.
Fixed cost is the machines and forms spread over the seasons you will keep them, rent for the months you are open, and the other fixed cost you type. The season result is every service's profit, plus the package line, less fixed cost.
A hem package is revenue once, against the visits its customers use. Its break-even is the plan price divided by what one visit costs you.
Not modelled: your own pay as owner, retail and rentals, sales tax, card fees, insurance, hiring a second tailor, and income tax.

Common questions

How much should a tailor shop charge for a alteration?

Add the bench minutes at your tailor's loaded hourly cost to the thread, zippers, interfacing and small supplies the job uses, then divide by one minus the margin you want. A standard alteration takes about an hour at the machine, so a price that looks fair next to the shop down the road can still lose money if your tailor is slow or the machine sits idle. Type your own minutes and costs and read the price off.

Is a prepaid hem package worth selling?

A plan is cash up front for work you do later, so price it against the number of visits a customer will really use. The result shows what each visit earns and the number of visits at which the plan starts losing money. Count honestly: a customer who brings the garment in every other week costs far more than the one who forgets.

How many jobs does a tailor shop need to break even?

Fixed costs for the season (the machines and forms spread over the seasons you will keep them, rent and utilities for the months you are open, and anything else) divided by what each job contributes after labor and materials. The calculator prints the break-even count at your mix and a table of the season at 50 to 150 percent of the volume you expect.

Why does the bench-hour figure matter?

A shop has a fixed number of bench hours in a busy season. A service that earns more for each hour on the bench is the one to push when the bench is full, and the one to raise first when it is not. The result ranks your services by that figure.

What does this leave out?

Your own pay as owner, retail sales of garments, supplies and accessories, rental fleets, sales tax, card fees, shop insurance, a second tailor's hiring cost and your income tax. It is a planning aid, not an estimate of record.

Is my data uploaded?

No. Everything runs in your browser tab and nothing is sent anywhere. There are no accounts. The share link keeps your numbers in the link itself, which you choose whether to send.